Challenges in managing centralized taxi dispatching at high-volume airports

This paper provides an evaluation of taxi dispatching procedures at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Curbside data collection and interviews with airport stakeholders were conducted to describe and quantify conditions for taxi drivers and passengers at JFK. A literature review was performed to identify operational similarities and differences between JFK and other high-volume airports with centralized taxi dispatching and to identify potential solutions for application at JFK. The outcomes of this study include (a) characterization of relationships between airportwide and terminal-level passenger demands and available taxi supply at JFK, (b) identification of sources of inefficiency in existing taxi dispatching procedures and taxi operations, and (c) identification of approaches for addressing supply-demand imbalances and next steps in evaluating those approaches.