A Composite Index: Performance Measures of Automated People Mover (APM) Systems at Airports

A critical element of many large airports around the world, Automated People Movers (APMs) have been performing the vital function of connecting passengers to and from their respective boarding gates, terminals, and various departure and arrival points around the airports. It is essential for APM operators and decision makers to evaluate and manage their systems using a set of performance measures. However, each APM system is unique, and currently there are no performance measures or data collection practices common to all airport APMs; therefore, it is necessary to develop meaningful and practical tools to measure and compare the performance of various APM systems. The authors have developed a composite index based on a recent survey of APM systems in North America and a detailed analysis of the existing data collection and performance measure practices. Expanding the conventional system availability criteria, the proposed index incorporates system availability, system safety, customer satisfaction, and utilization rate to form a comprehensive index to measure the performance of APM systems.