ACRP IdeaHub Ideas

Create guidance for developing contractual language for building information modeling (BIM) airport projects.

The research would develop a comprehensive guidance on concession agreement standards and terms. The new guidebook would update existing guidance and provides guidance on economic, operational and administrative issues not previously addressed.

Airports parking garages use automated license plate scanning in support or in lieu of paper tickets to establish fee payments. This technology might also be used to identify vehicles that might cause a threat and vehicles that might have civil or criminal enforcement issues.

The airport vehicle monitoring system and parking garages could be linked to local and national law enforcement centers to validate vehicle licenses... more »

Research is needed to help airports
 better define the extent of the problem
 better define the potential direct impacts of restricted scheduling windows
 identify unintended consequences at both originating and destination airports from restricted scheduling windows on intercontinental routes
 propose alternative noise mitigation strategies to achieve similar or better outcomes for communities in the vicinity of... more »

The objective of this research is to identify how airports can assist Federal and state law enforcement in combatting human trafficking. By supporting investigation and interdiction of human trafficking occurring in and around their facilities, airports can improve their security posture and the safety of the traveling public, as well as the diverse victims of this under-reported crime. Potential research products would... more »

The purpose of this synthesis is to compile research, reports, and practices related to state and local regulations, seaplane operation, policy issues, arguments for and against aircraft and motorboat usage, and sample regulations, practices or guidelines regarding invasive species control.

The synthesis will serve as a useful reference document for presenting data and informing policymakers, seaplane operators, regulators,... more »

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the financial foundations of airports and many aviation industry stakeholders. The proposed synthesis is to identify and evaluate current research on various airport funding models in order to describe potential future analytical projects.

Synthesis of case studies showcasing what has worked well and what has not, to give examples of alignment between airport operators and land use jurisdictions. States might take different approaches from each other, and understanding these differences could be valuable.

Survey of National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) and other aviation groups to ascertain what is done to make land use planning required by communities affected by airports.

Synthesis or toolkit of FAA regulations relative to land use. Such a resource would note any conflicts between FAA requirements and local land use rules and policies.

Project would review forensic/fingerprinting approaches being employed in the industry for PFAS source differentiation, assess the validity and usefulness of the approaches used, and summarize those approaches in a guidance document. Additionally, the project would create a tool for airports to perform some level of fingerprinting assessment of PFAS impacts to soil or groundwater to discrimnate between multiple sources... more »

It is imperative that entities preparing to undertake a major airport terminal or expansion project understand what risks are involved and how those risks can be mitigated. If the proposed research is conducted and an intuitive database of risk-management contract provisions is created, entities interested in participating in such a "mega project" would be able to identify how best to manage the associated risk: this... more »

COVID-19 has grounded aircraft all around the country exceeding the gate and "regular" parking capacity of several airports. Airport operators and flight operators have coordinated for parking these overflow aircraft in non-traditional configuration (i.e., denser parking configuration than the default layout) and on unusual areas of the airfield (e.g., taxiways, runways, decommissioned pavement). At many airports, portions... more »

The Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program rules set for th in 49 CFR Part 23 prohibits airport sponsors from entering into long-term, exclusive (LTE) agreements for concessions, except under very limited conditions and only with pre-review and approval from the FAA Office of Civil Rights. The DOT published the final rule in the Federal Register on June 20, 2012, but according to one compliance... more »

TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Legal Research Digest 34: Airport Public Health Preparedness and Response: Legal Rights, Powers, and Duties addressed the legal issues concerning the measures to detect communicable diseases, regulations to control communicable diseases, methods for decontamination, emergency legal preparedness, privacy, and potential sources of liability.

This LRD was released in August... more »