Airport Connections

How important is it that a city have a rail link to the airport?

Well, frankly, it's not that important, in the sense that there are lots of cities that don't, and the world has not ended.

But how important is it that a city have a high quality transit link to the airport? 

Well, that's a different question. I'd suggest that it's very important--for equity for those who don't have cars, for the reduction of traffic, exhaust, and other factors associated with cars going to the airport, and to reduce the amount of space that has to be given to cars around airports.

1. Rail and Transit Aren't the Same Thing

While transit advocates may sometimes be guilty of acting like a rail link to the airport is the only kind of transit that can work, it obviously isn't. To be clear: if you have a direct, regular stop on an already-useful rail line that stops at the airport, that's basically the gold standard here. 

Denver does this pretty well from Union Station, for instance. 

And I'm a big fan of Chicago's Blue Line El connecting directly to O'Hare.

But a good, consistent bus that has clear signage, lengthy operating hours, a relatively express trip, and frequent service can do plenty, like in Montréal, where the REM will eventually go to the airport but the 747 bus isn't bad right now.

Not bad timing at all.

Is it perfect? No. But it's good transit to the airport, and it's not hard at all to use or to then connect in to the rest of Montréal's transit. In fact, the ticket on the 747 is a daypass on the rest of the system within Montréal Zone A automatically, encouraging that transfer.

Then there are cities that do have a rail transit link to the airport but it's not well-implemented: e.g. Boston Logan.

I love the T, but "take a bus to the train to downtown and transfer again" is not the highest recommendation I could give to a "rail" link to the airport. Yes, the Silver Line exists, and it's not that bad, like the 747, but the implementation of the rail connection is mediocre at best. An airport subway station is not itself evidence of good transit to the airport.

2. Where Is the Terminal, Anyway?

Add to the above: where does the transit actually serve in and around the airport? A lot of airports rely on people movers to actually get people to and from the terminals where the planes are even if they've been dropped off by transit.

This example is Chicago, which is not the worst. Perhaps the worst is Seattle, where the transit connection to Link light rail requires a) a long walk from the terminal through the parking garage, with little assistance for the disabled, followed by b) using a people mover to actually get to some of the more distant terminals anyway. Neither the benefit of a close rail connection nor the speed of a people mover: the worst of both worlds somehow.

Look, I'll admit sometimes it's a function of size: O'Hare is huge, hence the need for the people mover. But there are other options. Heck, Heathrow has multiple Tube stations for its various terminals, which means that you don't have to switch transit modes, unlike the people mover model. More generally, it's worth considering: when you say you have transit to the airport, which part of the airport do you mean?

3. Foot Traffic

Now, I'll admit most airports don't do great at this. But you know what's better than just having a transit connection?

Allowing people to safely, easily, and efficiently walk to the airport.

And no, Boston, I don't mean the above giant roadway with a courtesy inclusion of a sidewalk.

I mean people actually wanting to walk in the space you provide. Technically the above photo is of the ferry to Billy Bishop in Toronto, but rest assured you can also walk through a tunnel underneath the lake, and it's very easy and drops you off in a nice enough neighborhood!

Obviously that's difficult for airports that are far from the city center and surrounded by hotels and parking lots. But hey--if you could minimize all that land used for car access, maybe you could make a few more of those airports walkable as well.

More generally: the better you do at making an airport approachable by other means than a car, the better the airport experience--train or not.