Tampa, Orlando Airports Rank Highest A J.D. Power and Associates report on passenger satisfaction ranked Orlando International Airport No. 1 in the large airport category, while Tampa International Airport topped the list in the medium-size airport ranking. The 2000 Domestic Airport Satisfaction Study also reported Chicago O’Hare, Detroit Metro International, New York Kennedy and Lambert-St. Louis airports fell below the industry average in passenger satisfaction in the large airport category. High Speed Southeast Rail Under Consideration Business leaders and elected officials in several Southeastern states have agreed to support the idea of a high-speed rail corridor connecting such cities as Atlanta, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Nashville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond and Savannah. The agreement concerns high-speed rail, which operates at an average speed of 125 miles an hour on existing tracks. The proposed project is estimated to cost $1.2 billion, or about $2.5 million per mile to upgrade existing rail lines. Bill Includes $10 Million For Regional Rail The North Carolina House of Representatives passed last quarter a transportation appropriations bill that includes $10 million for the plan to connect Research Triangle communities with a mass transit rail system. The Triangle Transit Authority Regional Rail would include stops in Durham, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park and Cary in its first phase. Southern LA Looks At New Airport For a decade, a new international airport has been bantered about by elected officials in Southern Louisiana. Now the Louisiana Airport Authority has decided to spend nearly half-a-million-dollars on a study to determine the feasibility of a new international airport to be located between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The project that has been discussed is a 25,000-acre airport and inter-modal transportation hub near the Mississippi River. It would include all aspects of transport, including rail, water, air and interstate shipping and transportation. The potential project would also include thousands of acres of land for offices, warehouses and distribution facilities. Once the gateway to Latin America via air travel, the existing New Orleans airport has lost that distinction to other airports in the South such as Atlanta, Houston and Miami. Austin Air Cargo Expansion Austin continues to expand crucial cargo operations at its new airport, with the latest move making the port a cargo hub of entry. Additionally, the first phase has been completed on a direct freighter flight from the local airport to tech centers in Asian markets. Austin CargoPort Development recently opened a $4.5 million, 24,000-square-foot expansion. The main tenant for the expansion is EGL Eagle Global Logistics, the country’s largest domestic heavyweight forwarder of air freight. This is Eagle’s hub of entry, a first for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. UPS also expanded its East Austin hub by 77,000 square feet recently. Orlando Airport Opens Fourth Terminal Orlando International Airport, one of the South’s finest, opened its fourth terminal in September. The 16-gate terminal completes the North Terminal complex. The new terminal will house gates 100 through 129 and tenants will include Southwest, AirTran, Midway and Spirit airlines. Orlando’s Transportation Shortfall A budget shortfall has Metro Orlando officials deciding which roads will be hardest hit when the money runs out. Faced with a $5.2 billion funding shortfall over the next 20 years, officials in Orlando say one out of every two federal and state road projects may be shelved. And officials say, crowded Interstate 4 may be one of those. In fact, there are $11.6 billion in Orlando area road projects on the drawing board over the next 20 years and only $6.4 billion available. The usual suspects are behind the problem Orlando is facing. These are: a fast growing population, the failure to secure local sales tax increases for transportation and diminishing state and federal road funds. San Antonio International Gets Customs Entry President Clinton signed the Miscellaneous Trade and Technical Corrections Act into law in November which designated the San Antonio International Airport as a U.S. Customs point of entry. That makes San Antonio’s airport a landing site for the arrival of Customs processing of certain aircraft arriving in the U.S. from foreign areas. Business Groups In Northern Virginia Form Transportation Alliance Seventeen Northern Virginia business groups have joined together to help find solutions to the region’s congestion problems. The business groups launched a new organization called the Northern Virginia Transportation Compact on November 14. Some business groups who have joined in the effort include the Northern Virginia Technology Council, the Region Coalition, the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association and the chambers of commerce of Fairfax and Loudoun counties. While the group will not have general taxing authority it is seeking access to state and local funds, including toll revenue and some bonding authority. The Compact plans on seeking that authority in the 2001 Virginia General Assembly session. Maryland’s Transportation Shortfall Last quarter the Maryland Commission on Transportation Investment — a 30-member panel appointed by the governor and legislative leaders in 1999 — reported a gap of at least $27 billion over the next 20 years between the cost of the projects it needs and what the state can afford. An overwhelming majority of Maryland officials and business leaders believe the state’s transportation fund, which is growing about 2.5 percent a year, is the source of the state’s future transportation woes. Expect it to be a major issue when the Maryland General Assembly goes into session in January. Continental Airlines Expands At Houston Airport A huge expansion is underway at Bush Intercontinental Airport by Continental Airlines. The new $350 million expansion project includes the opening of the 550,000-square-foot Terminal E during the summer of 2003. The new terminal will include 15 to 20 new gates accommodating both domestic and international flights, an expanded baggage-claim area, a 15,000-square-foot Presidents Club and an assortment of retail. Terminal E will be used by Continental’s domestic operations. The terminal represents the largest expansion at the airport in 20 years. Fort Worth Alliance Gets Federal Money The Fort Worth Alliance Airport has received funding for a $90 million extension of its two runways. The extensions of up to 11,000 feet, will allow the industrial cargo airport to handle long distance flights to markets in Europe and Asia. The project will make it possible for fully-loaded, fully-fueled jets to take off at the airport. The project is expected to take four years. Maersk Sealand Selects Savannah Five U.S.-flagged Maersk Sealand vessels, each with carrying capacities up to 3,700 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs or containers), will make up the new TA2 string that will be a part of the company’s new Trans-Atlantic routes. Savannah beat Charleston for the new routes. The weekly rotation will include routes to Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Fellixstowe, Charleston, Houston, Savannah, Norfolk and returning to Rotterdam. Alabama State Docks Opens New Pier The $6 million, River End D-2 pier at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile was officially opened in October. The new facility was designed to provide more open storage and additional water access for speed loading and off-loading of metals such as steel and aluminum products. The new pier will enable the Docks to work more closely with Alabama steel producers that manufacture goods for the export market and to handle incoming metals for Alabama’s new manufacturers that fabricate steel and aluminum products. Two rail tracks have been laid to handle cargo through the new pier.