The author has developed a new method tor collecting pedestrian traffic flow data In airport terminals. The method was developed for the Airport Facilities Branch of the Canada Ministry of Transport. The problem was to find a better way of conducting terminals surveys. Traditional inter· view surveys and time and motion studies yield only fragmented bits of information. A total systems approach was required. The method con· sists of handing a card to each person as he or she enters the terminal either at the gate or at. the door. The person is asked to carry the card during his or her stay in the terminal. At various check points the card is t ime-stamped. When the person leaves the terminal, the card is collected. The result is a complete trace of his or her movements in the terminal. A pilot study to test this technique was conducted at the Winnipeg International Airport on August 1 end 2, 1975. The survey was successful: 10 055 cards were carried successfully through the terminal tor 2 days, 96 cards were discarded and re. covered, and about 150 cards were unec· counted for, which is a 98 percent return. The result is a complete travel pattern for each person. The data are so comprehensive that they will yield volumes, flow rates, occupancies, queuing length, service times, de· lays, levels of service, velocities, densities, flow patterns, conflicts, pro· cessing line balance, space use, and total travel effort.

In the summer of 1974, the Airport Facilities Branch of the Canada Ministry of Transport initiated a program to conduct effectiveness evaluation studies of major airport terminal bll. ildings in Canada. I was retained by the Canada Ministry of Transpo1· t to develop the overall methodology. Part of this methodology was directed at the pedestrian traific flow subsystem of the terminal. The terms of reference for the pedestrian flow system specified that the methodology