An examination of urban area S.T.O.L. airports

This thesis is an examination of the problems that may arise from the location of S.T.O.L. airports within urbanized areas. The role of air transportation as a passenger travel mode is considered and the problems facing the existing air transportation system are explored. The potential role of S.T.O.L. aircraft within the air transportation system is examined in detail. Additionally, the benefits that may accrue from the use of S.T.O.L. aircraft in a regional air transport system are discussed extensively. The criteria to be used when looking for potential S.T.O.L. airport sites are examined in detail. These criteria are applied to three potential S.T.O.L. airport sites within the Vancouver urban area. In some cases the locational criteria were found to be difficult to operationalize. Data on community reaction to noise exposure is inadequate and noise standards are difficult to apply on a wide basis. The concept of land use compatibility around airports is useful but only to the extent that it does not obscure the fact that aircraft operations can cause community disruptions beyond the boundaries of the so-called compatible land uses. With specific reference to Vancouver, the available data indicates, that on the average, very little terminal access or egress time will be saved if a S.T.O.L. airport were built at a suitable location between the existing airport and the downtown area. Finally, the paper concludes by suggesting that despite the fact that S.T.O.L. aircraft cannot bring substantial time savings to regional air passengers, a S.T.O.L. air service may mean that many of the regions under utilized conventional airports could be converted to S.T.O.L. airports and yeild substantial savings in the money used to maintain and operate the publically owned airports in the province.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat