Regular Passenger Service From San Jose to Sacramento?

Is there any small airline that is running regular passenger service between
San Jose and Sacramento? What about any city in the Bay Area and
Sacramento? There was an outfit out of Mather that was supposed to be
doing this with a Cessna Caravan, but their web site appears mostly
abandoned and no one answers their phone, so I guess they folded.

I just can't believe that no one can make the economics of this work at
$150/passenger using something economical to fly like a Caravan.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

You can leave your house in San Jose and be at your destination in
Sacramento faster by car than you can by going to the airport, arriving
early for security, standing in line, finally flying the short flight, then
driving back into Sacramento. Probably the same for almost any trip under
say 300 miles.
"CHANGE USERNAME TO westes" wrote in
message ...
Is there any small airline that is running regular passenger service
between
San Jose and Sacramento? What about any city in the Bay Area and
Sacramento? There was an outfit out of Mather that was supposed to be
doing this with a Cessna Caravan, but their web site appears mostly
abandoned and no one answers their phone, so I guess they folded.

I just can't believe that no one can make the economics of this work at
$150/passenger using something economical to fly like a Caravan.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

I've had that trip by car take as little as two and one half hours and as
long as five hours. The traffic out of the Bay Area in commute hours and
around Sacramento can be a parking lot.

If someone is running passenger service with a Caravan, the odds are that
they are probably also running charter operations, and those typically leave
from the private pilot's side of the airport. The delays are typically
much less. 30 minutes delay either side for boarding, 60 minutes flying
(Caravans only do about 140 knots), gives about 90 minutes total one way.
If I could get a reliable 90 minutes at $150, I would do it. I would feel
better than on the trips by car that take two and one half hours, and I
would be feeling a whole lot better than the trips that take five hours.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com


"Franklin Newton" wrote in message
nk.net...
You can leave your house in San Jose and be at your destination in
Sacramento faster by car than you can by going to the airport, arriving
early for security, standing in line, finally flying the short flight,
then
driving back into Sacramento. Probably the same for almost any trip under
say 300 miles.
"CHANGE USERNAME TO westes" wrote in
message ...
Is there any small airline that is running regular passenger service
between
San Jose and Sacramento? What about any city in the Bay Area and
Sacramento? There was an outfit out of Mather that was supposed to be
doing this with a Cessna Caravan, but their web site appears mostly
abandoned and no one answers their phone, so I guess they folded.

I just can't believe that no one can make the economics of this work at
$150/passenger using something economical to fly like a Caravan.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:12:46 -0800, CHANGE USERNAME TO westes wrote:

I would feel
better than on the trips by car that take two and one half hours, and I
would be feeling a whole lot better than the trips that take five hours.

don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

#m

--
The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free,
neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson

Sure, as long as you don't mind spending six hours making the trip that's an
option. The train has lots of stops and one major stopover and switch of
trains.

I'm looking for a way to shorten the trip.

--
Will
westes AT earthbroadcast.com

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 21 Nov 2004 15:12:46 -0800, CHANGE USERNAME TO westes wrote:

I would feel
better than on the trips by car that take two and one half hours, and I
would be feeling a whole lot better than the trips that take five hours.

don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

#m

--
The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free,
neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.
Thomas Jefferson

"Martin Hotze" wrote in message
...
don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

Generally speaking, we don't have trains like exist in Europe, Japan, and
perhaps elsewhere. I know there's a high-speed rail on the East Coast, but
as far as I know, nothing like that on the West Coast.

So, in answer to your question, no...generally speaking we have no
"reasonable public transportation". There are certainly exceptions in
certain metro areas, but as a rule, Americans prefer to spend tax dollars on
pavement, not trains and buses.

Pete

don't you have any reasonable public transportation? I thought there is a
train going along the coast connecting major cities (?).

I'd have to say that "reasonable public transportation" doesn't exist
on the U.S. west coast - unless you live in one big city and want to
go to another (like SFO-LAX). And then you have the hassles of going
through all the airport nonsense.

Some years ago I wanted to travel one way between RDM and SBA. They
wanted $400 or so for a flight. Forget that. I went to two different
Greyhound terminals - and couldn't get a straight answer out of either
one. I wound up hitchhiking to Chemult, OR to catch the train. It was
an hour late, and I stood on an open platform in a snowstorm waiting
for it. After some time there some people waiting in a car took
pity on me and offered me a seat. The train ride itself was fine -
but I got off in Redding, CA at 4 AM - and NOTHING was open (except
the Greyhound bus station). BLNT.

More recently I needed to travel between the SAC area and SBA. To be
sure, there are flights - by way of SFO. Figure on the usual airport
hassles times two - including getting reinspected in SFO despite
never having left the transit lounge. I found that I could rent a
car and drive it at about half the cost and maybe an hour more
door to door.

More recent still was travel between FOT and SBA. You can take the
airlines from ACV with the usual SFO stop if you like. If you want
Amtrak it's a bus at 7 AM to Martinez (across from Vallejo), then
a train to Bakersfield, followed by another bus to SBA. Total 16
hours (barring delays, which are not uncommon). I can drive it in
12 hours and fly it in 3. Which would you choose?

By the way - the trains are just fine - clean and comfortable.
Pretty cheap, too. However, they are few and far between, frequently
late, and way too slow.

David Johnson

Some years ago I wanted to travel one way between RDM and SBA.

More recently I needed to travel between the SAC area and SBA. To be
sure, there are flights - by way of SFO.

More recent still was travel between FOT and SBA. You can take the
airlines from ACV with the usual SFO stop if you like.

I have no idea what RDM, SBA, and FOT are, and I live in the state.
Well, SBA I can guess is Santa Barbara. Why should I guess though?
Why not just type out the friggin' city names?

It's much worse when someone posts "I took a trip from SLW to CMI via
WPC, SQP, and XCS and the views were great" and you have no idea even
what part of the country they're talking about, 'cause it turns out
it's on the East Coast 3000 miles from you. I mean c'mon, type out
those place names so we can all read along.

I see in another thread some grumbling about using airport
abbreviations instead of placenames. In general I agree that
it is appropriate to give the city name first, then use the
abbreviation in following remarks. In this case the topic
was lousy public transportation - and you could substitute
the name of just about any medium-sized city (with airline
service, and the story would be the same. I was also in a
hurry at the time of the previous post.

Be that as it may, the places I was referring to are as
follows:

LAX - Los Angeles CA
SFO - San Francisco, CA
SBA - Santa Barbara, CA
RDM - Redmond, OR
SAC - Sacramento, CA
ACV - Arcata, CA
FOT - Fortuna, CA (no airline service, but an Amtrak stop
- served by ACV).

David Johnson

"Franklin Newton" wrote in message
nk.net...
You can leave your house in San Jose and be at your destination in
Sacramento faster by car than you can by going to the airport, arriving
early for security, standing in line, finally flying the short flight,
then
driving back into Sacramento. Probably the same for almost any trip under
say 300 miles.

Even assuming your time estimate is valid, it doesn't preclude a viable
airline route.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have airline service between Portland and
Seattle (~200 miles), Vancouver BC and Seattle (~150 miles), Bellingham and
Seattle (~100 miles), just to name a few. I won't even bother to mention
the numerous cross-water routes that are short (30 minute flights, or
shorter) but viable because of the lines at the ferries, and the time the
ferries take.

Pete