Measuring and Understanding the Relationship Between Air Service and Regional Economic Development

Airports and their communities recognize the importance of air service for economic development. This recognition is prompting research to develop measures to understand the relationship between the two and maximize an airport’s contribution to its region’s economic development strategies. Research undertaken for ACRP Report 132: The Role of U.S. Airports in the National Economy examined how air service improvements between regions and selected international markets could benefit the U.S. economy. The report established a statistical relationship between the national aviation system and the overall economy. Research is needed to extend this research to more clearly define the influence of air service changes on regional economic development and explore the extent to which changes in air service affect productivity in differing industry sectors. This research will enable analysis of the regional economic impacts of air service and provide guidance for communicating results to stakeholders. The objective of this research is to develop a guidebook and tools (e.g., flowcharts, decision trees, narrative templates, spreadsheets) to help airports and their communities understand, measure, and address the relationship between air service and economic development.

• Record URL:
  http://apps.trb.org/cmsfeed/TRBNetProjectDisplay.asp?ProjectID=4846

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $500000
• Contract Numbers:

  Project 03-58

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Airport Cooperative Research Program

  Transportation Research Board
  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC    20001

  Federal Aviation Administration

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20591
• Performing Organizations:

  InterVistas

  Washington, DC  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Martin, Steve

• Start Date: 20200518
• Expected Completion Date: 20220222
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air transportation; Airports; Connectivity; Economic benefits; Economic development; Industries; Intercity travel; International travel; Productivity; Regional development
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Economics; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01713677
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Transportation Research Board
• Contract Numbers: Project 03-58
• Files: TRB, RIP
• Created Date: Aug 12 2019 9:59PM