This invention comprises a baggage
transport system for handling passenger baggage for transport. In accordance with one or more embodiments of this invention, when a passenger makes a reservation to travel, a passenger identifier number, which may be a
ticket or reservation number, is issued and placed in a data collection together with the passenger's transport number, date of travel, time of travel and method of carrier compensation. When the passenger obtains a
ticket to a destination, the
ticket identifies the passenger identifier, the transport number and date of departure.Rather than check baggage for
carriage at the transport check-in counter, under one embodiment of this invention, baggage is checked for
carriage to a destination before departure at a baggage collection facility that is separate from the departure and arrival facility. In the proposed
system, passengers will obtain their ticket or passenger identifier at any time in advance of travel and leave off their baggage at a convenient baggage collection center, which may feature drive-in service. The baggage collection center will then accept the baggage for transport to the passengers' ultimate destinations, not merely to the destination transport arrival facilities, which may be airports. Passengers will be able to have their baggage delivered directly to their homes, hotels, offices or other location, rather than having to struggle with baggage at transport arrival facility baggage
pickup carousels. Thus, passengers will be able to enter and leave transport arrival facilities quickly and conveniently.