chairing the advisory committee with amy meyer,h leader, a community leader for tgnra. each of these councils still fund the work of the former, and countless individuals and organizations submitted so much time and vision, and that has been an amazing process to be a part of. i want to thankd our civic leaders that are here today for the amazing cooperation, a vision, energy, a commitment, and support towards this process. it has been an amazing privilege to work tospur and have that opera to -- to work with;hwnmpl and have that opportunity as a lay person to be involved. the vision took all of the ever -- other efforts and brought it to the realities we're seeing

today which is incredibly inspiring and very gratifying for all of us out here that are so passionate about this beach. i also want to acknowledge former superintendent of tgnra, brian o'neill, who, as i am sure we all do, really wish to be here today to see how far we have come. he really was excited to start working with a really strong focus. i know he is here in spirit. finally, i would like to express my gratitude to all of the community members and environmental groups and organizations that have really kept this thread going in order to bring it along with all of our leaders, including san francisco's surf riders, save

friends of sutro park, golden gate, audubon, a coalition that saved ocean beach, and there are also great individuals, including bob, who was not here today, but he has-wuyurç contrin many giveaways. thank you all. thank you for being here. looking forward to the next phase. [applause] >> thank you very, very much. last but most certainly not least, we're going to hear from amy meyer. if you look up and down the speech, you look up to lands' end and you cast your mind's eye to the presidio, down the peninsula to the open spaces there, the crown jewel windows the golden gate recreational area would not exist without the efforts of amy meyer. [applause]

she got interested in a small land use issue in her neighborhood, and that became give us one of the greatest depths that we could possibly imagine living here. she has also been the honorary co-share of our planning advisory committee and a wonderful champion of this project -- co-gtjx4uechair of r planning advisory committee. >> thank you. we're going to be celebrating this year the 40th birthday ggnra. i can tell you something about its early time. that is right, this started with 12.5 acres. it is now 80,000 acres in three counties. it runs all the way almost to the top of the marin county to the middle of san mateo county. the whole idea was to take this fantastic coast and the injury of the golden gatev a national park, because that is

what it deserved to be. what is so wonderful about this project, and i feel i have been privileged to work on it, as been that it is not just a matter of connecting the coast line and the environment, but really connecting this part of our park to the city itself, making it possible so that people will be able to enjoy this place746 it needs real politician or improvement will be improved upon, and where it needs being simply retained and kept because of everything, from the threat of climate change to changes in our society, that this will happen and can happen in good form as a result of this plan that has now come to completion. this rests upon the whole -- the whole park rested upon the fact that people in this area thought this was one of the most

beautiful places in the entire world, and they were determined to save it and keep it. the idea that this group here and the people who have not been able to come here today, it is an enormous number of people. in this city and the two adjoining counties who really have worked to make this possible. so come in the fall and celebrate our birthday, because this park is one heck of a special place. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. i wanted to acknowledge peter from the army corps of engineers, an important federal partner. they have an incredible role to play in the future shipping7 the beach and some of the great opportunity for solution to challenges. the last group of folks to acknowledges our consultant team. nelson from transportation. sure what design engineers on the sustainability.

and infrastructure. esa, pwa, bob on coastal engineering. and they are hiding in the back and deserving of special recognition, ana and her team, ae com, who did amazing materials that translated a complicated set of circumstances into materials that conveyed the mayan a simple and accessible way to the public. thank you so much. i want to thank you all for sb÷s beautiful summer stay at ocean beach in hanging in through a lot of talking. i especially want to thank mayor lee for coming out here and his kind words of support. an incredible reception from city hall. thank you for coming. thank you to everybody who has been involved in this project from the beginning. [applause]

>> hello, welcome to the faa sfo control tower groundbreaking. thank you will for being here. i like to begin by acknowledging our special guests, ra ylahood, michael huearta and mayor ed lee. we have other vips to introduce. supervisor dave fine, bill withacomb, faa district manager andy richards, and from the san

mateo trade council, bill mack. jackie perkins from jackie sears' office. our federal security director, and a couple folks with the architectural firm that led to the design and alex legadda. and vernon allen from the allen group. a round of applause for the vips, think you for being here. >> everyone is very excited with this work now proceeding. this has moved along at a very

quick place. it is a unique partnership between the faa and the airport. for the first time, an airport will be leaving the building of the tower and will be following the direction of the faa and their detailed guidelines for our construction. we are using a design build approach to get six-eight months of the normal cycle and we will be using a formal part during model that we found very helpful and very successful. we are excited that the control tower project will be fully integrated into the terminal complex in both the design and the construction. the tower will fit seamlessly into our recently renovated terminal to, and are soon to be renovated terminal one. the construction job will bring hundreds of jobs for construction workers, engineers,

architects as well. we are excited about the job creation aspect as well. we are excited the project will allow us to work side-by-side with our partners, the most seismically sound and technologically advanced air traffic control tower in the world. i would like to know introduced the secretary of transportation to give a broader perspective on this project as it relates to infrastructure as a whole. it is my great pleasure to introduce the secretary of the department of transportation. mr. secretary. >> good morning, thank you all for being here. special thanks to michael, who you will hear from in just a minute, our outstanding acting faa administrator, had to our very good friend, someone we

think so much of, your outstanding mayor, thank you for being here. it is great to be in san francisco, which is no stranger to the power of thinking big and building big. 75 years ago, our forebears' built one of the most iconic symbols of america's vision. the golden gate bridge. it celebrated 75 years strong amidst the struggle of the great depression and in the face of fierce opposition. it would have been too easy to give up and abandon the project, but they did not do that. they listened to the naysayers, and they also listened to those that wanted to move forward. and those are people that had big ideas about building a bridge that expands over 4,000 feet.

20 billion cars across the bridge since it opened in 1937. it reminds us that infrastructure investment is the greatest gift we leave to the next generation. what we are celebrating on the site is the next generation, and michael will talk about this, of technology for guiding planes safely in and out of this airport. the this will be the next- generation tower for the next generation. that is what we leave. that is what we do. that is what leaders do. they think about the next generation. this critical infrastructure will create hundreds of good paying jobs. that is the part i really like, particularly for those in the construction vests. they and their colleagues will be the ones that will benefit in terms of the jobs that will be provided. ho wanted to be here today to

really congratulate all those that have provided the leadership for this. it contributes $1.30 trillion in total economic activity and accounts for 5.3% of the total of the supports over 10 million jobs. that is what these kinds of construction projects really create. the president signed a transportation bill last friday at the white house. the two-year bill, and in large measure, thanks to the leadership of people from your congressional delegation. i want to single out senator boxer. she was the chair of the committee, the environmental committee, the e. p. w. committee that led the way in making sure that our country had a big blue print, a plan for

transportation. without senator boxer's leadership, this bill would never have been silent. we are grateful to senator boxer for her leadership and getting us a two-year bill, a blueprint on the big picture ahead that really allows us to put our friends and neighbors to work in construction jobs. but the celebration today about this announcement is important because it really does take us to the next generation of technology. when this tower is open, as michael will tell you, it will have the next-generation technology for guiding planes in and out of this airport and guiding people on those planes in the safest possible way. i am delighted to be here for the community, those that serve on the board and leadership positions to say thank you for what you're doing with the people of this area.

and to modernize this great airports of people can fly safely in and out of san francisco. thank you for including me today. >> it is my great pleasure to introduce the acting administrator, a longtime friend andrea leader delivering on successful partnerships not only with the control towers. also working on delay reduction as well. welcome the administrator, michael huerta. >> it is great to be back in san francisco. it was 105 degrees in washington and i can't tell you how great it was to land and hear that it was 55 degrees in san francisco. it is great to be back and i am happy to see job and my good

friend, merely. i am so proud the faa is joining with this partnership on the construction of a new air traffic control tower. the faa is contributing $70 million to of effort that will create an estimated 600 jobs, including 400 construction jobs. while it creates needed jobs here today at the airport, it is also a down payment on the bay area's future. i want to affirm what you would just a second ago. this new tower is an extremely important economic investment in the structure of this region. we support 10 million jobs across the country and over 1 million of those jobs are right here in california. and 89 billion jobs of frayed trade moves through the state by air. when aviation succeeds, the

economy succeeded in california succeeds. san francisco has always been america's gateway to asia. it is interesting that san francisco is the only american city that has a chinese name? old gold mountain, san francisco. severances go has always been a destination and a gateway to asia. it is an enormously popular destination for visitors from all around the world. managing air traffic at this airport is a challenge because of the tight environment. this is actually a very small facility, but they move a lot of traffic through this airport and they moved it very well. we have a lot of airports in the bay area, and we have the power very he weather conditions, one of the great joys of living in the bay area.

in partnership with this airport, we have done a great job in getting flights safely in and out of your -- out of here. first, the tower is going to be built according to the strictest modern seismic standards, which is important in the bay area. it will include several green creatures like solar panels, recycled materials, reflective roofing. it will provide air traffic controllers with an unobstructed 360 degree airfield view along with the most up-to-date safety equipment for managing air traffic control. the new tower is one of many efforts the faa is making in san francisco. i want to recognize the western pacific regional administrator

that has invested a lot personally, and has done tremendous work on numerous aviation projects right here in the region have right here at this airport. you are supporting an effort to enhance runway safety areas. and as the faa transitions to the satellite based air traffic system, we will have better solutions for the tough problems here like whether related delays and limitations that have occurred because of the short and enclosed space that characterize this airport. as a result, it will have a suite of new tools for this region and many other metropolitan areas across the country. it is a great day in san francisco, this will be of great power when we move into it, and i look forward to having a first-class facility. thank you very much, and thank you.

>> thank you, michael. al, my great pleasure to introduce a great leader from san francisco and a great supporter of this airport, mayor lee. >> it is my pleasure to join secretary has and acting administrator as well as our own john martin, the director of the airport to celebrate the groundbreaking. if you know this and you are a student of air control or air traffic, you should know that the first quarter of this year, we had almost 11% increase in passenger travel. compared to last year's same quarter. if you compare ourselves to the other 12 airports around the country, for the last 12 months, we are leading the pack with a 5.6 increase in passenger travel.

it is critical to not only san francisco, to the bay area and all of our neighbors around the region, i would argue the whole area of northern california to have a safe and successfully operating airport. like any infrastructure, i want to let you know that i wore my lucky guy. this is the tide of the golden gate bridge. it is one that i will proudly wear every time we have a major announcement for infrastructure efforts that we have. and certainly, secretary, with you, you head up agencies that are so critical to the infrastructure of our whole transportation system in the country. whenever you come here, i enjoy these announcements because it is another reflection of the investment we are making, the

investment the airport commission, the staff, the director, all of the partners we have investing in generations to come of the transportation systems that we need to make sure the economic and regional recovery continues. that economic success for generations continues as well. we raised the bar with this newly designed air traffic control tower. it is a win-win situation. it will obviously create the jobs that the administrator has signaled for the men and women in construction. in fact, it will not only be technologically advanced, but one of the inside jokes i have with the airport staff, we're finally going to get a tower were the elevators go all the way to the talks. -- to the top. it will be the iconic design,

and in fact, i was one of the olympic torch runners in san francisco for the beijing olympics, as your call. i want to talk to john before he wrote his article about this to see the similarities of the torch, but it is a beautiful design. it also accomplishes at the very basic function of a higher level seismic safety and technological advancements. if i may say, as a great player to all of our federal partners, senators feinstein and boxer, leader pelosi and all of our partners and congressmen, we're working hard to make sure that we take our investments and make sure that we implement those programs for future generations. this is what being a mayor, we

are grateful to be able to do. federal agencies, transportation, and if you look at how our money that we had, if you consider the department of transportation funding for the transit center for the central subway, the latest announcements about the high-speed rail commitments, we are doing the kinds of things with federal agencies that will spell out what our future needs. it will make generations of people appreciate not only san francisco, but all of our bay area partners together to make sure the investments are right. it is about investing in our future, i am very grateful to not only partners here today, but i am excited to get this thing rolling. let's start digging as soon as we can and get our folks to

work. i know they will enjoy at, and i look forward to being here in the fall of 2014. i know there is a europe where the faa has to make sure everything is safe, but i look forward to that fall when we can travel to the top and make sure that the elevator goes all the way. thank you very much. >> i want to also recognize the team members on this project, the construction team, project managers, architects, engineers, the finance staff involved in getting this project together. they may work for 15 different organizations, but they are working seamlessly as one team, and that is why this project is ultimately going to be very successful. before we have the formal groundbreaking, i would like to open it up for questions from

the media. any questions? how is the new tower going to be different from what we have now? >> it will be 50 feet taller and it will provide a 360 degree view. it will be a larger cap outfitted with modern avionics. we will be using it to control air traffic and we will provide an unobstructed view of the airfield, which is extremely important. it will be fitted with new safety technology that we are introducing at the airport and will result in a much more efficient system, a much more efficient use as well as being a green facility. >> for air travelers, the whole reason we are making investments in technology as we are planning for the future growth of aviation.

we need to be able to handle more traffic, more efficiently, without delay. using advanced procedures that reducing fuel burn, cost, and noise. what that translates to is that you have a much higher likelihood of getting to your destination on time. >> i'm sorry? one of the things we are very focused on in san francisco is doing everything we can through technology that will enable us who have the equivalent of a beautiful sunny day weather conditions and we can handle traffic in all weather. that's what these investments are all about.

>> [inaudible] >> aviation operates under a concept of sense and avoid. you want to be sure that pilots and other users, everyone operating in the environment has good situational awareness of everything that is going on. in addition to dealing with traffic in the air, you have to be sensitive to what is going on the on the ground. it is a complex operating environment and nothing substitutes for being right there when dealing with a complex facility like san francisco.