(The following article by Gary Stoller was posted on the USA Today website on September 27.)
NEW YORK — New mass transit options are making it easier for travelers to commute to airports.
“Access to airports is getting better and better as more and more municipalities improve rail lines and bus rapid transit,” says William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.
Many Americans, though, remain wedded to cars and taxis and aren’t taking advantage.
In Seattle, for example, only 2% of passengers use public transit to get to the airport, says Seattle-Tacoma airport spokesman Bob Parker. Seattle officials hope that percentage will increase in 2009 when rail service is expected to be added to existing bus services. Last month, construction began on a rail link, which will enable travelers to go between downtown and the airport in 33 minutes.
The House of Representatives last month approved a bill providing nearly $2 billion in tax credits for building a rail line from Lower Manhattan to New York John F. Kennedy airport and Long Island. The Senate, though, must still weigh in on the project, and its fate is uncertain.
Other airport mass transit projects proposed, underway or completed since last year include:
•Salt Lake City. Voters in November will decide the fate of a proposal to build four rail lines, including one to the Salt Lake City airport. If approved, Salt Lake County would borrow $895 million to finance the work.
•WashingtonDulles. Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine decided this month to move forward with a 23-mile, above-ground Metro rail extension to Washington Dulles airport that could cost $4 billion. The extension could be completed by 2015.
•Warwick, R.I. Federal, state and local officials broke ground in July on a $222.5 million train station and rental-car garage that will be a short walk from T.F. Green International Airport. The facilities are expected to open in 2008.
•Phoenix. Local government is building a rail system with an airport station. It’s expected to begin operating in late 2008. Officials say passengers will be shuttled for free from the station to the terminals.
•Los Angeles. Non-stop bus service started in March between the airport and Union Station. The 20-mile ride takes 45 minutes or less.
•Milwaukee. Amtrak began service to a Milwaukee airport station last year. The station, which cost $6.8 million to build, has a 300-space parking garage and offers free shuttle service to airport terminals.
Most major airports have direct connections to local transit systems, according to a July 2005 Government Accountability Office report.
Of 72 airports studied by the GAO, 64 were connected to a local bus system and 27 to a local rail system. But only 19, the report said, had connections to nationwide rail or bus systems.
The federal government is concerned that ground access to airports may not keep pace with passenger growth, which is expected to rise from 688 million in 2004 to nearly 1 billion by 2015. Cities will face increased roadway congestion because most travelers commute to airports in cars or taxis, the GAO report says.
“Increased road congestion and the strain on airport capacity can both have a number of negative economic and social effects, including wasting travelers’ time and money, degrading air quality, slowing commerce and increasing energy consumption,” the GAO says.