Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) staff revealed at this month’s board meeting that the agency’s ground transportation plan to help mitigate traffic congestion in and around Boston Logan International Airport.
Long-term goals are to reduce greenhouse gases, reduce empty vehicles on roadways, make High Occupancy Vehicle options more attractive and improve the customer experience.
The plan aims to double Logan Express (LEX) service ridership while eliminating up to 3 million vehicle trips off the roads by changing how Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) operate at Logan.
TNCs include companies like Lyft and Uber. They made 12 million trips to and from Logan last year, but only 7 million involved passenger drop-offs or pick-ups.
The plan would reduce empty TNC vehicles up to 30 percent.
“The growing congestion at Logan is significantly impacting our passengers and our surrounding communities,” John Pranckevicius, Massport acting CEO, said. “The bottom line is we need more people to get to and from the airport in fewer vehicles, and we think we can do that with these new strategies. This plan is better for our customers, better for the community and better for the environment.”
The plan includes initiatives to increase LEX’s annual ridership to 4 million. LEX is the state’s seventh largest transit system.