Clipping of news on Brazilian Culture, Law and Citizenship
 


Transportation

Index points accessibility aspects to be improved at airports

04/04/2013

This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.

 

 



In the school of Engineering of São Carlos (EESC) USP, research engineer Gesteira Ligia Coelho drew up an accessibility index of Brazilian airports in order to point out the aspects to be improved in each of them. The highest value was 0.63 (on a scale of zero to one), the Santos Dumont airport in Rio de Janeiro. Already airports of Guarulhos, São Paulo, and Juscelino Kubitschek in Brasilia presented very close values and obtained the worst results among the six airports analyzed, 0.469 and 0.472, respectively. According to the researcher, the result shows the unpreparedness of the airports and the need for improvements to receive passengers.

Entitled 'An accessibility index that incorporates airport users with different mobility restrictions', the study was implemented in six airports where passenger traffic is significant: Congonhas, Guarulhos and Congonhas, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Galeao and Santos Dumont, and Brasilia, Juscelino Kubitschek. Guided by Professor Anthony Nelson Rodrigues da Silva, the Department of Transport Engineering of the EESC, the study presents strategies not only for diagnosis, but also suggests avenues for preventive and corrective actions.

For the survey were considered different groups of users: visually impaired, wheelchair users, foreigners, pregnant women, the elderly and passengers with or without baggage. The accessibility indicators were assessed through surveys and field surveys and were scored according to their performance. "The comparison between the indicators analyzed in each airport can serve as a guide to improve the conditions of these and other airports because there is still a great precariousness them," says Ligia.

The method for creating the index was developed in three stages. Initially the engineer did a survey of the "state of art", whereby a series of indicators was listed, for example, the time to reach the airport, cost, number of parking spaces, signage, attendance, among others . The indicators have arisen by an identification of problems that passengers with different profiles may face when accessing the airport and were classified into six major groups: taxi ride, own car, rental car, bus and regional bus special.

After the survey, the indicators were assessed through surveys and field surveys at airports studied, and were scored according to their performance. So the indicators were weighted and the final score accessibility of airports was calculated. The results obtained for the Accessibility Index classified among the values zero (0.00) and (1.00). The values close to "zero" indicate poor performance of the airport in relation to user accessibility. The values next to "a" shows that the airport has good conditions for receiving various user profiles considered.

Results
The overall index values for the six airports studied, obtained by the process of calculation of the indicators presented results with an amplitude of 0.16 (range 0.47 to 0.63) in the evaluation scale index, which has total amplitude 1,00. Although this maximum, the Santos Dumont airport was what scored the highest, with a value of 0.63. According to the researcher this figure shows that various aspects can still be improved to obtain a better score and therefore better results in terms of accessibility to the airport.

The airports of Guarulhos, São Paulo, and Juscelino Kubitschek in Brasilia presented very close values and obtained the worst results among the six airports analyzed, both with approximately 0.47. In addition to the overall result, the study showed a result of user types, also rated on a scale from 0.00 to 1.00. For passengers with no luggage and found the ratios are almost the same. For them, the airport of Guarulhos presented, in both cases, the worst results, with values of 0.40. At the other extreme, Santos Dumont airports and Viracopos showed the highest values, with very similar results.

According to the engineer, the Accessibility Index shows that airports studied are little prepared to receive passengers with visual disabilities. The airport received the highest score for that user type was the Congonhas, with a value close to 0.60. The airports of Galleon, and Viracopos Brasilia obtained the lowest values, the latter being the lowest scored. These same airports also were not prepared to receive elderly passengers, unlike the airports of Congonhas, Congonhas and Santos Dumont, who had values substantially larger than previous to that audience.

In all the airports studied, Congonhas stands for elderly users, wheelchair users and the visually impaired. This shows that is more prepared to receive those passenger profiles. For foreigners coming to the country, the airport Santos Dumont is what is best able to serve them and presents a note rather than the others. Already the Guarulhos is the one with the lowest grade, slightly above 0.40, for this type of user. Ligia Second, the low value obtained at Guarulhos airport can be a problem because this airport is one of the main ports of entry for foreigners and should be well prepared to receive them. The other airports have similar notes that fall between 0.50 and 0.60.

The completion of major sporting events in Brazil over the next few years, like the Olympics and the World Cup will have a direct influence on the functioning of the transport system of the country starting with air transportation for driving teams and tourists. For guidance, it is evident that the study is not intended to exhaust the subject.
"The research already has a concrete contribution to their use, through a comparative diagnosis of accessibility conditions of six major Brazilian airports to the user groups mentioned," said Rodrigues da Silva.



Source: IDEC

Our news are removed entirely from the sites of our partners. For this reason, we can not change their content even in cases of typos.

This article was translated by an automatic translation system, and was therefore not reviewed by people.

Important:
The JurisWay site does not interfere in the work provided by doctrine, why only reflect the opinions, ideas and concepts of their authors.


  Subjects list
 
  Copyright (c) 2006-2009. JurisWay - All rights reserved.