Effective Practices For Preparing Airport Improvement Program Benefit-cost Analysis

The Transportation Research Board, with funding from the Federal Avation Administration, selected Economic Development Research Group to conduct a review of benefit-cost analysis methods and the techniques used to perform benefit-cost analysis for proposed airport improvemetn projects.

The project, ACRP Synthesis 3-05, included three parts:

• a critical review of the similarities and differences in benefit-cost analysis guidelines adopted by federal modal agencies (the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Rail Administration and Federal Maritime Administration);
• a statistical analysis of the types of elements included in applications for funding of airport improvement projects from FAA's in Airport Improvement Program discretionary funding (required of all applications for more than $5 million);
• case studies illustrating differences in practices and techniques used to identify and calculate benefits for various types of airport development projects.

The final product can be downloaded as a PDF file or purchased as a bound book.  Readers may also view slides shows and posters of related presentations prepared after completion of this study.

Related Presentations
Air Service Deployment and Economic Impacts of Aviation, presentation by Steven Landau to the Seventh National Aviation System Planning Symposium, 2009
Challenges Facing Small Airports: Effective Practices for Preparing AIP Benefit-Cost Analyses, presentation by Steven Landau to the American Association of Airport Executives, slide show (PDF), 2009.