SFIA's runway project is "on hold" but they continue to ignore alternatives and push for runways.You still need to be involved if we are to Protect Our Bay. Get involved. Show up for meetings. Write letters. Without you nothing will happen. Here's a list of organizations that could use your help. Also a list of contact information. And don't forget, "Money is the mother's milk of politics." The proposed runways are not the last threat to San Francisco Bay.

Salt Pond Restoration: The project to restore the south bay salt ponds has started. The Draft EIR/EIS is out for the "Initial Stewardship Project." That part of the project will "maintain and enhance" the salt ponds while a longer term plan is formulated. The DEIR is available at the South Bay Restoration website. Check out the South Bay Restoration website for more on meetings of interest.

SFIA has said they want to restart the runway project when their passenger count rises above 33 million. Well, be very afraid: In 2004 the passenger count at SFIA was 32.8 million.

And there's another development. John Martin, SFIA Director, called for a new Regional Airport System Plan in a recent op-ed article in the Chronicle. While Martin calls for several things that would make new runways unnecessary - larger planes, technology, and the development of regional airports - it seems the real reason for the article is to ask for an updated RASP. That is a necessary step toward restarting the runway project.

The demand for runways is determined by the number of planes, not the number of passengers. I have the number of operations(an operation is a landing or a take-off) at current stats. On that page there is a link to SFIA's data that includes passenger counts.