Of course, and I totally get that. I'm sure some guys in ATL would love a BHM, CHA or GSP "co terminal". But it would really suck for the majority of the pilots based there. Since NYC has a far higher percentage of commuters than most other bases, it magnifies the problem (to the majority) even more.

The $100 cab fare doesn't even help mitigate anything since it only applies to short call. A cab helps the company in that case anyway and not the pilot, since any reasonable report time is sufficient.

For the vast majority of pilots who commute, and even most locals, living/staying in position to cover the majority of trips means being near JFK/LGA, which are close enough (yes, even during most traffic) to be realistically considered a co base. EWR is not even close.

Again, there's nothing wrong with EWR pairings. They can build as many of them as they want to. They just need to be in a separate bid category, because that's what it is for most pilots.