San Diego port tenants support 42,000 jobs in the region.
Products, activities, and jobs depend on BNSF’s rail service
The port of San Diego serves as a true gateway to Latin America and the Pacific Rim. Everything from automobiles to fertilizer, and lumber to cement gets shipped through the two marine terminals on Tenth Avenue and on B Street. The port also handles project cargo such as windmill parts, generators, and transformers. Several of these products are dependent upon freight rail infrastructure and rail service.
The ready access to freight rail and the on-dock rail facilities keeps many of San Diego’s strongest maritime operations and port tenants viable. Many products and economic activities at the San Diego Port rely heavily upon BNSF’s rail service, particularly automobile distribution operations. Companies such as Pasha, Mazda, Hyundai, and Kia operate out of the Port of San Diego to take advantage of the on-dock rail infrastructure.
A $24 million rail improvement project has created both land bridge and improved rail facilities at the terminal. BNSF invested this money for the project in 1998, enabling Pasha Automotive to double their rail loading operations for national distribution and export operations. More than 400,000 vehicles are now processed through the facility annually. In late 2007, that tenant achieved a benchmark of 3,000,000 vehicles processed since 1990.
Collectively, San Diego port tenants support 42,000 jobs in the region. Working waterfront jobs pay well above the county average and more than twice as much as travel and commercial sector jobs. The average compensation on the working waterfront is more than $62,000 a year. In comparison, the average compensation for the tourism industry is a little more than $25,000. The existing BNSF rail infrastructure and on-dock rail service is a critical component of several of these businesses.
In addition, the Port of San Diego’s Maritime Business Plan demonstrates that maritime cargo operations generate $1.6 billion annually and support 19,298 regional jobs. The plan also highlights the fact that $100 million in state and local taxes are generated from maritime activity at the Port, and forecasts an annual cargo growth of 15 percent through 2030.