To air is human

Five months after Gov. Hochul smartly and mercifully killed the Port Authority’s incredibly stupid $2.1 billion AirTrain planned for LaGuardia Airport and four months since a committee of three wise men (one of whom is a woman) was brought on to evaluate other options, the PA is presenting those other options, widened to 14.

One of those choices, the same old stupid AirTrain looped through out of the way Willets Point, should be off the table. Of the other 13, two stand out, both which extend the N train from Astoria. That does away with the need for a separate ride to the airport — and a separate fare — that both JFK and Newark suffer from and would have also been the fate for LGA under the AirTrain. This N train subway extension was on track before 9/11 derailed it.

Also on the list, about which the public can speak out at a session next week and the week after, are beefing up the existing bus services to the airport, the M60 that starts on the Upper West Side and the LaGuardia Link Q70, a dedicated airport route that only runs between the Jackson Heights— Roosevelt Ave./74th St. subway and the terminals.

There is a simple, cost free way to improve the Q70 that is such a good idea that the PA and the MTA already use it on holidays and have done so for years: Eliminate the fare. Since almost every passenger is connecting via the subway, they are all paying a transit full fare. There’s no point for putting air travelers through the bother of having to deal with a Q70 bus fare. This is so easy that Hochul must make it happen immediately, even as more involved measures are examined.

Among the choices the PA is offering, two of them, a new dedicated bus from the N train and a rail link from the same, are part of a plan presented by Scott Spencer of AmeriStarRail. The PA and its wise panel should be talking to him.