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Preface

The Port of New York Authority, on August 9, 1951, in keeping with its tradition of long-range planning, authorized a comprehensive study to determine, within the limits of present knowledge, future helicopter traffic volumes, the probably pattern of helicopter services and the requirements for helicopter landing areas in the Northern New Jersey/New York Metropolitan Region. Accomplishment of the objectives of this study has required projecting, for a 20 year period, the probably growth processes of a new transport industry that will be based on a revolutionary vehicle which is still in an early stage of development and which has seen only limited and highly subsidized commercial service. Because the growth potential of this new transport service is, in large measure, dependent upon the ability of designers and manufacturers to produce helicopter aircraft that will permit fares competitive with established surface carriers, the study required an exhaustive appraisal of helicopter development from an engineering point of view.

The report presents estimates of commercial helicopter passenger, cargo and mail traffic which can be expected at New York/Newark helicopter airstops during the period 1955-75. These forecasts constitute reasonable expectations. They represent traffic developments for which long-range planning of helicopter airstop services should make provision. It goes without saying that no one can foresee the future with certainty and that these estimates must be adjusted as the future transport role of the helicopter becomes more clearly defined.

Because these estimates represent a long-range forecast, no attempt has been made to allow for business cycle behavior during the 20-year period. It is to be expected that actual traffic will fluctuate around the trend line of future growth. Accordingly, the estimates which are given for 5-year intervals beginning in 1955 are in the nature of averages. 

In the chapters that follow, the probable development of commercial helicopters is outlined; the impact of this new transport vehicle on the short-haul transport market in the Greater New York Region is appraised; the probable requirements for business center airstops are established airway facility needs are investigated; and sites for New York/Newark airstops are delineated. Detailed statistical and general background data, as well as a description of the methods employed at each stage of the investigation, are contained in the appendix of this report.

This study was under the general direction of a planning board, consisting of three consultations, Alex L. Hart, Joseph D. McGoldrick and Lewis C. Sorrell and the Project Director, Grahame H. Aldrich.

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