These proceedings summarize the presentations made at the 16th Airport Noise Symposium and 2nd Airport Air Quality Symposium, organized by the Technology Transfer Program of the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS) and held in San Diego, California, from February 25 to March 2, 2001. The presentation slides for many of the presentations at both symposia are available on the ITS Technology Transfer Program website at .

The symposia were organized in conjunction with the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Federal Interagency Committee on Aviation Noise, and the Port of San Diego, and with the active support and assistance of the individuals and organizations represented on the Symposia Program Committee, listed at the end of these proceedings.

Within the transportation community, there is a growing recognition of the need to consider decisions addressing future investments in the transportation system from a multimodal perspective. This viewpoint has been given added weight by the passage of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) in 1991, which not only recognized the importance of viewing the transportation system from an intermodal perspective, but also stressed the need to address the efficiency with which the system meets the transportation needs of its users. This approach was reinforced with the reauthorization of the surface transportation legislation in the 1998 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which added concepts of fairness in the distribution of resources to those of the efficiency of the transportation system. It is clear that to make investment decisions on a rational multimodal basis, it is necessary to be able to assess the performance of each of the modes in a consistent way, so that resources can be allocated across the modes in a way that maximizes their contribution to the overall performance of the entire transportation system. Of course, in practice existing programs and institutional arrangements have tended to remain focused on a specific mode, and thus efforts to compare performance across modes, much less to allow this to shape investment decisions, are still in their infancy. However, the California Transportation Commission has embarked on an effort to approach its capital investment decisions from such a perspective, and recent state legislation (Senate Bill 45) requires that all Regional Transportation Plans (RTPs) shall address the coordination of aviation facilities and services with other elements of the transportation system. In addition, the RTPs in any region that contains a primary air carrier airport shall include an airport ground access improvement program. As part of the current update of the California Transportation Plan (CTP), the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) commenced work on a System Performance Measures module of the CTP, the goals of which are to develop a set of measures to assess the performance of the multi-modal transportation system so as to support informed transportation decision making, and to establish a coordinated and consistent process for performance measurement throughout the state (Caltrans, 1998c). This report addresses one aspect of that effort -- the definition of performance measures for the aviation system. This system, particularly the investment in airports, navigation aids, and air traffic management infrastructure, exists to serve its users, and indirectly to support the economic activities in which those users engage. Therefore, any attempt to measure the performance of the aviation system must consider the needs of the users and the extent to which the system satisfies those needs. From a broader perspective, the state is also interested in the extent to which the aviation system contributes to and supports the economic development of the state, as well as the adverse environmental impacts that result from aviation activities. Many of the current controversies surrounding major airport expansion or conversion proposals in the state focus not on the benefits to the users or the economy but on the impacts on the local communities or natural environment. The report examines the range of considerations that arise in measuring transportation system performance, and summarizes the results of a recent conference that addressed performance measures for the state transportation system. It reviews the recent literature on measuring aviation system performance and discusses system performance from the perspectives of the aircraft operator and traveler or shipper, respectively. It then presents a third perspective, that of the effect of the performance of the aviation system on the larger economy, particularly that of California, as well as the impact on the environment. The report then shifts its focus to the state interest in monitoring transportation system performance, and discusses the role of the state in enhancing the performance of the aviation system, and how an effective performance monitoring system can contribute to that role. Based on these considerations, the report presents a proposed set of aviation system performance measures, and discusses the steps necessary to implement an effective performance monitoring process for the state aviation system, including directions for further study to strengthen the role of performance measures in the development of the state aviation system. The report identifies 74 potential aviation system performance measures in ten categories corresponding to the system performance outcomes defined in the CTP System Performance Measures module. These are divided into 48 potential measures that address the commercial aviation sector and 26 potential measures that address the general aviation sector, as shown in Table ES-1.

This working paper describes a proposed research plan to explore the application of advanced technology to highway vehicle navigation. The proposed research addresses navigation, communication, and control technology, benefits of improved vehicle navigation, system requirements, and design and implementation issues. The paper introduces the issues involvedin highway vehicle navigation and communication, and discusses recentdevelopments in vehicle navigation technology.

The importance of a vigorous program of research in this area is identified, and six near term and ten follow-on projects are described, including provision estimates of the level of effort required.

On September 5, 1989, the Federal Aviation Administration announced its intention to impose a major new security requirement on U.S. airlines. In accordance with an implementation timetable to be developed at a later date, airlines would be required to screen all checked baggage on all international flights with an FAA-approved explosive detection system (EDS).

In May 1996, the FAA announced a new and innovative approach to reach a goal of "zero accidents," known as the Global Analysis and Information Network (GAIN). This would be a privately owned and operated international information infrastructure for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of aviation safety information. It would involve the use of a broad variety of worldwide aviation data sources, coupled with comprehensive analytical techniques, to facilitate the identification of existing and emerging aviation safety problems. A major component of the GAIN approach is the application of innovative analysis capabilities to identify the types of human error that contribute to aviation accidents and incidents in order to develop prevention strategies. As part of its Flight Crew Accident and Incident Human Factors Project initiated in 1993, the FAA Office of System Safety has developed a new process that uses a prototype website-based Integration Tool (IT) to access, integrate, and analyze flight crew human factors data relevant to safety. In September 1996, the FAA Office of System Safety funded the National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research to initiate a program of research to provide human factors support for the GAIN concept. The first phase of this research performed a technical review of the results achieved to date by the flight crew human factors project and developed a strategic plan to lay the foundations for a sound scientific approach to the analysis of human factors issues within the framework of the GAIN concept. This report documents follow-on research activities directed at continued development of the Integration Tool and developing better ways to identify error reduction strategies.

This report presents statistical information on passenger and cargo traffic, aircraft activity and delays at California airports. Five main topics are considered: passenger enplanements, air travel origin and destination (O-D) patterns, air cargo activity, aircraft operations, and airport delays. In most cases, we present data for the state as a whole, major regions within the state, and major airports within each region. Most of the data are compiled on an annual basis for the years from 1980 to 2000. The report concludes with a discussion of the changes in activity in the California aviation system since the events of September 11, 2001, and some of the implications of these changes.

This report documents the findings of research sponsored by the Los Angeles World Airports to examine the influence of airport capacity constraints on airline fleet mix and to explore the potential effects of policy options to influence airlines to use larger aircraft types and thereby accommodate growth in passenger or cargo demand without a corresponding increase in the number of aircraft operations. This issue is of growing importance at many major airports in the United States and indeed around the world, as a steadily increasing demand for air transportation has resulted in volumes of air traffic that are approaching the capacity of the existing airport infrastructure, resulting in the prospect of significantly greater levels of aircraft delay in the future. At the same time, environmental and other concerns are limiting the ability of airports to construct additional runways to increase their airside capacity.