The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has awarded $100 million to 12 US airports that may be at risk from runway incursions. These projects will reconfigure taxiways, install airfield lighting or construct new taxiways to provide more flexibility on the airfield. The Runway Incursion Mitigation Program was developed to identify airports that have risk factors that might contribute to runway incursions.
Funding is going to key projects, such as Miami International Airport: $6 million to shift one taxiway and fix the intersection of two other taxiways; Harry Reid International Airport: $13.4 million to reconfigure four taxiways to meet safety standards, shift two runways and install runway status and guard lights. San Diego International Airport, Tucson International Airport, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, Pensacola International Airport, Prescott Regional Airport, Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport, Bellingham International Airport, Republic Airport, Waverly Municipal Airport, and Waverly Municipal Airport are all receiving funding to construct new taxiways, shift and rebuild runways, install runway guard lights, shift a taxiway (C) 75 feet east, remove portions of Runway 18 and Runway 36, extend a taxiway (G), reconfigure a connecting taxiway (F), reconstruct a taxiway (A), add a taxiway edge lighting system, and replace existing airfield guidance signs.
These projects will help eliminate the need for aircraft to back-tax on the runway. The FAA has introduced several runway safety technologies to provide pilots and controllers with increased situational awareness. These include Runway Status Lights, Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X), and Taxiway Arrival Prediction.
Runway Status Lights alert pilots that entering a runway is unsafe due to other traffic on or approaching the runway, while Airport Surface Detection Equipment, Model X (ASDE-X) tracks the surface movement of aircraft and vehicles. Taxiway Arrival Prediction predicts when a pilot lines up to land on a taxiway and provides a visual and audible alert to controllers.