Narrative:

Leaving gate at mei, ground control instructed us to taxi to runway 1. I looked at my chart and said 'looks like taxiway C to taxiway a to me' to my first officer. On my commercial chart, taxiway B appears to stop at taxiway C and become a vehicle roadway or something, then pick back up as a taxiway at taxiway a. As we approached runway 4/22, we could see both ends of the runway and cleared left and right. I thought about it for a second before crossing the runway and thought well, we've been cleared all the way to runway 1 and nobody could be making an approach to this runway and we can see both ends, so I crossed without verifying. After crossing, a controller came on and said, 'air carrier X you just made an unauthorized runway crossing. You were instructed to taxi to runway 1, turn left on taxiway a, recross runway 22 and taxi to runway 1.' we followed the instructions and after recrossing runway 22, I inquired if there had been any conflict or if a report was going to be made. He said there was no conflict and he wasn't going to report, but in the future, to ask for progressive taxi if I needed it. We should have been much more careful about making sure I knew my proper taxi route before crossing the runway, especially with all the runway incursion awareness going on in the industry right now.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CR2 TAXIING FOR DEP AT MEI CROSSED RWY WITHOUT CLRNC.

Narrative: LEAVING GATE AT MEI, GND CTL INSTRUCTED US TO TAXI TO RWY 1. I LOOKED AT MY CHART AND SAID 'LOOKS LIKE TXWY C TO TXWY A TO ME' TO MY FO. ON MY COMMERCIAL CHART, TXWY B APPEARS TO STOP AT TXWY C AND BECOME A VEHICLE ROADWAY OR SOMETHING, THEN PICK BACK UP AS A TXWY AT TXWY A. AS WE APCHED RWY 4/22, WE COULD SEE BOTH ENDS OF THE RWY AND CLRED L AND R. I THOUGHT ABOUT IT FOR A SECOND BEFORE XING THE RWY AND THOUGHT WELL, WE'VE BEEN CLRED ALL THE WAY TO RWY 1 AND NOBODY COULD BE MAKING AN APCH TO THIS RWY AND WE CAN SEE BOTH ENDS, SO I CROSSED WITHOUT VERIFYING. AFTER XING, A CTLR CAME ON AND SAID, 'ACR X YOU JUST MADE AN UNAUTH RWY XING. YOU WERE INSTRUCTED TO TAXI TO RWY 1, TURN L ON TXWY A, RECROSS RWY 22 AND TAXI TO RWY 1.' WE FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS AND AFTER RECROSSING RWY 22, I INQUIRED IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY CONFLICT OR IF A RPT WAS GOING TO BE MADE. HE SAID THERE WAS NO CONFLICT AND HE WASN'T GOING TO RPT, BUT IN THE FUTURE, TO ASK FOR PROGRESSIVE TAXI IF I NEEDED IT. WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE CAREFUL ABOUT MAKING SURE I KNEW MY PROPER TAXI RTE BEFORE XING THE RWY, ESPECIALLY WITH ALL THE RWY INCURSION AWARENESS GOING ON IN THE INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.