How can we improve Erie transit? Link air, rail and bus, try seasonal flights, seaplanes

Although Erie has advantages in transportation infrastructure, they are not coordinated, thereby losing much of their potential advantage. Following are some plans to address this shortcoming:

Connect airport with I-79, rail and bus terminals, and more

Cities that want to maximize their airports attractiveness, from an ease of access viewpoint, have a direct, limited access connector link between the airport and the interstate highway system that serves their area. Fortunately for Erie, virtually all the traffic gathered into this region and headed for the Erie International Airport from I-86, I-90 and I-79 can be funneled into I-79/Bayfront north.

William Miller's book: New War of 1812 book aids Maritime Museum

A new northbound exit off I-79, north of its bridge over the railroad tracks, would connect to a limited access road that would hug the north side of the railroad right of way all the way to the airport. Another, eastbound, lane would run parallel, taking traffic from the airport to a new southbound entrance ramp onto I-79 south. I don't know if the new road can be squeezed under the Peninsula Drive railroad bridge. There may initially have to be a traffic light at Pittsburgh Avenue until an overpass can be justified.

The current train station is in downtown Erie, far from where most potential northwestern Pennsylvania train travelers live. It is proposed to relocate the train station to the airport terminal with a shuttle service, as needed, to take passengers to a new train platform to be built on the Amtrak line which runs just south of the airport. If we can't get air service to Pittsburgh, it might be possible to initiate train travel to Pittsburgh over the Bessemer and Erie.

Relocate the current interstate bus terminal to the airport terminal. With the new easy-off, easy-on connection from the airport to I-79 south (see above), it will be much quicker and easier for interstate buses to service Erie. Erie city buses already serve the airport.

Seaplanes, why not?

There is a transportation opportunity where Erie has a really unique situation. The extreme west end of Presque Isle Bay is shallow, sheltered and is relatively unused. It may be possible to put in a seaplane airport in this location. Ontario, Canada, has 107 seaplane airports. Pennsylvania has 10, New York has six and Ohio has two.

Hopefully, the Erie Yacht Club, the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority and the Erie Regional Airport Authority could enter into an agreement to make this happen. Until it becomes established with some traffic, a new seaplane dock projecting off the Erie Yacht Club Sailing Pavilion, might be used. The pavilion has facilities and could temporarily provide a place for the passengers to wait for pickup. The location is close enough to the airport for the Erie tower to control traffic and auxiliary monitoring equipment could be mounted on the Sommerheim pumping station.

Restore air traffic volume

We must address the problem of improving Erie's air traffic volume. The disruption of previous airline services may be an opportunity in disguise to reassess the hub destinations that Erie could service. We need a major hub going west. Chicago is still a good choice. We need a hub going south. We should try to hang on to a Charlotte connection. We need a hub going east (or southeast). Washington would be ideal. We need a hub going east (or northeast) New York, Hartford or Boston are possibilities.

Look at what London, Ontario has done

London, Ontario, across the Lake Erie, is located in Middlesex County. That county has about 50% more residents than Erie County but the surrounding Ontario counties, particularly those to the north, are far less densely populated than Erie's neighboring counties. The regional populations are therefore probably roughly the same. The Erie airport once had four or five flights a day in and a similar number of flights out, carrying about 125,000 travelers/year. London Airport had 23 flights in (serving Canadian cities) and a similar number out each day and carrying 500,000 travelers/year. We are not doing nearly as well. We have something to learn.

It might be a good plan to develop a shuttle air service between Erie and London. This would make Erie a sort of "half hub" funneling traffic from the U.S. destined for the Canadian cities that London serves. We in turn should seek a U.S. carrier (or carriers) that would enable us to serve large, non-hub cities in the U.S. from Erie that the same Canadian cities could then access. This might include, in addition to the hubs cited previously, such cities as Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

London provides direct, "seasonal service" to many cities in the warmer climes like Cancun, West Palm Beach, Orlando, Miami, Punta Cana and Varadero. Perhaps we could provide "seasonal service" to places like Sarasota, Jacksonville, Ft. Lauderdale and Ft. Myers, Florida.

Explore the Essential Airline Service program, extend the runway

As noted in a previous letter to the editor, Erie should seek help through the federal Department of Transportation's Essential Airline Service program. If that doesn't work, forget the (downsizing) major airlines and focus on the growth oriented, non-captive, regionals, that have ridership in the millions. Some examples are SkyWest (37), Republic (18), Mesa (13) and (co-owned) Compass and GoJet (13).

Runway Extension No. 2: If the runway were extended from the current 8,400 feet to over 10,000 feet, it would accommodate over 80% of the aircraft currently in use worldwide. It is probably better to make this new extension to the west, closing a section of Asbury Road just west of airport.

William R. Miller is the former vice president of research and development at AMSCO. He formerly co-chaired the Erie 2000 study for the Erie Conference in 1984 and has been updating and expanding that study in recent years. He has also served as a volunteer docent at the Erie Maritime Museum, published a book on the Battle of Lake Erie and written a pamphlet for the museum on the Erie Extension Canal.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie air, rail, bus transit should be connected to compete