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  #141  
Old Posted May 14, 2009, 6:48 AM
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airport construction

Cool update. Wonder what new restaurants and retail they have planned in the new terminal?
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  #142  
Old Posted May 14, 2009, 3:21 PM
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Can I just say that LoneStarMike's posts were among the best I have ever read here?

Wow. Informed, polite, and well-written...
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  #143  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 2:44 AM
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VIA and Downtown Alliance are looking into the possibility of bringing them back to inner-city S.A.

Quote:
Can a streetcar system successfully run throughout San Antonio's inner city, connect businesses and residents, fuel development and make economic sense all at the same time?

Residents soon might find out if a rather old idea can rise again in San Antonio.

VIA Metropolitan Transit and the Downtown Alliance have hired Jacobs consulting company to conduct a four-month feasibility study that will look at whether San Antonio can support a streetcar system, how much it would cost, who would pay for the system, and where it would be built.

San Antonio had an extensive streetcar system in the late 1800s and early 1900s. But in 1933, San Antonio became the first large city in the country to abandon the streetcar as cars and buses gained popularity. They have yet to return.

The biggest obstacle to a new system likely will be the cost, which could run $30 million per mile said Ben Brewer, president of the Downtown Alliance.

“The issue is being able to put together the money,” said Rick Gustafson, executive director of Portland Streetcar Inc., which operates an eight-mile loop in Portland, Ore., that cost $103 million to build. “But more people are accepting the fact that transit is a fundamental need.”

The Downtown Alliance brought in Gustafson this week to discuss how Portland's system, which shuttles 12,000 riders daily, works. He spoke Tuesday to a group of about 40 property owners, business leaders and city officials at the El Tropicano Hotel.

A bulk of the money for the project came from bonds and improvement district funds, but developers drove a lot of the support, Gustafson said. It recently secured $75 million in federal funds for another expansion.

“The streetcar proved it could operate, and now it's accepted,” Gustafson said.

The purpose of streetcars is to help mobility, but it also can be a great economic driver that creates millions of dollars in private investment, said Mike McAnelly, a consultant with Jacobs.

The Portland route, for example, has attracted more than $3.5 billion in investment and more than 10,000 residential units within two blocks of the line since the route was identified in 1997.

And more than half of all the development in the central business district takes place within one block of the track, much of that development being projects that are filling previously vacant spaces.

“Some of it would have happened anyway, but many projects happened because of the streetcar line,” Brewer said.

It also has become a marketing tool for businesses, and its success has boosted the confidence of developers to increase density in the area, he said.

Streetcars differ from buses because they're on tracks and are powered by an overhead electric line. The system is different from trains and light rail in that the shallow track can run on streets and interact with cars. Portland's system has yet to have an injury accident since the original 2.4-mile segment opened in 2001.

The official name of San Antonio's feasibility study is the Inner-City Rail Circulator Study because it will look at the streetcar possibility beyond downtown, possibly as far south as U.S. 90 and as far north as Alamo Heights.

The longest time stretch of the project is the part leading up to construction. Once construction starts, a 600-foot stretch can be built in three weeks, Gustafson said.

“Hopefully, it'll become more than a study and will be a project soon,” said Jesse Balleza, vice president of strategic planning and project development at VIA.
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  #144  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 2:45 AM
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Keith Parker, chief executive officer of the Charlotte Area Transit System is reportedly the choice to take the top job at VIA Metropolitan Transit in San Antonio.

Quote:
VIA reportedly picks Charlotte transit chief

The top transit official from Charlotte, N.C. is slated to become VIA Metropolitan Transit’s new president and CEO, according to an unnamed source close to the agency’s search process.

Keith Parker, the chief executive of the Charlotte Area Transit System, will likely be named head of VIA at a special board meeting Wednesday morning. VIA officials declined comment and did not return calls Monday.

The Charlotte transit authority added light-rail in 2007 and has received national acclaim for the system, according to a story in the Charlotte Observer newspaper.

San Antonio voters turned down a light rail initiative several years ago, but local leaders have brought the issue back up and may ask voters again to approve it.
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  #145  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 2:45 AM
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Quote:
VIA Metropolitan Transit to name new president

Envisioning a new era in mass transportation, VIA Metropolitan Transit's board of trustees on Wednesday was expected to name as its new president a man who was instrumental in making light rail work in Charlotte, N.C.

The trustees planned to name Keith Parker, the chief executive of the Charlotte Area Transit System, as VIA's new president and CEO, according to three sources familiar with the selection process. The sources said they could not speak on the record because the board hadn't yet approved Parker's contract. The authority scheduled a press conference for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, after the board meets.

Board Chairman Henry Muñoz said the trustees had narrowed the search to two finalists and planned to seal the deal Wednesday morning. He said he was confident the new president would be “somebody who would lead San Antonio into the 21st century with regard to expanding the types of mass transit that are available to the citizens of San Antonio and Bexar County.”

Muñoz joined the VIA board Jan. 1 — the same day VIA President John Milam retired after 33 years at the authority — and began looking for a new CEO who would be “one of the great multi-modal thinkers in this country.”

Muñoz said the goal all along was to come up with a system that would attract riders who have never before thought about using public transportation. He said he envisions a transit system that uses various modes of transporation — bus rapid transit, light rail and streetcar systems — to connect community assets and cultural facilities with where people live.

In Charlotte, where the bus system has expanded even while rail service has come online, Parker's done just that.

“I've had conversations with him in the past about what attracted him to transit, and what he's told me is that he sees transit as a way of connecting communities,” said Charlotte City Councilman Anthony Foxx. “I don't think he has a bent one way or another with particular types of transit."

Others are equally effusive.

“San Antonio would be very fortunate to have his talents,” said Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory. “He had broad support with the mayor and council throughout the community.... He's done an outstanding job and will bring a wealth of experience — both broad and specific — to your city if he ends up there.”

McCrory said Parker came to Charlotte “during a period when we were first implementing the light-rail system and growing the bus system.”

He was promoted to assistant city manager and then, just over a year ago, to chief executive of the Charlotte transit system.

Charlotte officials said light rail was a long shot there in the beginning, and that many expected it to fail.

“He's remarkable,” Foxx said. “What I would say about Keith is he understands how to speak straight about issues. And as a governmental leader, that's what you want. You don't want someone sugarcoating things. You want facts."

Mayor Jeff Tarte of Cornelius, N.C., a northern suburb of Charlotte slated to get the next rail line, said Parker is steeped in all aspects of mass transit — from dealing with the politics surrounding it to the technical details of traffic mitigation and rail-line design. Tarte says he's also just a good guy.

“He's the real deal, and I would tell you he's the consummate professional,” he said. “And beyond that, if you were dying of cancer, he's the guy you'd want your wife to marry.”

Under terms of the five-year contract, Parker, who could not be reached for comment, is slated to earn $250,000 his first year. His salary will increase by $10,000 each year for following two years and by $15,000 the final two years, bringing his salary in the final year to $300,000, sources said. Parker makes roughly $200,000 in his current position, according to the Charlotte Observer.
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  #146  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 7:17 PM
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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/Its...t_and_CEO.html

Quote:
It's official; VIA names new chief

In a unanimous vote during a speedy board meeting, trustees of VIA Metropolitan Transit named Keith Parker head of the agency.

Parker, who currently runs the transit authority in Charlotte, N.C., is slated to begin July 1. He attended the meeting and took a seat at the dais with his new bosses after they approved his contract.

Board members lauded his expertise in multiple forms of public transportation and pointed to his success in making light rail work in a city where critics said it would undoubtedly fail. They said he was their top pick, in part, because he could step right into the leadership role without having to learn on the job.

Parker said he's eager to begin meeting with a plethora of stakeholders, including VIA customers, the business community, neighborhood and civic groups, labor leaders and frontline employees.

He said he'll be “simply asking, ‘What do you think?'”

“If you were looking for a guy with a self-made plan, I'm not your guy,” he said.

But Parker's management philosophy is exactly what the trustees were seeking, board Chairman Henry Muñoz said. “I think that's one of the primary reasons we selected him.”

Muñoz called Parker “one of the great multimodal thinkers in the United States.”

Trustees said they expect great things from Parker, including moving the nationally renowned bus company into the 21st century by giving users of public transportation more options.
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  #147  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 7:38 PM
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Parker is leaving CATS for job in San Antonio

Parker is leaving CATS for job in San Antonio

By Steve Harrison
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Tuesday, May. 19, 2009

Charlotte Area Transit System Authority chief executive Keith Parker is leaving to run the transit system in San Antonio, Texas, according to a source.

Parker, who became CATS chief executive in December 2007, e-mailed his staff Tuesday afternoon and said he has been recruited and made a job offer by another transit agency, and that he would make a decision by the end of the week. The 11-member Board of Trustees that operates VIA Metropolitan Transit is expected to meet and vote on Parker’s contract offer Wednesday morning.

The San Antonio bus system handles about 40 million passenger trips a year, according to the Federal Transit Administration database, but it doesn’t have light-rail. CATS handles about 25 million passenger trips and has received national recognition for the success of the Lynx Blue Line, which opened in November 2007.

CATS has ambitious plans to build more transit, but its plans are likely to be delayed by rising construction costs and a loss of revenue due to the recession. Parker was facing a difficult decision as to which rail line CATS should build next – a commuter rail line to Lake Norman or a light-rail extension to University City.

The San Antonio system is operated independently, unlike CATS, which is part of the city of Charlotte. In San Antonio, Parker will report to an 11-member board. In Charlotte, his boss is city manager Curt Walton.

Mecklenburg County Commission chairwoman Jennifer Roberts said Parker will be going to his new job this summer, though she didn’t know an exact date.

“It’s the price you pay for success,” Roberts said. “This is a really crucial time for our transit system. We’ll look to Keith to help us out in the interim.”

In his e-mail to staff, Parker said that Walton will name an interim CATS chief executive if he leaves. VIA Metropolitan Transit is funded by a 5/8th cent sales tax. The Texas legislature is considering combining the transit system with a local toll road authority, which would give Parker sway over toll roads as well as transit.

Parker came to Charlotte in 2000 and was chief operating officer for CATS for four years. Then he became an assistant city manager overseeing public safety, aviation and corporate communications, among other departments.

He previously worked as assistant general manager for the Greater Richmond Transit Company and chief executive of the Clark County Transit Authority in Vancouver, Wash.

Parker couldn’t be reached for comment Tuesday

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/bus...ents_Container

***The comments on Charlotte Observer are interesting....
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  #148  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 7:57 PM
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Quote:
giving users of public transportation more options.
This, and not the Hokey Pokey, is what it's all about.

Perhaps he can help get funds from TXDoT to fund transportation, after all it isn't the TX Dept. of Highways.
found this on the TXDOT.gov newsletter, kind of interesting.

Quote:
no road pays for itself in gas taxes and fees. For example, in Houston, the 15 miles of SH 99 from I-10 to US 290 will cost $1 billion to build and maintain over its lifetime, while only generating $162 million in gas taxes. That gives a tax gap ratio of .16, which means that the real gas tax rate people would need to pay on this segment of road to completely pay for it would be $2.22 per gallon.

This is just one example, but there is not one road in Texas that pays for itself based on the tax system of today. Some roads pay for about half their true cost, but most roads we have analyzed pay for considerably less.
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  #149  
Old Posted May 20, 2009, 9:53 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miaht82 View Post
Perhaps he can help get funds from TXDoT to fund transportation, after all it isn't the TX Dept. of Highways.
Although at times "TXDoH" has seemed a more appropriate moniker
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  #150  
Old Posted May 21, 2009, 1:16 AM
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For those that are on right now. Blueprint America: Road to the Future is on.
Interesting so far. on KLRN.
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  #151  
Old Posted May 21, 2009, 4:55 PM
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Here is the link for those that haven't seen it.

Sprawlburbia.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/blueprintame...cumentary/648/
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  #152  
Old Posted Jul 12, 2009, 3:28 PM
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  #153  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2009, 12:06 AM
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S.A. airport to get grant to extend runway
Web Posted: 07/21/2009 5:06 CDT
By Gary Martin - Express-News

WASHINGTON — Airports in San Antonio, McAllen, Kerrville and Galveston will receive $15 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve runways and lighting systems, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday.

San Antonio International Airport will receive a $ 3 million grant from the department's Federal Aviation Administration to extend a runway.

Other Texas cities will receive $12 million under the $787 billion stimulus bill passed by Congress this year and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

LaHood said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “creates jobs today and builds a better, more sustainable economy moving forward.”

“Through the Recovery Act, we are creating jobs in Texas and across the country while investing in the long-term safety and economic vitality of our airports,” LaHood said.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said that with air passenger traffic expected to double by 2015, “upgrades and repairs must be made to our airports to accommodate growing number of travelers.”

The grant for the San Antonio airport runway extension was not part of the stimulus money authorized under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Hutchison voted against the stimulus bill.

A report released to Congress by the Government Accountability Office earlier this month showed that states were not steering the money in the stimulus bill to the neediest of counties.

And funds were most likely to flow to short-term projects, instead of job-creating infrastructure improvements that the bill intended, the report said.

Since the stimulus bill became law, the U.S. economy has continued to shed jobs and the national unemployment rate now hovers at 9.5 percent, according to the Department of Labor.

Rep. Lamar Smith, a San Antonio Republican whose congressional district includes the airport, said the federal funding was important to keep the airport growing “to safely and efficiently meet the needs of our growing community and quality of life.”

“San Antonio's airport is an essential part of our local economy as it relates to commerce, business travel and tourism,” Smith said.

The FAA will give $5.4 million to the city of McAllen to rehabilitate a runway at McAllen Miller International Airport. Another $5 million will go to Kerrville Municipal Airport to reconstruct a parallel taxiway into a runway, LaHood said.

In Galveston, $2 million will be made available by the FAA to improve the electrical and lighting system at Scholes International Airport.

About 3,400 airports nationwide have been designated to receive some funding under stimulus bill guidelines.
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  #154  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2009, 5:12 AM
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http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/loc...lus_funds.html

Quote:
San Antonio and other Texas airports to get stimulus funds

By Gary Martin
- Express-News

WASHINGTON — Airports in San Antonio, McAllen and Kerrville will receive more than $13 million from the U.S. Transportation Department to improve runways, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday.

San Antonio International Airport will receive a $3 million grant from the department's Federal Aviation Administration to extend a runway.

The other two cities will receive more than $10 million under the $787 billion stimulus bill passed by Congress this year and signed into law by President Barack Obama.

LaHood said the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act “creates jobs today and builds a better, more sustainable economy moving forward.”

“Through the Recovery Act, we are creating jobs in Texas and across the country while investing in the long-term safety and economic vitality of our airports,” LaHood said.
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  #155  
Old Posted Jul 22, 2009, 3:54 PM
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lol, I posted that article in the transportation sticky thread, somehow forgetting there was a thread dedicated to SAT news.
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  #156  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 1:54 PM
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SAT passenger count down 12.3% for May, and down 8.2% YTD.

In other transportation news....
from bizjournals.com
San Antonio business leaders turn to L.A. for some inspiration

Quote:
While San Antonio and Los Angeles have striking similarities, they also have significant differences. A delegation of local business and political leaders recently traveled to L.A. to get up to speed on what is different about that major city, and how it might be applied in the Alamo City.

Former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros led the delegation of business and political leaders who made the trip to Los Angeles. While in the City of Angels, Cisneros says San Antonio leaders knocked on some important doors.
....story continues....
I'll summarize....
Cisneros, Wolff, Peak, Richard Perez (GC Pres. & CEO) and Jim Goudge (GC chairman,) went to LA to discuss trade, transportation, education and water.

They rode the rail system there and Perez said
Quote:
“I think I got the most charge out of the opportunity to see their transportation system,” Perez explains. “There is so much that we can learn from what we saw. Now, we need to fire up the citizens of this community about these opportunities to improve transportation, to improve our city.”
They also spoke to Toyota officials about possibly moving the Freemont plant operations to SA, if anything was to be shuffled around due to GM pulling out of their partnership at the NUMI plant.

They also spoke to Medtronic leaders to promote SA as a place for even more expansion.
Quote:
At that time, Medtronic Senior Vice President Christopher O’Connell told the Business Journal: “We want to build something. We’ve put a five-year plan together. But we expect to grow and we want to grow in San Antonio.”

“I think one could envision down the road a Medtronic campus in which a number of their divisions found this city to be the right place to do business,” Cisneros says. “At the highest levels of the company, they are very open to a larger presence here.”

Says Perez about Medtronic, “They are so happy at how San Antonio has come together and worked with them, confirmed that their decision to come to this city was right on.”

Wolff, too, agrees that San Antonio has turned some heads at Medtronic and could attract more of the company’s business.

“I think there is a big potential,” Wolff says.
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  #157  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 2:01 PM
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Maybe a potential for relocation of the HQ... ?
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  #158  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 2:30 PM
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Maybe a potential for relocation of the HQ... ?
If not HQ's, a Division?
Perhaps just a larger presence. although any of those 3 wouldn't be too bad.
Don't think they will move the diabetes division here now, or in the near future. They do have a pretty nice set up parked up next to Cal State - Northridge.
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  #159  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 5:33 PM
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will the extended runway accomodate the larger planes that have previously been unable to land at SAT?

(or is that an urban legend and we could have gotten them all along if we didn't lack demand for them?)
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  #160  
Old Posted Jul 29, 2009, 5:58 PM
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My guess is the second one, unless you see SAT getting transatlantic flights in the near future

I'm trying to think which runway is going to be extended. It must be the one stretching north-south from 410 to Wurzbach Pkwy since there's open land around the north end.
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