In the long run, it appears City Hall hopes the center will bolster its argument that a stop along the $40-billion high-speed rail line expected to connect L.A. and San Francisco by 2020 should be built at the airport-adjacent intersection of San Fernando Boulevard and Hollywood Way.
While the transit center's decision may relate to attracting high-speed rail development, Victor Gill, a spokesman for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, said building it would leave in place existing agreements that prohibit increased flight traffic and construction of a new terminal through 2015.
The same Federal Aviation Administration regulators who are pushing for eventual construction of a new terminal further from airplane runways — but won't allow the airport to impose nighttime curfews — are now also requiring the airport to move car rental operations out of their current runway-adjacent location, Gill said.
The transit center plan leaves the terminal expansion battle for another day, but solves the rental car problem by essentially parking cars on land already used primarily for that purpose, limiting potential impacts on area residents.
Meanwhile, Gill said the center would reduce annual vehicle trips in and out of the airport by around 700,000 because rental cars would no longer have to leave the area for cleaning and maintenance.
Solar panels on the transit center's roof would provide renewable energy, and a compressed natural gas fueling station behind it would reduce emissions of airport fleet vehicles.
Another bonus is that the simple, sturdy structure would be equipped to double as a local emergency operations center in case of disaster.
