Quote:
Originally Posted by Crawford
I know of no cities that have a true one seat ride, unless they only have one terminal, and a tiny downtown. Certainly not Paris, London or any of the heavyweights.
Paris CDG, for example, has three terminals, and only T2 is connected to RER. And RER heads to Chatelet which is a ways east of the business heart of Paris. So the only way you have a "one seat ride" is if you're lucky enough to arrive at T2 and your destination is on the RER B (highly unlikely if you're a business or leisure traveler).
Let's pretend you have unlimited money and no NIMBYs. How could you do a one seat ride to, say, JFK? There are seven terminals. Where would it go in Manhattan? Even if it went directly to Times Square it would not give most visitors a one seat ride.
The LGA Airtrain isn't ideal, but it's a huge improvement, and there's no better option, so I'll take it.
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I think there is an overblown focus on one seat rides however what NY has for JFK and is proposing for LGA is effectively a three seat ride. At several billion dollars in cost this seems like an extremely wasteful investment given the PA's other needs.
Given total freedom I would have extended the N/W via subway through Astoria Heights and Jackson Heights (adding 2-3 neighborhood stations) right onto the airport property with a loop to avoid terminal constraints. Also buy all open gangway rolling stock to service the line's increase in ridership.