Morrison Hershfield developed a state-of-the-art object-oriented simulation program to create flexible and versatile models of complex, multi-component, and multi-modal transportation systems to various levels of detail.  The program has come to be known as AIMä or the Airport Impact Model. 

The program was used to simulate both the air and ground sides of the airports, the road network connecting the various airports, and a High Speed Rail link through the area.

Morrison Hershfield applied AIMä to assess:

• Air travel demand for each airport based on demographic, land use and economic factors
• Performance of the airports with regard to meeting the projected demand based on different aircraft/airline traffic allocation
• Performance of the transportation system as it relates to providing access to the various airports
• Competition to air service by other intercity modes of transportation 

 The multi-modal aspect of the developed program made it possible for Transport Canada to trade-off investments in transportation facilities. 

The structure of the developed program was designed to support the creation of an entire parallel model that would operate in direct linkage with a model of the physical system.  This feature made it possible for Transport Canada to assess not only operational factors, but also social (e.g., employment generation potential), economic (e.g., revenues) and environmental factors (e.g., emissions) associated with different policy and investment decisions.