The creation of an airport cooperative research program, modeled partly on existing cooperative research programs for highways and public transit, has been urged by numerous individuals and organizations over the past decade and has formed the basis of proposals by the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) and the Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA). In 2000 legislation reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) (Public Law 106-181), Congress requested a formal study of the concept by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In response, the FAA contracted with the Transportation Research Board (TRB), under the auspices of the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies, to conduct the study. This special report is the result of that study, which was conducted by the TRB Committee for a Study of an Airport Cooperative Research Program. The committee's report is organized into five chapters that mirror the study approach. Chapter 1 discusses the study approach and describes the complex operating, financial, and regulatory landscape in which airports exist. An understanding of these complexities can be helpful in understanding why a cooperative research program has much appeal but faces many challenges. Consideration is given to the various types of airports and their uses, financing, regulation, and administration. The chapter concludes with a review of the respective roles of federal agencies, state and local governments, universities, and the private sector in sponsoring and undertaking airport-related research. In Chapter 2 several important research needs that airport operators have in common are identified. These needs have tended to be neglected or addressed only tangentially or with insufficient urgency by existing research activities. The origins and structure of the existing cooperative research programs in the highway and transit modes are reviewed in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, the insights gained from these and other program reviews are referred to in examining options for organizing an airport cooperative research program and in proposing a specific means of program funding, governance, and management. The key findings and conclusions of the study are summarized in Chapter 5, and the next steps toward the creation of an airport cooperative research program are recommended.
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