SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro Transportation Thread

[aggie2008]

Is anyone else excited about the diesel buses getting replaced with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) ones?

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantoni...tural-gas.html

According to the article this will decrease the timeline for a 5 year plan to move all buses to CNG. I'm most excited about the noise reduction of the new buses, while not anywhere near silent, I notice a very large reduction in noise versus diesel buses. I walk down St. Mary's almost daily, get a diesel bus or two going by and you can't talk to someone 3 feet away from you especially when they are starting up from a stop.

[jaga185]

County Commissioners Ponder New Downtown Parking Garage

The potential six-story garage would replace the surface parking lot behind the former Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas building, which is now known as the Presidio Gallery and houses Texas A&M-San Antonio‘s archives and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library.
...
A new mixed-use development on the 300 block of Dwyer Avenue – formerly known as Heritage Plaza– and a [B]340-unit apartment building on the 300 block of South Flores Street– the Encore Riverwalk – also only have parking spots available for tenants, Curry said. Additionally, the San Pedro Creek Improvements Project, which the County is mainly funding, will bring more visitors and traffic to an already congested area of town.

[SAhometown]

I know this came out over a month ago but yay!

http://patch.com/tennessee/nashville...utes-elsewhere

[Restless 1]

City and Mayor pushing for direct flights to Reagan National in DC.

http://www.ksat.com/news/mayor-city-...tional-airport

“Although no nonstop flights exist between San Antonio and Washington, D.C., we know there is a demand for them,” Taylor said. “The business and tourism communities are in lockstep with us on this issue, so we are working to get members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to craft an exemption and include it on the FAA reauthorization bill.”

Also noted were the number of Veterans traveling from SA to DC, but having to got to Dulles, or Baltimore instead of a direct to National.

[adtobias]

American airline had a dca sat route that did not last long

[Restless 1]

Originally Posted by adtobias

American airline had a dca sat route that did not last long

This is now. Our lack of direct flights and hubs has been hurting us since the 70's.

AT&T was headquartered here, and moved to Dallas. Toyota, you know, those guys with the big truck plant on the Southside, moved from Torrance to, you guessed it, Dallas.

Our lack of vision, especially as it pertains to SAT, are major reasons for our falling behind.

So, if the Mayor and chambers of commerce, and the tourist community think this is good, at least it's a step in the right direction.

[jaga185]

We do have a flight to IAD, i mean it's only about 40min outside of DC so it's not that bad.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by jaga185

We do have a flight to IAD, i mean it's only about 40min outside of DC so it's not that bad.

It's no fun being the brides maid! So tired of playing second fiddle to other Texas cities. Still love my SA!

[ICEVET]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

Ummm...Good Luck with that one, Brad!

Would have responded to this much earlier, but was gone. I have to agree with GoldenBoot on this one. According to the carrier stats for SA Int'l from Dec. '15 through Nov. '16, Southwest accounted for 41.64% of the total PAX count. Assuming SW was relocated to a separate, dedicated site, I can't even begin to imagine what our current airport would look like with only about half as many users as there are now. Granted, we are creeping upward on the number of total annual users, but are still years away from being able to justify breaking ground on Terminal III. If the third terminal was ever built and they wanted a hub for a carrier that would establish one, why not use it for that? If we really get another million residents in the next 20-25 years, I see it getting done, but at the rate we move around this place, I wouldn't expect anytime soon. Airport expansion with more terminals and more domestic and foreign connections will eventually come, but only if and when the carriers view it as a profitable move on their part. I seem to remember the last airport Master Plan showing room for even an eventual Terminal IV so it's not like there is a shortage of space.

Of course, the ongoing controversy over runway expansion being the only way to handle the largest birds remains unresolved. There is a definite limit to how much longer they can get at the current location. An idea mentioned quite some time ago was to utilize the runway at Kelly (11,500 ft) as the nucleus of a new, main airport for SA. That strip is currently the property of JBSA Lackland, so it's potential use by COSA would seem to raise a host of thorny issues meaning years of negotiating with the Feds with no guarantee of a favorable outcome. As a location, it is about as convenient to downtown, SeaWorld and Fiesta TX as is the current airport, but with practically no adjacent amenities such as hotels, restaurants, shopping, etc. Austin ended up with the perfect solution in Bergstrom, and with fewer hurdles to overcome given the original donation of the land by the city to the feds on condition that it would revert back when the feds no longer had use for it. How sweet it is...


San Antonio... THE DRIVING DEAD

[SAhometown]

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let you know via SA airport website, Delta has Arriving and Departing flights to Frankfurt with a stop in Atlanta operating daily! Check it out!

http://www.sanantonio.gov/SAT/Airlin...als-Departures


P.S. Might need 3 checkbooks for this one lol.

[sakyle04]

Originally Posted by SAhometown

Hello everyone! Just wanted to let you know via SA airport website, Delta has Arriving and Departing flights to Frankfurt with a stop in Atlanta operating daily! Check it out!

http://www.sanantonio.gov/SAT/Airlin...als-Departures


P.S. Might need 3 checkbooks for this one lol.

Isn't this called a connecting flight?

So, like...if I can get a direct flight to Atlanta (I can), then I can get to Dubai or Jonahhesburg or London or Brasilia...

Unless I'm reading this wrong, to say you can get to (INSERT GLOBAL CITY NAME HERE) from SA as long as you "stop" in Atlanta (or LGA or ORD or LAX) is not exactly news that we should be cheering.

Non-stops attract business. Connecting flights repel business.

[kornbread]

Originally Posted by sakyle04

Isn't this called a connecting flight?

So, like...if I can get a direct flight to Atlanta (I can), then I can get to Dubai or Jonahhesburg or London or Brasilia...

Unless I'm reading this wrong, to say you can get to (INSERT GLOBAL CITY NAME HERE) from SA as long as you "stop" in Atlanta (or LGA or ORD or LAX) is not exactly news that we should be cheering.

Non-stops attract business. Connecting flights repel business.

I would disagree with that statement. I think the fact that you can get connecting flights is still a plus. It's not ideal, but it certainly doesn't repel.

A more accurate statement might be increased business helps create non-stops. When a locale establishes itself as a business center services follow, not the other way around.

Now when a city fails to plan for that, then it becomes an issue. I don't think that's the problem with San Antonio, just like the reason San Antonio doesn't have more high rises. You don't do it just to do it, there needs to be a reason to invest the resources and they're not there yet.

[ILUVSAT]

Not only is it "connecting" but, you have to change planes.

With regard to gaining or repelling business, I do not believe this flight will do either. It's simply a Delta flight to Atlanta. It just so happens to have the same flight number as the flight from Atlanta to Frankfurt.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by kornbread

I would disagree with that statement. I think the fact that you can get connecting flights is still a plus. It's not ideal, but it certainly doesn't repel.

A more accurate statement might be increased business helps create non-stops. When a locale establishes itself as a business center services follow, not the other way around.

Now when a city fails to plan for that, then it becomes an issue. I don't think that's the problem with San Antonio, just like the reason San Antonio doesn't have more high rises. You don't do it just to do it, there needs to be a reason to invest the resources and they're not there yet.

Let me see if I have this right we're not there yet but Austin half the size of San Antonio is with more domestic nonstops and a nonstop to London and Frankfurt!

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Runner

Let me see if I have this right we're not there yet but Austin half the size of San Antonio is with more domestic nonstops and a nonstop to London and Frankfurt!

Austin's economic region isn't half the size of San Antonio's, and neither is the city proper. In fact, the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA)'s GMP (Gross Metropolitan Product) is larger than San Antonio's MSA's GMP.

[ILUVSAT]

The SA metro population is just under 375,000 more than Austin's. And the gap is narrowing. Both metros are north of 2 million.

Even when you compare city proper populations (which is not a good indication of overall size) SA has about 530,000 (or so) more people than Austin.

[kornbread]

Originally Posted by Runner

Let me see if I have this right we're not there yet but Austin half the size of San Antonio is with more domestic nonstops and a nonstop to London and Frankfurt!

Yes you have it right.

If that is the current situation, then either the market exists for them or the airlines believe there is potential for those services to succeed.

I'm sure population is somewhat a factor, but there are many other factors that have more weight to help the airlines make these decisions.

[GoldenBoot]

I believe their was a previous discussion on this subject; city size (especially city proper) has very little to do with how many passengers a specific airport services annually.

Kornbread is correct - there are many factors involved with why an airport is busier than another (and city size is no where near the top of that list).

[ICEVET]

Originally Posted by GoldenBoot

I believe their was a previous discussion on this subject; city size (especially city proper) has very little to do with how many passengers a specific airport services annually.

Kornbread is correct - there are many factors involved with why an airport is busier than another (and city size is no where near the top of that list).

I have to wholeheartedly agree with GoldenBoot's assessment of Kornbread's analysis on this one. While not possessed of anything more than a rudimentary grasp of economics, I would guess that GMP very much goes to the core of this issue. The total value of goods and services generated within a given area is the fundamental measure of business activity in that locale. If Austin's GMP is greater than SA's, it simply means that business there produces more value than business here, whether one likes it or not.
As far as airline PAX are concerned, I suspect that SA at one time got much more tourism traffic than Austin, but that has begun to change according to what the SA Convention and Visitors Bureau was saying before they morphed into VisitSanAntonio. We know total traffic at Bergstrom has surpassed that of SA Int'l., and that is most likely because they have been getting more business traffic for years and now may be getting more tourism traffic, as well. SA was always characterized as more "laid back" than Austin, and it may be that you can be too laid back for your own good in terms of remaining competitive on certain levels.
With regard to being competitive, there has been a lot of good discussion on this forum about whether SA should or should not worry about comparisons with other cities. I think that has a lot to do with one's perspective. All cities have things that make them unique, but of course, if everyone is truly unique, then we get out in the weeds about who is more unique or most unique, and the arguments become almost meaningless.
When we talk about how we can improve SA the suggestions invariably go to transportation, education, medical care, environment, energy, recreation, urban enhancement and a host of related topics. But when we focus on how to improve in a specific area, it is frequently done in the context of trying to achieve that which is already accomplished somewhere else, and that can't be done without comparisons. Examples are lamenting the fact that we are the largest city without a mass transit system or the largest without an NFL franchise. How can you debate toll roads without finding out what their consequences have been in cities that already have them? We can measure progress on a personal level by noting where we are now and where we were before, or by where we were before and where everyone else has managed to get. No matter what our goals are, attaining them will almost certainly involve applying some framework of standards and values and that may well necessitate taking inspiration from those who have been successful when and where we have not.

San Antonio... THE DRIVING DEAD

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by ICEVET

I have to wholeheartedly agree with GoldenBoot's assessment of Kornbread's analysis on this one. While not possessed of anything more than a rudimentary grasp of economics, I would guess that GMP very much goes to the core of this issue. The total value of goods and services generated within a given area is the fundamental measure of business activity in that locale. If Austin's GMP is greater than SA's, it simply means that business there produces more value than business here, whether one likes it or not.
As far as airline PAX are concerned, I suspect that SA at one time got much more tourism traffic than Austin, but that has begun to change according to what the SA Convention and Visitors Bureau was saying before they morphed into VisitSanAntonio. We know total traffic at Bergstrom has surpassed that of SA Int'l., and that is most likely because they have been getting more business traffic for years and now may be getting more tourism traffic, as well. SA was always characterized as more "laid back" than Austin, and it may be that you can be too laid back for your own good in terms of remaining competitive on certain levels.
With regard to being competitive, there has been a lot of good discussion on this forum about whether SA should or should not worry about comparisons with other cities. I think that has a lot to do with one's perspective. All cities have things that make them unique, but of course, if everyone is truly unique, then we get out in the weeds about who is more unique or most unique, and the arguments become almost meaningless.
When we talk about how we can improve SA the suggestions invariably go to transportation, education, medical care, environment, energy, recreation, urban enhancement and a host of related topics. But when we focus on how to improve in a specific area, it is frequently done in the context of trying to achieve that which is already accomplished somewhere else, and that can't be done without comparisons. Examples are lamenting the fact that we are the largest city without a mass transit system or the largest without an NFL franchise. How can you debate toll roads without finding out what their consequences have been in cities that already have them? We can measure progress on a personal level by noting where we are now and where we were before, or by where we were before and where everyone else has managed to get. No matter what our goals are, attaining them will almost certainly involve applying some framework of standards and values and that may well necessitate taking inspiration from those who have been successful when and where we have not.

San Antonio... THE DRIVING DEAD

Once again, "JUST ANOTHER OPINION"!!!!

IN MY HUMBLE OPINION, "OPINIONS MAKE THIS FORUM BORING". LOL Everyone should stick to the topic at hand.