ACRP IdeaHub Synthesis Topics

ACRP Synthesis S20-01-24 ("Examples of Airports Providing Facility Space for Community Use") surveyed airports of all sizes and found that many airports provide space or property for parks and recreational use and that airports not currently providing such space were curious about developing such uses. The surveyed airports reported that providing land for parks and recreational use provided significant benefits, including... more »

Airports Authorities in the USA are typically operated by City, County, State, Quasi-governmental, or Privately. While government and quasi-government entities may provide employee fringe benefit packages, including pension (annuity) for tenure. With changes in the airlines and airports industry, comparing employee fringe benefits packages and offering possible solutions to improve the airports financial viability, whilst... more »

Many airport economic impact studies have been completed in the past 20 years. These studies, periodically updated, are used as one indicator of the growth and sustainability of the aviation industry as a whole and as key data to demonstrate the importance of an airport or group of airports to the economic growth of a state, region, or county. There appears to be no succinct source that documents utilization of these... more »

Building Information Modeling is mainly used for design & construction phase of an airport project. Ultimately, if stated in the project contract requirements, as-constructed model data is transitioned to Asset Management platform used by Airport Facilities Management team. Hence, the intent of BIM is to represent a physical space digitally for construction purpose and not to address daily occupancy and utilization of... more »

-

Imagine an opportunity to increase customer experience, positively impact MBR, resolve congestion for boarding lines and enhance facility usage, all with a new idea for managing gate operations. All of this can be accomplished by removing the standard millwork podiums at gates and incorporating mobile carts for the agents. Similar to what you would see nurses using for patients, using a cart the gate agents will have... more »

The expected benefits of the deployment of autonomous shuttles include a more efficient transportation system and improved safety. However, there are still many challenges that need to be addressed and resolved prior to the full deployment of such technology. These challenges can be summarized into five categories of (1) technology development; (2) user acceptance; (3) safety; (4) social and economic issues; and (5) regulations,... more »

Volunteer programs are a common practice at airports in the United States whereby local residents are engaged to enhance the airport's overall customer experience by welcoming travelers, offering directional assistance, and providing accurate information about the airport's services and amenities. The presence of a dedicated volunteer team creates a positive image of the airport and reflects the friendly hospitality of... more »

Runways routinely require the removal of rubber to maintain adequate surface friction. According to FAA AC 150/5320-12C, rubber can be removed by High-Pressure Water, Chemical, High-Velocity Impact, and Mechanical removal. Survey experiences with various airports in different climates to assess the cost, time required, benefits, and tradeoffs with various methods of rubber removal.

ACRP Synthesis 11-03/Topic S01-21 (The Benefits of Airport Arts Programs) provides an exhaustive analysis of current practices related to airport arts programs; the Synthesis identifies many tools that airports use to govern such programs and to manage them efficiently and economically. It was, however, beyond the scope of Synthesis 11-03/Topic S01-21 to provide an in depth analysis of precisely how these tools are used... more »

Sustainability and environmental mitigation are rapidly being incorporated into construction efforts at airports to mitigate and offset environmental impacts such as air emissions, water quality issues, etc. Naturally, every airport and their associated construction efforts and ability to incorporate sustainability vary on multiple fronts. This effort would provide a synthesis of construction sustainability and environmental... more »

In recent years, there has been an a growing concern regarding emissions of aviation related ultrafine particles (UFPs). This effort would consolidate relevant research regarding aviation and UFP emissions in order to provide useful insight to airports, stakeholders, and the public.

The purpose of this project is to provide a systematic and comprehensive overview of the current status of adopting passenger loyalty programs by the primary hub airports of the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems (NPIAS).

Due to COVID-19, airport operators had to develop strategies for maintaining the activity with social distancing. Some of them include remote work and remote learning. However, not all the tasks can be performed from home (e.g., real-time operations management). The goal of this synthesis would be to list the tasks and missions that airports have experimented in remote work, to explore the training sessions that can be... more »

The synthesis would collect and present best practices developed by airports to protect the public and the airport workers (incl. tenants and stakeholders) from COVID-19. The domain of the study includes the landside (esp. how to ensure consistency between airport and mass transit, TNCs, etc.), the terminal area (incl. the restricted access areas), and the airside (ramp and airfield workers).