JFK Makes Progress On Light-Rail System Proposal
In the face of increasing regional competition from Newark International Airport and from gateway airports across the country, John F. Kennedy Airport continues to make expensive improvements aimed at convincing travelers that the facility is becoming more user friendly.
The most recent announcements involved a rail link aimed at solving the perennial problem of transportation to the airport, and a major investment by British Airways in its own terminal (See story).
On the transportation front, the Port Authority, which operates JFK, has received five proposals for a light rail system that would connect the airport with Manhattan. Many rail proposals in recent decades have been shot down, but the Port Authority is more hopeful about this attempt, which is scheduled to be completed in 2001.
"There were always three hurdles to creating rail access to JFK. One was community opposition, second was engineering difficulties and third was money," said Port Authority spokesman Bill Cahill.
The light rail will travel on a fixed, elevated guideway along the median of the Van Wyck Expressway. "This one will fly," Cahill said. "There is little, if any, community opposition because of the path of the rail line, because engineering hurdles are minimized through the use of light rather than regular rail and because federal legislation provides us with a dedicated funding source."
The nature of the project has minimized community opposition because the rail line will be electric and non-polluting, and will use only public rights of way, Cahill said. Residential areas will not be affected.
The main benefit for travelers, said Cahill, "is that for a price that will be less than half that of a cab ride, you will be able to get to JFK in a known amount of time, probably 45 minutes or so, no matter what the traffic is like."
At the same time, a separate rail link will be built joining JFK's terminals; that system will be free. A constant source of complaints about using JFK airport is the difficulty of getting between terminals, which would be eased with the system.
Still, even the Port Authority acknowledges that this is not an ideal solution because it is not a direct rail link as exists in many cities. Travelers from Manhattan would have to take either the subway or the Long Island Rail Road to Jamaica, Queens, where they would switch to the rail link; or they could take the subway to Howard Beach, Queens, and take the rail link.
"The system won't be ideal for everyone," Cahill acknowledged. "Those with a lot of luggage might take a cab. But business travelers will make the best use of this because they tend to be sophisticated in how to get to and from airports in the most effective manner."
Backing that up, one corporate travel manager in downtown Manhattan said, "Even the subway and bus link to JFK that exists right now is not bad; for the price of a token you can get from Manhattan to the airport instead of spending $40 for a cab. It's even better if you happen to be in one of the first terminals on the bus route." She was referring to the A train, which runs through Manhattan and passes near the airport; passengers can then transfer to a free airport bus. However, the light rail link "should be even better than buses," she added.
But Steve Zinaman, vice president-travel for Lehman Brothers in downtown Manhattan, said his travelers simply won't use a rail link unless it involves a direct connection between city and airport. He said upper-level executives don't even use rail in cities like Chicago, where it is much easier.
On the other side of the Hudson River, Newark continues to make inroads with international travelers through its own improvements.
Construction begins this year extending the existing monorail to northeast corridor lines used by New Jersey Transit and Amtrak; that will eventually create rail access to the airport from throughout New Jersey and from Penn Station in New York.