| |
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
|
|
Guest Commentary: May 7, 2001
Improving Our Aviation Infrastructure
The Honorable Norman Mineta
|
Congestion in U.S. transportation is a challenge that faces every American, simply because the vitality of the U.S. economy is so closely linked to an efficient transportation system.
Long ago as Mayor of San Jose, California, I learned that the tool that made the most difference in my community was transportation. Nothing else had as great an impact on our economic development, on the pattern of growth, or on the quality of life. What I have found in the years since is that this is true not just locally, but also nationally. Transportation is key to the productivity, and therefore the success, of virtually every business in America.
Congestion and delay not only waste our time as individuals, they also burden our businesses and our entire economy with inefficiency and higher costs. The bottom line is that transportation is key in generating and enabling economic growth, in determining the patterns of that growth, and in determining the competitiveness of our businesses in the world economy.
In short, three decades of experience tell me that transportation is vital to our national well-being, whether measured as economic growth, as international competitiveness, or as quality of life. Congestion and inefficiency in transportation are not just inconvenient and aggravating--though they certainly are that -- they are also a tax that burdens every business and every individual. We have to find ways to lighten that load.
As a whole, the multi-modal transportation system of this nation works well in maintaining the strong economic performance of the United States and, more broadly, world commerce. ...So one might ask: Do we need to do more? I think the answer is "Yes." ...
The most fundamental challenge we face -- and the most daunting -- is not just congestion or delays or modernizing the aviation system. Those are enormous challenges, to be sure, but our biggest challenge is to get everyone working together in a spirit of partnership to solve these problems. We all created these problems and we can solve them -- only by working together. ...
Nowhere is the congestion challenge more evident than in air traffic control. In the year 2000, some 600 million passengers flew on U.S. airlines, a 50 percent increase in just nine years. And, as you may have heard announced at the FAA's recent aviation forecast conference, the number of passengers on U.S. airlines is expected to hit one billion by the year 2010. Now we face the stiff challenge of building the necessary capacity to match that demand. And do it safely.
Strengthening our commitment to keeping safety as our paramount concern cannot be over-emphasized, particularly at a time when the national focus is on system efficiency and trying to squeeze additional capacity from the system wherever possible. ...
The fact is that nearly 70 percent of all Air Traffic control system delays are caused by weather—meaning that conditions do not allow for visual separation. It takes surprisingly little to curtail the capacity of our system, either at airports or in the enroute environment. We cannot reduce delays in any meaningful way without finding a better way to respond to the 70 percent of delays that are weather-related. We simply have to work smarter in this area. This is where the battle of the spring and summer will be won or lost. ...
Improving our aviation infrastructure and enhancing the level of capacity can also address concerns about the competitiveness and openness of our aviation system. After all, the traveling public is entitled to more than the opportunity to have its flights depart and arrive on time. It should also have a range of services and fares from which to choose.
We have before us other options that offer the potential to substantially ease congestion. These include market-based approaches that include all market-pricing regimes that would encourage air carriers to use limited capacity more efficiently. One such approach is the concept of "peak-period pricing" to try and spread the flights at the most congested airports across a broader band of hours in the morning and evening. It is fundamental to keep in mind that each of the candidate airports is effectively unique in terms of the problems faced, and that there are obvious issues of equity, such as not crowding out service to and from the smaller destinations, that must be faced in developing a solution.
I place great hope in the capacity benchmarks that are being developed. Our plan is to release the report soon. This information will go a long way in establishing the maximum number of operations that can be accommodated consistently during peak demand periods at 31 of our busiest airports.
Note: Norman Mineta is the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. This column has been adapted from the prepared statement Secretary Mineta presented before a hearing of House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, April 4, 2001.
 How to contact Secretary Mineta
Reading a past guest commentary? Click here for the most current one.
|
|
|
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
