Hotel Shuttle Consolidation at SFO

Alice Sgourakis

Ground Transportation Manager, SFO

AGTA Conference

April 20, 2007

SFO-Area Hotels• Most hotels within 5 miles of Airport terminals have

courtesy shuttle links

• The 51 hotels served have a combined 10,000 rooms; the median-size hotel has 169 rooms

• Since hotel consolidation took hold, some smaller hotels have courtesy shuttle service for the first time

• The hotels are located in small San Mateo County cities, under separate jurisdiction from the Airport

• The San Mateo County Convention and Visitors Bureau occasionally serves as a cooperative liaison

1990s Congestion

• 33 hotels provided their own shuttle service to their own hotel only, while adjacent hotels under the same ownership ran 2 shuttle services serving 2 hotels each

• Severe curbside congestion often led vehicles to park two deep and be hemmed in

• The typical courtesy shuttle was a cramped minibus or van

• Vehicles sometimes broke down on the roadside

• Hotels often diverted bell staff from other duties to drive shuttles

1990s Pollutant Emissions

• Hotels operated diesel and gasoline vehicles

• Visible exhaust trails reflected spotty maintenance

• Passengers endured toxic odors

• Drivers and curbside personnel suffered health impacts

• Fuel residue marked loading areas

• Airport ground vehicles affected regional air emissions

SFO Clean Vehicle Policy

Implemented in 2000 100% of vehicles in applicable fleets to be clean-

powered by 2012 Trip fee differentials and other economic incentives

encourage compliance Airport applies for and manages grant funding Over 500 grant-funded vehicles to date, 98% privately-

owned

SFO’s Hotel Clean Vehicle Policy

• Effective July 1, 2000, a dual tier trip fee structure was established for hotel courtesy shuttles

• The existing rate became the base rate in the two-tier structure

• The new tier was set at triple the base rate

• Vehicle emissions and trip limits apply to the base rate

Vehicle Emissions Requirements

• For a hotel operator to qualify for the base fee, all their newly-permitted shuttle vehicles must be dedicated Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or equivalent emissions

• Continued placement in the base fee tier requires retirement of pre-2000 diesel and gasoline vehicles by July 1, 2007

• A single non-compliant vehicle causes the operator to pay the high fee for all trips

Trip Limits

• To be placed in the base fee tier, hotels in business as of April 1, 1999 had to reduce their average monthly trip total by one third (using April 1999-March 2000 as baseline)

• Newer hotels have a ceiling of 2.25 trips per room per month, frequently lower than the adjusted ceiling for established hotels

• Hotels with 67 to 133 rooms have a minimum allowance of 300 trips per month

• Hotels with 66 or fewer rooms have a minimum allowance of 150 trips per month

2007 Results• 44 out of 51 hotels are in consolidated groupings. Most

trips service multiple hotels, avoiding significant loss of service at a given hotel.

• There are only 15 full-time courtesy shuttle operators, down from 35 before consolidation:

- 5 contractors, most active in other services such as parking shuttles and charter operations (68% of

trips)- 3 hotels providing service for other hotels (20% of trips)- 7 hotels providing solo service (12% of trips)

• Only one full-time operator (a solo hotel) pays the high fee. This operator’s trip total is below its limit, but the operator prefers to run gasoline-powered vans.

Consolidated Route Design• No Airport involvement • Two to 5 hotels are grouped in a single trip• Most contractors use multiple routes to service the 4 to 10

hotels each that they are responsible for • Lead hotel operators service between 2 and 4 nearby hotels

each with a single route • During peak periods, vehicles normally return to the Airport

every 30 minutes or less• During off-peak periods, some routes operate only on

demand• During late evenings and overnight, some hotels operate

solo service under a separate Airport permit to reduce contractor cost

Current Vehicle Fleet

• About 50 vehicles in full time fleet

• 38 minibuses and 12 vans

• By July 1, 2007, all regularly-operated minibuses are expected to be CNG-powered, along with about 7 vans

• The remaining gasoline-powered vans will be replaced with CNG when a new van product is available and grant-funded by Fall 2007, or will be operated by hotels paying the high fee

• Effective July 1, 2007, there will be no diesels in the full time fleet

CNG Vehicle Refueling• Offering no subsidy or guarantees, SFO attracted two CNG

fueling companies to lease property and build 2 large public access CNG stations, together worth $3M

• The first station opened in 1999, the second in 2004

• The stations provide a combined 15 fast-fill hoses with fill pressures of 3,000 and 3,600 psi

• Annual CNG demand is currently 1,150,000 equivalent gallons

• Hotel shuttles account for 22% of demand

• Other large demand categories are taxis (25%) and parking shuttles (24%)

CNG Emissions

• Model Year 2007 CNG minibuses and vans have at least 75% less nitrous oxide (NOx) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions than MY 2007 gasoline minibuses and vans.

• Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are at least 25% less than gasoline vehicles.

• Natural gas is lighter than air, and can’t contaminate land or water.

• CNG refueling nozzles are double-sealed. There is virtually no vapor leakage in the refueling process.

Current CNG Vehicle Market

• Ford Motor Co., traditional supplier of most CNG minibuses and vans, exited the market after Model Year 2004

• BAF Technologies started converting E450 Ford minibuses to CNG in MY 2005

• BAF’s converted E350 van is available in MY 2007

• Converted GM products may soon be available through BAF or others

• The converted product is more expensive than the former Ford OEM product

CNG Incentives and Grants• A full Federal tax credit of up to $20,000 per vehicle is available for

CNG minibuses

• Some air quality districts, such as the Bay Area District and the CA South Coast District, offer grants of $4,000 (for CNG vans) up to $20,000 (for CNG minibuses), in addition to the Federal tax credit

• The Bay Area’s minibus grants require 1:1 diesel vehicle scrappage

• CNG refueling station operators offer fuel price discounts for high volume use

• The non-discounted price of CNG averages 20% to 35% less than gasoline or diesel

An Assessment of SFO’s Hotel Vehicle Initiative

• 16% increase in hotel rooms served by courtesy shuttle service since 1999-2000, mostly due to the opening of new hotels

• 27% reduction in courtesy shuttle trips

• 37% reduction in trips per room served

• No significant reduction in service to and from most individual hotels

• Adequate Airport curb space

An Assessment of SFO’s Hotel Vehicle Initiative (cont.)

• No staff scheduling and vehicle maintenance headaches for hotels contracting for service

• A few hotels gain income from transporting customers of nearby hotels

• Over 80% reduction in nitrous oxide and hydrocarbon emissions, and more than 30% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions over the “do-nothing” alternative, holding vehicle model year constant

For More Information

Roger Hooson, Senior Planner, SFO

(650) 821-6511

roger.hooson@flysfo.com