Developing a Small Airport Economic Impact Estimator

Knowing the current economic impact of your airport is critical to both airport sponsors and TxDOT. While TxDOT periodically commissions a statewide economic impact study, there is a need for the ability to provide updated or more precise economic impact values to airport sponsors and other stakeholders including TxDOT, city/county officials, airport users, economic development officials, and businesses located on the airport. This is a result of: 1. Some airports not being included in the statewide study (or incomplete information being used); 2. Privacy concerns with respect to the financial/economic data because the airport may only have one business making it identifiable; 3. Changes in an airport’s activity levels since the last statewide study was performed; and 4. Airport’s desire to have a more detailed analysis than that which is allowed when looking at 300 airports at one time. Having updated and current numbers is important because many local officials use the airport’s economic impact values to justify the authorization of grant-matching funds for state and federal airport grants. This allows them to better leverage local funds for airport improvements. The research team will perform a literature review, develop and test an airport economic estimator tool, and create an easy-to-use web-based interface for small airports to input local airport data to determine the economic impact of their airport. The estimator tool will allow airport sponsors to provide airport-specific data if they have it or rely on default numbers, if they are not available, which would be developed and identified by the Performing Agency during this research project. The output will be economic impact values in terms of employment, payroll, and output for the airport, its tenants and businesses, and its visitors as well as the indirect and induced impacts they create. The Performing Agency will also develop a User’s Guide to explain how to use the estimator tool, what the results are, what they mean, and how the airport sponsors and Receiving Agency can use them.

• Record URL:
  https://library.ctr.utexas.edu/Presto/project=0-7066

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $130000
• Contract Numbers:

  0-7066

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Project Managers:

  Steele, Joanne

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System
  3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135
• Principal Investigators:

  Borowiec, Jeffrey

• Start Date: 20191101
• Expected Completion Date: 20201031
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Airport operations; Economic impacts
• Subject Areas: Aviation; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01744092
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 0-7066
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jun 25 2020 2:55PM