Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside (2011)

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There are many definitions of wayfinding, but in the most basic terms it is simply the act of finding your way to an intended destination. Therefore, by extension, the purpose of this guide- line is to provide airports with the tools necessary to help passengers find their way in and around the airport. The content contained in this guideline is based on research, surveys from airports and design professionals, existing guidelines, and case studies. 1.1 Background The hub and spoke system instituted by the airlines often requires travelers to transit through intermediate airports in addition to their origin and destination airports. The result is that there are many people in the airport terminal that may not be familiar with the terminal layout or the location of gates and other facilities. It would be helpful to passengers, as well as meeters and greeters, if airports had wayfinding and signing systems that were based on uniform guidelines. Currently, there is no single document or guidebook available to airport operators illustrating best practices for wayfinding and signing the airport terminal and landside. Specific guidelines for wayfinding for the airport terminal and landside, other than some related to signs, are not readily available. These guidelines, where they do exist, are in the private domain of consultants or individual airport operators. The most recently published guideline for airport signs, Guidelines for Airport Signing and Graphics, Terminals and Landside, was originally published in 1986 and last updated in 2001. It was prepared in conjunction with representatives from the Air Transport Association (ATA), American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE), Airports Council International–North America (ACI-NA), and Airport Consultants Council (ACC). The most recent edition of the Federal Highway Administration’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) pre- scribes the design or color of airport roadway signs. Previous editions of the MUTCD did not address airport roadways, and it is not clear to what extent the input of airport operators or their representatives was sought during the preparation of the latest MUTCD. While several large airport operators have established graphic standards and maintain and update these standards on a regular basis, not all airport operators have the staff or resources to do so. The overall problem of non-standard signing practices at airports across the country and across the world still exists. The increasing number of airport users in the United States combined with the evolution of terminal design as well as the wide range of airport sizes and configurations make the wayfinding more complex than ever before. The needs, problems, issues, and solutions can vary greatly between the airport roadway and the airport terminal. This report will provide airport operators with an updated guideline for wayfinding and sign- ing for airport terminals and landside. By adopting these guidelines, the travelling public will 1 C H A P T E R 1 Introduction

recognize the benefit of experiencing a transparent system of wayfinding and signs as they use the airport terminals and their landsides. 1.2 Historical Perspective Prior to the research that led to ACRP Project 07-06, “Wayfinding and Signage Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside,” there was a previous guideline originally developed in 1984: Guidelines for Airport Signing and Graphics. Before looking forward, it is appropriate to include a historical perspective and review the events that led to where we are now. During the 1960s and through the mid 1970s, airport signing and graphic systems were designed to be predominantly permanent installations. This was due in large part to the relative stability in the aviation industry regarding which airlines served which airports combined with infrequent route changes. With certain airlines as fixtures at specific airports, the airlines them- selves had a very strong influence on terminal design and signage. Terms like “Baggage Claim” and “Boarding Area” found their way into the vernacular and soon became standards in the lan- guage of airport signage. Additionally, airline permanency made the use of premium materials for sign systems more economically feasible. These higher-end materials often had an ancillary benefit of reduced maintenance and repair costs over the life of the sign, which meant signs— and terminology—that were designed to last. However, when President Carter signed the Airline Deregulation Act on October 24, 1978, the status quo was altered radically. With the stroke of a pen, airlines were now able to enter and exit airports with relative ease. The aggregate efforts of each airline’s dynamic changes in “testing the market” (expansion or contraction in the number of cities served coupled with frequent reloca- tion within the airport terminal complex) required substantial and continual changes to sign sys- tems throughout most of the nation’s airports. As a result, the cost associated with maintaining an effective informational signage system increased dramatically and, despite best efforts to the contrary, the traveling public was often left to navigate through inconsistency and confusion. To help rectify this situation, a joint aviation industry Airport Signing and Graphics Task Force was established in March 1982. This task force—led by Joseph Erhart, then manager of corporate design for Republic Airlines, and comprised of representatives from ATA, AAAE, and ACI-NA (then known as the Airport Operators Council International)—accepted the assignment to investigate the state of the industry and develop a reference guide that would inform airport operators, airlines, and consultants of economical and practical signing methods to be applied to various aviation facilities. In order to make this effort a more comprehensive and authoritative document, the task force requested and received valuable assistance and input from professionals in the design community: sign manufacturers, the Society of Environmental Graphics Designers (SEGD), the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE), the Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the Civil Aero- nautics Board (CAB). For 2 years, these individuals played a key role in helping to create a publi- cation that would help the aviation industry reduce costs, increase flexibility, and provide a more uniform information system to assist the traveling public. The resulting publication—representing the philosophical consensus of everyone involved—entitled Guidelines for Airport Signing and Graphics was first distributed in September 1984. Over the years, Guidelines for Airport Signing and Graphics has been updated twice (1994 and 2001) to maintain its relevancy in the midst of an ever-changing and increasingly complex indus- try. The contents of the previous publication included guidelines and design criteria for devel- oping practical, functional, and flexible airport signing and graphics systems. 2 Wayfinding and Signing Guidelines for Airport Terminals and Landside

The goal of that document was to be used as a guide in helping to create uniform national air transportation standards in airport signing and graphics. The previous guideline also aimed to heighten the reader’s awareness of the complexity of factors that go into the planning, design, and development of a successful signing and graphics program. While the ACRP Project 07-06 provides the current best practices for the aviation industry, the previous guideline still contains valid information and can continue to serve as a valuable tool. Further acknowledgments related to this manual may be found in the Appendix, pages A1.1 and A1.2 of the Guidelines for Airport Signing and Graphics. 1.3 Purpose of the Guidelines For the most part, the wayfinding experience in an airport environment is a self-guided jour- ney. Airport environments can create some very complex navigational challenges. Therefore, the role of a well-planned wayfinding system is quite extensive. The objective of ACRP Project 07-06 is to develop a guideline for airport operators contain- ing up-to-date wayfinding and signing guidelines for the airport terminal and landside. The pur- pose of the guideline is to facilitate the safe and efficient movement of passengers within each airport and from one airport to another through the uniform application of wayfinding best practices and common design criteria. The guideline addresses the following areas: • On-airport roadways/off-airport access roads; • Parking; • Curbside/ground transportation; and • Terminal, including concourses/gates, ticketing/check-in, security checkpoints, federal inspection services, baggage claim. These guidelines also include a systematic process for evaluating an airport that will ultimately yield improvements in the passenger wayfinding experience by understanding the sometimes elusive factor of ‘why’ passengers get lost. By taking time to understand the ‘why,’ an airport will be able to develop their own wayfinding strategy that works to meet their specific needs. 1.4 Organization of the Guidelines (How to Use) The guideline’s organization is focused on the four primary areas of the airport as stated within the project’s objectives—Roadway, Parking, Curbside and Terminal. This organization allows an airport to isolate sections of the new handbook (e.g., Terminal) and be able to adequately find the guidelines and standards for that need without searching the whole document. In addition to the sign components related to general guidelines, the guideline includes case studies from large, medium and small airports that illustrate the best aviation wayfinding prin- ciples and practices that can be adapted and applied as they relate to the end user’s needs. Chapter 2 is an overview of the signing and wayfinding process that begins with the wayfind- ing analysis, followed by how to develop a wayfinding strategy. Chapters 3, 4, 5, and 6 contain signing and wayfinding guidelines specific to roadway, parking, curbside/ground transportation, and the terminal. Each of these chapters shares common information such as design elements and accessibility. To avoid being unnecessarily redundant the specific details associated with design elements and accessibility are concentrated into Chapter 6—Terminal. Chapter 7 focuses on technology and communications. Chapter 8 lists applicable codes. Introduction 3