AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH ACRP PROGRAM REPORT 52 Sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside ACRP OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE* TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2011 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* CHAIR OFFICERS James Wilding CHAIR: Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (re- VICE CHAIR: Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson tired) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board VICE CHAIR MEMBERS Jeff Hamiel Minneapolis–St. Paul J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY Metropolitan Airports Commission Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Norfolk, VA MEMBERS William A.V. Clark, Professor, Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles James Crites Eugene A. Conti, Jr., Secretary of Transportation, North Carolina DOT, Raleigh Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport James M. Crites, Executive Vice President of Operations, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, TX Richard de Neufville Paula J. Hammond, Secretary, Washington State DOT, Olympia Massachusetts Institute of Technology Michael W. Hancock, Secretary, Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Frankfort Kevin C. Dolliole Unison Consulting Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley John K. Duval Michael P. Lewis, Director, Rhode Island DOT, Providence Austin Commercial, LP Susan Martinovich, Director, Nevada DOT, Carson City Kitty Freidheim Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington Freidheim Consulting Steve Grossman Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Regional General Manager, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Mandeville, LA Jacksonville Aviation Authority Steven T. Scalzo, Chief Operating Officer, Marine Resources Group, Seattle, WA Tom Jensen Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc., St. Louis, MO National Safe Skies Alliance Beverly A. Scott, General Manager and CEO, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, Catherine M. Lang Atlanta, GA Federal Aviation Administration Gina Marie Lindsey David Seltzer, Principal, Mercator Advisors LLC, Philadelphia, PA Los Angeles World Airports Lawrence A. Selzer, President and CEO, The Conservation Fund, Arlington, VA Carolyn Motz Kumares C. Sinha, Olson Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering, Purdue University, West Airport Design Consultants, Inc. Lafayette, IN Richard Tucker Thomas K. Sorel, Commissioner, Minnesota DOT, St. Paul Huntsville International Airport Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy; Director, Institute of EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Transportation Studies; and Interim Director, Energy Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis Kirk T. Steudle, Director, Michigan DOT, Lansing Paula P. Hochstetler Douglas W. Stotlar, President and CEO, Con-Way, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI Airport Consultants Council Sabrina Johnson C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Richard Marchi EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Airports Council International—North America Laura McKee Peter H. Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Air Transport Association of America J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S.DOT Henry Ogrodzinski Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA National Association of State Aviation Officials Anne S. Ferro, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Melissa Sabatine LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S.DOT American Association of Airport Executives Robert E. Skinner, Jr. John T. Gray, Senior Vice President, Policy and Economics, Association of American Railroads, Transportation Research Board Washington, DC John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation SECRETARY Officials, Washington, DC Christopher W. Jenks David T. Matsuda, Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S.DOT Transportation Research Board Victor M. Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.DOT William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC Tara O’Toole, Under Secretary for Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC Robert J. Papp (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, DC Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT David L. Strickland, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Joseph C. Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S.DOT Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S.DOT Robert L. Van Antwerp (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC Barry R. Wallerstein, Executive Officer, South Coast Air Quality Management District, Diamond Bar, CA *Membership as of July 2011. *Membership as of June 2011. AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM ACRP REPORT 52 Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside James R. Harding Marshall Elizer, Jr. Jim Alderman Matthew J. Frankel GRESHAM, SMITH AND PARTNERS Nashville, Tennessee Susan T. Chrysler Christopher M. Poe Laura L. Higgins Curtis Beatty LuAnn Theiss TEXAS TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE College Station, Texas Alison Smiley Thomas Smahel HUMAN FACTORS NORTH, INC. Toronto, Ontario James A. Pangburn BIG SKY, INC. Manassas, Virginia Craig Berger SOCIETY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHIC DESIGN Washington, DC Tom Esch MINETA SAN JOSÉ INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT San Jose, California Subscriber Categories Aviation Research sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2011 www.TRB.org AIRPORT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM ACRP REPORT 52 Airports are vital national resources. They serve a key role in trans- Project 07-06 portation of people and goods and in regional, national, and inter- ISSN 1935-9802 national commerce. They are where the nation’s aviation system ISBN 978-0-309-21346-2 connects with other modes of transportation and where federal respon- Library of Congress Control Number 2011935617 sibility for managing and regulating air traffic operations intersects with the role of state and local governments that own and operate most © 2011 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. airports. Research is necessary to solve common operating problems, to adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to introduce innovations into the airport industry. The Airport Coopera- COPYRIGHT INFORMATION tive Research Program (ACRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the airport industry can develop innovative near-term solutions Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously to meet demands placed on it. published or copyrighted material used herein. The need for ACRP was identified in TRB Special Report 272: Airport Research Needs: Cooperative Solutions in 2003, based on a study spon- Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this sored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The ACRP carries publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB or FAA endorsement out applied research on problems that are shared by airport operating of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the agencies and are not being adequately addressed by existing federal material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate research programs. It is modeled after the successful National Coopera- acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of tive Highway Research Program and Transit Cooperative Research Pro- the material, request permission from CRP. gram. The ACRP undertakes research and other technical activities in a variety of airport subject areas, including design, construction, mainte- nance, operations, safety, security, policy, planning, human resources, NOTICE and administration. The ACRP provides a forum where airport opera- tors can cooperatively address common operational problems. The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Airport Cooperative Research The ACRP was authorized in December 2003 as part of the Vision Program, conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. 100-Century of Aviation Reauthorization Act. The primary partici- pants in the ACRP are (1) an independent governing board, the ACRP The members of the technical panel selected to monitor this project and to review this Oversight Committee (AOC), appointed by the Secretary of the U.S. report were chosen for their special competencies and with regard for appropriate balance. The report