Re: “Sea-Tac must modernize to meet the needs of a growing region” (Dec. 31, Opinion):
The expansion of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is warranted, along with appropriate mitigation of impacts to surrounding cities. Increased airport demands will continue in the future. However, increasing terminal and gate capacities are not the only ways to address this issue.
Airport capacity can also be increased by reducing short-hop regional air service and replacing them with high-speed rail. France is a leader in this approach and has eliminated short-haul air service to places that can be reached within three hours by high-speed rail.
It is incumbent on state and regional transportation authorities to look at air and rail service in tandem, and not as separate transportation silos.
Subir Mukerjee, Olympia
