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Originally Posted by aerogt3
(Post 5985724)
It's not "directly" connected but it's very close and very easy to access from the freeway.
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Meandering through Laurel, Pacific Highway, and Harbor Drive isn't "very easy to access." The fact is that the 5 is kind of, sort of, not really at all connected to the airport.
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It's a short cab/bus ride from the trolley, and there are plans to extend trolley service to the airport.
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Transferring takes time and makes the current trolley link unreasonable. The 992 circulates at an alright pace, but again, its not a popular route and only serves downtown. Also, I don't know if you read the article from the UT this past week, but extending the trolley line to the airport isn't so easy, especially since long term plans call for a complete overhaul of the airports configuration anyways.
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Not to mention SAN has the benefit of being very close to the coaster, which Miramar for example would not.
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Not sure if you have ever ridden the coaster, but it cuts right through MCAS Miramar, and has laid rail that heads towards the main runway already.
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The short runway is a non-issue. Sure, it prevents fully loaded 747's from landing, but that's an aircraft that would virtually never be landing in SD even if the runway were big enough.
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The short runway was a major reason for the comprehensive 2006 study on airport relocation, to say otherwise is fooling yourself.
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I think you underestimate the benefit SAN brings for tourism, conventions, business and to average travelers being SO close to the city. SAN is not just close to downtown, it's the most connected location by existing transit.
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I think you overestimate the SAN's convenience to San Diegans. Yes, you can get to SAN easily from downtown, you can take a bus easily from downtown, you can grab a cab easily from downtown... but downtown isn't centrally located in the county. And SAN isn't easily accessible in itself. A myriad of streets are needed to reach it from the 5. The closest trolley stop is nowhere near its terminals. The coaster passes briskly by SAN's back end. Your "its the most connected location by existing transit" claim is true -and a sad reality.
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Higher capacity aircraft (787, 350), can and will do a lot to expand capacity. If SAN becomes slot restricted airlines will simply load 787's with 250 passangers instead of 737's carrying 120.
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I do have hope for the 787. But it's still going to be inconvenient when only a select number of international flights will be able to take off and land thanks to the single runway and time constraints on the airport (the airport closes in the late evening, flights don't resume until the early morning).
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30 flights a day are to LA... by 2020 I imagine a lot of that capacity will free up, via shift to rail, consolidation onto larger aircraft,
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Rail isn't going to absorb much, especially with High Speed Rail not coming to San Diego until at least 2030, if ever.
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flights from north county, etc. 30 flights a day on a mid size aircraft is 3M passengers a year....
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I'm from hoebunk north country. Believe me, the day Palomar Airport becomes a major reliever airport for SAN is the day everyone in Carlsbad is relocated to a reservation. I dare you to tell them an additional 3 million people will be commuting through their tree lined avenues to hop on planes flying over their homes. NIMBYism runs rampant up north, Palomar will not be a major player, let alone reliever for SAN.
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For you a new, expensive, unconnected airport away from the major tourist and population centers is progress, but for the rest of us it's a waste of money.
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Yes, a new expensive airport would be wonderfully progressive for a city that has put its head in the sands of Mission Beach for years. A new airport at Miramar would be connected by new trolley and rail lines (needed already as highway congestion only gets worse), would be more centrally located in the county (Miramar is smack dab in the middle and surrounded by nearly every major freeway in the region), and would provide greater access to the international markets than SAN ever will.
But, because people continue to be short sighted (ignorant) or, at the very least, reluctant to give up whats easiest for themselves personally (selfish), SAN will continue to be our flagship airport. San Diego has been run by a host of small thinkers and NIMBY appeasers, and that will not change within the next 50 years.