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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

THE IMPACT OF GENESEE COUNTY AIRPORT ON GENESEE COUNTY

In this study of the Genesee County Airport and its economic impact on the local economy, the costs and benefits to the city of Batavia and the remainder of the county are examined. The goal of this study was to demonstrate that general aviation airports provide an essential service in complementing an area's entire transportation system. As such, any airport development will incur its share of local costs (for development and operation), but at the same time it will generate a set of economic benefits directly because of its use and indirectly through the creation of additional income and purchases of goods and services in the local economy. The point to be made is that the key for any local decision making concerning airport development should reflect a balanced evaluation of an airport's costs and its benefits, placed in the context of how a community (or county) perceives the long-range need to provide public services to its residents, businesses, and other institutions. The conclusions drawn from this study provide some interesting perspectives on the behavior of general aviation in smaller urban areas and rural communities. A survey of airport operations in 1983 showed that 18 percent of all aircraft operations were for business purposes. Of the manufacturing firms that have 25 or more employees, 37.5 percent use the airport to some degree. Use of the airport ranges from a few trips to several hundred trips per year. What is interesting about the use of the airports by the manufacturing firms is that all the firms that use it have at least 100 employees. For small manufacturing firms, the airport does not appear to be essential for conducting business. This point was brought out by discussions relating to local business expansions. As a recruiting tool for manufacturing firms, it is safe to conclude that in seeking firms that may hire or employ 100 or more people, the presence of the airport could be an essential part of any presentation to a prospective new company. In 1983 local airport businesses were employing 16 full-time and 4 part-time individuals and a total payroll of $159876. These businesses contributed directly and indirectly more than $861000 in local economic expenditures. As a conservative estimate there was $3654999 in direct and indirect economic expenditures within the local economy. These expenditures in turn provided direct and indirect fiscal benefits that cannot be quantified, yet they exist. The rang of these direct and indirect fiscal benefits reduces the county's average annual net operating cost of $37400. Through a method of estimating the county's revenue capture rate, it appears that between 1978 and 1983 the county earned from $3000 to $8000 per year using the indirect revenue estimates to offset average annual operating costs.

Media Info

  • Media Type: Print
  • Features: References; Tables;
  • Pagination: pp 1-7
  • Monograph Title: Airport operations
  • Serial:

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00457183
  • Record Type: Publication
  • ISBN: 0309039150
  • Files: TRIS, TRB
  • Created Date: Aug 27 2004 10:01PM