A “people mover” system connecting Logan International Airport terminals and Boston’s subway system could be in the airport’s future, the Boston Globe reports.
Airport officials will spend $15 million to study the feasibility of building an automated people mover system which would link Logan’s four terminals, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) Blue Line subway station, a rental car centre, and an on-airport economy parking garage.
Cost projections for the system exceed $1 billion, and it likely would not open for at least a decade.
If the people mover proves to be too costly or impractical to build at the densely developed airport, officials said they would consider less ambitious alternatives, such as a transit connection or a moving walkway linking the MBTA station with nearby Terminal E only.
Currently, the MBTA’s Silver Line buses — which operate both on and off road — run between Boston’s South Station rail hub and the airport. Most people arrive at Logan via passenger car.
“Buses don’t tend to get as favourable a reception from customers, because they’re a lower customer service option and because they have to share right of way with the rest of traffic,” said Seth Young, an aviation professor at Ohio State University. “The people mover system is the upgrade from the bus.”
