U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operates Federal Inspection Services (FIS) facilities at airports nationwide, processing some 1.1 million flights each year. From major hubs to smaller regional gateways, these facilities serve tourists, business travelers, and families connecting across borders.
ACRP Transportation Insights 7: Modernization of Federal Inspection Services Facilities at U.S. Airports, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, captures the discussions at an event that explored how CBP facilities at U.S. airports can evolve in the years and decades ahead.
64 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-60106-1
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-60107-X
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29288
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Modernization of Federal Inspection Services Facilities at U.S. Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Emerging ground access technologies, such as autonomous, automated, connected, and electric vehicles, will affect airport landside operations. Curbside traffic will change, becoming more complex as automotive technologies become more innovative. Other mass and personal transportation modes that leverage both legacy and new technologies will also provide mobility to and from the airport. Airport operators will need to understand the impacts to landside operations to effectively plan for passenger terminal facilities. They will also have to consider accessibility, costs, legal and regulatory implications, sustainability, and resilience.
ACRP Research Report 269: Enhancing Airport Access with Emerging Mobility, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, provides strategies for addressing current and future transportation and ground access technologies and for planning landside facilities that incorporate these emerging technologies.
328 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73198-4
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73199-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28600
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Enhancing Airport Access with Emerging Mobility. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Airports, while physically located within individual states, operate as instruments of commerce subject to federal jurisdiction as part of the national transportation system. This duality, requiring airports to navigate multiple layers of laws and regulations, is particularly significant in the context of cannabis, where some states have legalized the substance for certain uses while federal law continues to prohibit it.
ACRP Legal Research Digest 49: Legal Impacts to Airports from State Legalization of Cannabis, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, provides insight into the legal impacts to airports from these and ongoing efforts by certain states to legalize cannabis by identifying key issues and corresponding legal guidance, where available.
44 pages
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ISBN Paperback: 0-309-99298-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-99299-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29135
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Legal Impacts to Airports from State Legalization of Cannabis. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The number of incidents involving disruptive, threatening, or violent behavior in commercial airports has increased in recent years. However, much of the response to these incidents has been focused on addressing behavior in flight, leaving airport operators with limited guidelines tailored to the airport environment.
ACRP Research Report 280: Reducing and Managing Disruptive and Unruly Behavior in Airports: A Guide, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, presents a practical guide for reducing and responding to incidents of disruptive, threatening, or violent behavior in an airport setting. The guide examines the topic holistically and offers a structured approach to understanding root causes, prevention and mitigation strategies, coordinated response, and postincident analysis.
100 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-99376-8
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-99377-6
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29156
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Reducing and Managing Disruptive and Unruly Behavior in Airports: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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ACRP Web-Only Document 66: Incorporating Technologies into Airport In-Terminal Concessions Programs: A Primer, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, is supplemental to ACRP Research Report 279: Framework and Tools for Incorporating Technologies into Airport In-Terminal Concessions Programs. The primer is a practical document that will be of interest to a wide array of industry practitioners desiring to use technology to enhance airport terminal concessions programs.
77 pages
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8.5 x 11
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-99348-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29146
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Incorporating Technologies into Airport In-Terminal Concessions Programs: A Primer. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The 1926 Air Commerce Act established which aspects of aviation the federal government would and would not regulate. Although it was understood that standardization created safety and reliability, the Act did not create standards for airports. Instead, the Department of Commerce created a voluntary rating system aimed to provide objective guidance to municipalities and private companies that wanted to construct or improve facilities.
ACRP Legal Research Digest 48: Legal Issues Concerning the Safety and Security of General Aviation Airports, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, explores legal issues related to safety and security at general aviation airports, with a focus on state regulatory requirements for general aviation airports.
84 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73543-2
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73544-0
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29071
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Legal Issues Concerning the Safety and Security of General Aviation Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Airport parking is an important customer amenity and a principal source of revenue that helps fund the operation and development of airports. In recent years, growing volumes of passenger traffic and increasing competition from a variety of airport access providers have encouraged airports to seek new ways to attract airport parkers and enhance revenues, which may include implementing an online booking system.
ACRP Synthesis 140: Airport Parking Reservation Systems and Techniques, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, documents the use of online booking systems at U.S. airports, including their benefits, costs, and implementation challenges.
60 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73407-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73408-8
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/29030
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Airport Parking Reservation Systems and Techniques. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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U.S. airports that receive assistance from the federal government are required to comply with a number of obligations imposed by federal law.
The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Web-Only Document 65: DOT and FAA Airport Legal Determination and Opinion Letter Abstracts of 2023 covers case-specific guidance from U.S. DOT or FAA on various federal airport compliance matters released since the previous update to ACRP Legal Research Digest 21.
This document is supplemental to ACRP Legal Research Digest 21: Compilation of DOT and FAA Airport Legal Determinations and Opinion Letters as of December 31, 2023, which contains agency determinations covering administrative cases brought against large and small airports throughout the United States, as well as DOT and FAA opinion letters, memoranda, and related documents. These documents cover legal matters that include reasonableness of contractual terms, leasing practices, airport rules and regulations, airport charges imposed on aeronautical users, including airlines, and the standards for determining airport sponsor compliance with other federal obligations.
47 pages
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73306-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28856
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. DOT and FAA Airport Legal Determination and Opinion Letter Abstracts of 2023. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Most airports, whether they realize it or not, use geospatial data. Traditionally, spatial data has been documented on paper to identify airport assets; as technology has progressed, information on spatial data has become more accurate. Today, geospatial software systems, such as geographic information systems, computer-aided design, and building information modeling, make acquiring and maintaining geospatial data easier.
ACRP Research Report 278: Geospatial Data Governance Policies and Procedures: A Guide, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, provides guidance to airport operators on how to create a data governance strategy for airports and stakeholders, including roles and responsibilities, policies, data collection standards, procedures, data exchange, security, and maintenance.
150 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73309-X
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73310-3
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28857
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Geospatial Data Governance Policies and Procedures: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Airports host multiple federal agencies that play key roles in the operations,safety, and security of their facilities. Planning and operation of airports across the United States may require accommodation of multiple federal agencies, but the legal authority defining airports' rights and obligations to these agencies is varied and at times unclear.
ACRP Legal Research Digest 47: Accommodating Federal Agencies at Airports and Related Contractual Concerns, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, seeks to provide a single source of information concerning airports' rights and obligations to accommodate federal agencies and to enter into cooperative agreements and other agreements.
30 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73349-9
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73350-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28870
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Accommodating Federal Agencies at Airports and Related Contractual Concerns. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States have increased from around 100,000 in 2013 to more than one million in 2023. In turn, airports have installed charging stations to meet their customers' needs, prepare for expected demand, and comply with local ordinances. At least 93 out of the 145 hub airports are offering EV charging in their passenger parking facilities, up from 37 in 2014.
86 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73169-0
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73170-4
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28593
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at Airport Passenger Parking Facilities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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As communities become more socially and environmentally conscious, there is growing awareness of some of the adverse impacts of aviation activity, including its contribution to climate change and the resulting social pressure to sometimes discourage air travel.
ACRP Research Report 277: Communicating a Balanced Look at Local Airport Activity and Climate Change, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, is a guide for airport practitioners to understand the relationships among their airport's activity, economic benefits, and climate change. The guide offers rules of thumb to estimate these changes and effectively communication strategies that directly address the most common community concerns.
168 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73239-5
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73240-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28759
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Communicating a Balanced Look at Local Airport Activity and Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Industry guidance on the planning, operation, and design of airfield vehicle service roads (VSRs) is limited and dispersed across multiple documents. For that reason, VSR systems vary across the industry and are usually influenced by an airport's unique operational demands, vehicle types, airfield and facility configurations, and other airport-specific characteristics.
ACRP Synthesis 139: Airfield Vehicle Service Road Design and Operations, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, describes planning, design, and operations for airfield VSR systems, including operations on apron, non-movement, and movement areas. The synthesis considers VSR issues such as maintaining the road, driver's training, safety concerns, and operational challenges of VSR layouts.
64 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73253-0
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73254-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28811
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Airfield Vehicle Service Road Design and Operations. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The ACRP 2024 Annual Report describes the TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's activities and accomplishments over the past year. The annual report details how ACRP encourages collaboration to address emerging challenges and fosters professional networking across miles and generations. Program metrics and practitioner feedback are presented to highlight ACRP's accomplishments.
Since its establishment in 2005, the Airport Cooperative Research Program has helped foster and sustain these benefits by conducting applied research to help the airport industry address day-to-day challenges. In 2024, ACRP continued conducting high-quality, industry-driven research, disseminating the research to airport practitioners and other stakeholders, and engaging industry members in new and meaningful ways.
72 pages
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11 x 8.5
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ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72893-2
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28029
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. ACRP 2024 Annual Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has made clear the vulnerability of aviation and other industries to shock events. While the pandemic is one of the largest events to impact the aviation industry, other previous shock events have also exerted profound impacts on the aviation industry.
ACRP Research Report 272: Incorporating Shock Events into Aviation Demand Forecasting and Airport Planning, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, provides a methodology to assist airports in identifying and describing relevant shock events, understanding their potential impact on various aspects of the airport business, and developing approaches and strategies to enable the airport to better withstand and respond to shock events if they occur.
168 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72737-5
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72738-3
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27987
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Incorporating Shock Events into Aviation Demand Forecasting and Airport Planning. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Airport access and circulation roadways, curbside roadways, and service roads are used by a wide variety of vehicles. The operating characteristics of airport terminal area roadways differ from those of non-airport roadways because of the high proportion of motorists who are unfamiliar with the airport as well as the presence of many professional drivers who use the airport frequently.
ACRP Research Report 266: Airport Curbside and Terminal Area Roadway Operations: New Analysis and Strategies, Second Edition, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, is an update of ACRP Report 40: Airport Curbside and Terminal Area Roadway Operations. It presents guidelines for estimating airport roadway requirements and capacities, recommended performance measures, valid and useful analytical methods, and innovative strategies to reduce traffic demands and mitigate congestion on terminal area and curbside roadway operations.
214 pages
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72610-7
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72611-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27952
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Airport Curbside and Terminal Area Roadway Operations: New Analysis and Strategies, Second Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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Airports that have publicly accessible parks or other recreational use spaces on airport property have reported strengthening community relationships.
ACRP Synthesis 137: Parks and Other Recreational Uses on Airport Property, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, describes the experiences of airports that provide airport property for publicly accessible parks and other recreational uses. This effort includes documenting the development, management, and operation of existing airport programs; the perceived benefits and risks of utilizing airport property for parks and recreational uses; and how these uses can support community goals.
60 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-73043-0
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-73044-9
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/28457
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Parks and Other Recreational Uses on Airport Property. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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There are many types of general aviation (GA) users that have leases with commercial service and GA airports. These include aeronautical service providers, corporate flight departments and other aircraft owners, and other users such as cargo, charter, and fuel farms.
ACRP Legal Research Digest 46: Legal Considerations for General Aviation Lease Development at Airports, from TRB's Airport Cooperative Research Program, provides background on relevant legal issues, analysis of 16 GA lease terms, and a list of issues that can arise during negotiations.
64 pages
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8.5 x 11
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paperback
ISBN Paperback: 0-309-72753-7
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-72754-5
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17226/27990
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2024. Legal Considerations for General Aviation Lease Development at Airports. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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