Purpose

To encourage applied research on airport and related aviation system issues and to foster the next generation of aviation community leaders. The program is intended to stimulate thought, discussion, and research by those who may become the future airport managers, operators, designers, and policy makers in aviation. The focus of this research program is on applied research to help the public sector continue to improve the quality, reliability, safety, and security of the U.S. civil aviation system well into the foreseeable future.

Airports are vital national resources. They serve key roles in the transportation of people and goods and in regional, national, and international commerce. They are where the nation’s aviation system connects with other modes of transportation and where federal responsibility for managing and regulating air traffic operations intersects with the role of state and local governments that own and operate most airports. Research is necessary to solve common operating problems, to adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into the airport industry.

The Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) carries out applied research on problems that are shared by airport operating agencies and are not being adequately addressed by existing federal research programs. The need for ACRP was identified in TRB Special Report 272: Airport Research Needs: Cooperative Solutions (March 2003), based on a study sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The ACRP undertakes research and other technical activities in a variety of airport subject areas including design, construction, maintenance, operations, safety, security, policy, planning, human resources, and administration.