Exploring Airport Employee Commuting and Transportation Needs (2024)
Chapter: Glossary of Terms
Glossary of Terms
Active commuting. Commuting via active means, such as walking or bicycling.
Affective commitment. Refers to the emotional attachment the employee feels for their organization, meaning they can identify with it personally.
Air Quality Management Plan (AQMP). Adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Southern California Association of Governments in 1991 to address smog and air quality standards unique to the LA basin.
American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE). The industry trade association that represents the airport management profession.
Balance of utility. This concept states that commuting costs—monetary, physiological, or other— are offset in the labor or housing market.
Carpool. The sharing of a car by more than one person.
Carshare. A model through which vehicles are made available to program members for hourly or daily use.
Categorical exclusion (CATEX). Applies to categories of actions that the FAA has determined, based on previous experience, do not have significant individual or cumulative impact on the quality of the human environment except in extraordinary circumstances.
Community improvement district (CID). A special self-taxing district that collects revenue within its boundaries to provide infrastructure, planning, and management services.
Continuance commitment. Refers to the situation in which employees are committed to their organization because they fear the consequences and costs related to an exit from the organization.
Coronavirus disease (COVID). A disease caused by a virus named SARS-CoV-2. The virus is very contagious and spreads quickly. As of April 2024, more than one million people have died from COVID-19 in the United States.
Disincentives. Anything designed to discourage an individual from performing an action.
Employee commute options (ECO). A program offered by an employer or a TMA, offering incentives, information, and services to encourage employees to commute to work using alternatives to driving alone in a private vehicle.
Employee transportation coordinator (ETC). Also known as a transportation management coordinator, this is the individual at a work site responsible for promoting and organizing programs that encourage commuting to and from work via modes other than the single occupant vehicle. The ETC disseminates information about bus and transit schedules, and may also sell discounted transit tokens or passes. In addition, the ETC is responsible for carpool and vanpool matching and the promotion of pooling among members of the workforce.
Environmental assessment (EA). Prepared by an airport sponsor to determine whether a proposed action will cause a significant effect on the human environment. A significant effect would exceed regulatory thresholds/limits. An EA describes a proposed project and its alternatives, summarizes the environmental analysis and conclusions, and is circulated to the public.
Environmental impact statement (EIS). Under NEPA, the FAA must prepare an EIS for proposed actions that can cause a significant effect on the human environment by exceeding regulatory thresholds/limits and for which mitigation is not available to reduce those impacts below regulatory thresholds. An EIS describes a proposed project and its alternatives, summarizes the environmental analysis and conclusions, and is circulated to the public.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). A federal agency that is part of the Department of Transportation responsible for providing the safest and most efficient aerospace system in the world. Consists of Airports, Air Traffic Organization, Audit and Evaluation, Aviation Safety, Chief Counsel, Civil Rights, Commercial Space Transportation, Communications, Finance and Management, Acquisition & Business Services, Financial Services, Information & Technology Services, Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, Government and Industry Affairs, Human Resource Management, NextGen, Policy, International Affairs and Environment, Security and Hazardous Materials Safety.
Green points. Points that may be provided by an employer that rewards employees for choosing environmentally friendly commute modes. For example, when an employee chooses greener travel options, such as carpool, vanpool, bus, bike, or telecommute, earned points can be redeemed for restaurant coupons, retailer discounts, and tickets to shows and attractions.
Ground access. Consists of passengers, employees, visitors, and suppliers that use ground-based means to access the airport. Typically refers to a larger issue of demands that vehicles place on the airport.
Guaranteed ride home. Also referred to as an emergency ride home, this is provided by an employer to encourage employees to use a sustainable mode of transportation. The employer will provide reimbursement for the cost to get home in the event of an emergency, or overtime that is beyond the normal operating hours of public transit.
Human resources (HR). A group responsible for managing the employee life cycle (i.e., recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, and firing employees) and administering employee benefits.
Incentives. Anything designed to persuade an individual to alter their behavior in the desired manner.
Me-time. The time a person has to himself or herself, in which to do something for his or her own enjoyment.
Mode. The way or manner in which transportation or commuting is performed.
Mode shift. The shift of employees from one transportation mode to another, often calculated as the percentage of single-occupant automobile trips that have shifted to other modes of transportation.
Mode split. The split between various transportation modes, often calculated as the percentage of travelers using each transportation mode offered.
Normative commitment. Refers to the feelings of obligation to remain in the organization. Employees feel they owe the company their loyalty.
Parking cash-out. Cash allowances, in lieu of parking, that encourage employees to find alternate means of commuting to work, such as public transit, carpooling, vanpooling, bicycling, or walking.
Regional transportation district. The regional agency operating public transit services in eight out of the 12 counties in the Denver-Aurora-Boulder Combined Statistical Area in Colorado.
Rideshare. A company that, via websites and mobile apps, matches passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire. Also known as transportation network companies (TNCs).
Single occupant vehicle (SOV). A privately operated vehicle whose only occupant is the driver.
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The air pollution control agency for all of Orange County and the urban portions of Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties.
Sustainability. Defined as the consideration of environmental health, social equity, and economic vitality in order to create thriving, healthy, diverse, and resilient communities.
Transportation demand management (TDM). TDM is aimed at reducing congestion by restricting travel demand, rather than providing more transportation capacity. It includes strategies such as shifting solo drivers to carpools or transit, allowing more employees to work at home, or adjusting work schedules to avoid peak-period auto travel. This is often accomplished via policies, programs, and incentives.
Transportation demand management certified professional (TDM-CP). Offered by the Association for Commuter Transportation, this credentialing program is designed to recognize a professional’s knowledge of transportation demand management (TDM) and experience in planning, developing, administering, implementing, and evaluating TDM programs and services.
Transportation equity. Concept of fairness in mobility and accessibility to meet the needs of all community members. Specifically, all employees will have equal access to the same or similar quality of transportation.
Transportation management organization (TMO). Also known as a transportation management association (TMA), this refers to an organized group applying carefully selected approaches to facilitating the movement of people and goods within an area. They are typically nonprofit, member-controlled organizations that provide transportation services in a particular area. Often, they are in the form of public-private partnerships, consisting primarily of area businesses with local government support.
Transportation Security Administration (TSA). A federal agency charged with maintaining the security of the nation’s transportation system.
Travel demand management. Focuses on developing relatively longer-term planning and coordination strategies to help manage people’s time and modes of travel with the purposes of eliminating certain trips, switching them to more efficient modes (such as transit), or changing trip starting time (e.g., peak spreading). This is often accomplished via the use of modeling.
Triple bottom line. A business concept that states firms should commit to measuring their social and environmental impact—in addition to their financial performance—rather than solely focusing on generating profit, or the standard “bottom line.”
Unbundled parking. “Unbundling” is a critical TDM measure. By unbundling the cost of parking from the employee’s paycheck, the true cost of driving is experienced, possibly leading more employees to choose sustainable options, such as light rail, bus, walking, bicycling, or carpooling.
Vanpool. The sharing of a van by more than one person, typically arranged by an employer or local/regional transportation agency.
Work-life balance. The state of equilibrium where a person equally prioritizes the demands of one’s career and the demands of one’s personal life.
