BREAKING THE "GROUND BARRIER"
An unfortunate fact of air travel in the jet age is that in too many cases it takes the passenger longer to get to and from the airport than to fly to his destination. In Los Angeles, this problem is compounded by the sprawling nature of the metropolitan area served by LAX.
The Department of Airports has been engaged for more than four years in preliminary studies on how to break this "ground barrier," which obviously cannot be done through use of overcrowded surface streets, or even added freeways.
The plan focuses on a downtown terminal, possibly Union Station, where passengers check in and are taken to LAX by high speed carriers.
Under current consideration is "Skylounge," a radical new helicopter-bus system which employs detachable lounges capable of picking up passengers at various locations and transporting them to the central pick-up point, either the downtown terminal, or other area centers. It then changes its mode from a ground vehicle to a helicopter-transportable lounge, which is flown to LAX. It is estimated that this form of passenger transportation could reduce travel time from one hour to approximately ten minutes between outlying areas and the airport.
Because this new system, an adaptation of Sikorsky's Sky Crane, is applicable to any major metropolitan area in the nation, the city received a $490,112 feasibility study grant for it from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in April 1966. Joining with the Department of Airports in this study are Systems Development Corporation, Santa Monica, project manager; The Budd Company, Philadelphia, passenger lounge and ground powered vehicle; Los Angeles Airways, flight operations; AirporTransit, Los Angeles, ground operations; Sikorsky Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Company, Hartford, helicopter and airborne power unit; and William L. Pereira and Associates, architectural and engineering services.
The downtown terminal, with its existing buildings and trackage, offers other possibilities in addition to the heliport planned. By the 1970's and '80s, an elevated V/STOL runway (for vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft) could accommodate shuttle flights between LAX and city centerterminals of outlying communities. Such a development would make this downtown terminal the first of a series of such "inner-ring" metro-ports serving urban centers. A map of the possible satellite system is on the opposite page.
Another form of transport from downtown terminal to airport would be Skyrail, an elevated high speed railway, designed to follow existing railroad rights of way.
It is no longer a question of which idea is best. The Department feels that all of these methods, V/STOL, Skylounge and Skyrail, will comprise a commuter network, tied in with the outlying system of satellite airports. Such a network of local service vehicles is a necessity if global transportation is to fulfill its promise to civilization.
An unfortunate fact of air travel in the jet age is that in too many cases it takes the passenger longer to get to and from the airport than to fly to his destination. In Los Angeles, this problem is compounded by the sprawling nature of the metropolitan area served by LAX.
The Department of Airports has been engaged for more than four years in preliminary studies on how to break this "ground barrier," which obviously cannot be done through use of overcrowded surface streets, or even added freeways.
The plan focuses on a downtown terminal, possibly Union Station, where passengers check in and are taken to LAX by high speed carriers.
Under current consideration is "Skylounge," a radical new helicopter-bus system which employs detachable lounges capable of picking up passengers at various locations and transporting them to the central pick-up point, either the downtown terminal, or other area centers. It then changes its mode from a ground vehicle to a helicopter-transportable lounge, which is flown to LAX. It is estimated that this form of passenger transportation could reduce travel time from one hour to approximately ten minutes between outlying areas and the airport.
Because this new system, an adaptation of Sikorsky's Sky Crane, is applicable to any major metropolitan area in the nation, the city received a $490,112 feasibility study grant for it from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in April 1966. Joining with the Department of Airports in this study are Systems Development Corporation, Santa Monica, project manager; The Budd Company, Philadelphia, passenger lounge and ground powered vehicle; Los Angeles Airways, flight operations; AirporTransit, Los Angeles, ground operations; Sikorsky Aircraft Division, United Aircraft Company, Hartford, helicopter and airborne power unit; and William L. Pereira and Associates, architectural and engineering services.
The downtown terminal, with its existing buildings and trackage, offers other possibilities in addition to the heliport planned. By the 1970's and '80s, an elevated V/STOL runway (for vertical/short takeoff and landing aircraft) could accommodate shuttle flights between LAX and city centerterminals of outlying communities. Such a development would make this downtown terminal the first of a series of such "inner-ring" metro-ports serving urban centers. A map of the possible satellite system is on the opposite page.
Another form of transport from downtown terminal to airport would be Skyrail, an elevated high speed railway, designed to follow existing railroad rights of way.
It is no longer a question of which idea is best. The Department feels that all of these methods, V/STOL, Skylounge and Skyrail, will comprise a commuter network, tied in with the outlying system of satellite airports. Such a network of local service vehicles is a necessity if global transportation is to fulfill its promise to civilization.
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