Factors that Influence Transportation Security Funding: A Data Mining Analysis on U.S. Airport Improvement Grants

Abstract

Terrorist attacks have awakened the awareness of nations around the globe on transportation security/safety. Effective security enhancement measures are needed to prevent terrorist attacks. Prior to the September 11 attack, the Federal Aviation Administration was charged with ensuring the security of both "land-side" and "air-side" operations of Airports. However, after September 11, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was granted responsibility for most of the "land-side" operations. In this paper we seek to answer how much of the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant distributed by the FAA would be available for Airport security given the establishment of TSA. An investigation of the distribution and trend of AIP grants can provide insights on how AIP funds are used towards transportation security. This study conducts a data mining analysis on the history of AIP grants. Results reveal that the longitudinal distribution of security-related AIP grants differs from that of other AIP grants in terms of their responsiveness to major environmental changes (i.e. terrorist and economic events). In addition, project characteristics such as location and airport types influence the allocation of security-related AIP grants. Implications of the findings are presented.