Rick Mullaney Unveils Plan for Jacksonville

[thelakelander]

^Great point about streamlining the duplication of services to make for a better all around system.

[dougskiles]

Non-Redneck Westsider, thank you for that real-world example.  Have you expressed this concern to JTA?  I've sent them emails before to customer service, but have never received a response specific to my question.  I get an automated response thanking me for contacting them - but nothing more.

The last email I sent was on January 3rd and received this response immediately - but then never anything  since.

Thank you for submitting your comments to JTA. We appreciate your patronage and feedback.

Please be advised your remarks have been forwarded to the
appropriate department and we anticipate a response to your inquiry
within  3-5 business days.

For immediate assistance, please feel free to contact
Customer Service at (904) 630-3100 during normal business hours.

Thank you,

We hope your future travels with JTA are pleasant.

We are JTA, an independent state agency committed to providing effective and efficient transportation solutions for our growing region through roads and public transit options.

Part of your day. Part of your community. Part of your life.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

No I haven't because it is not a enough of an issue in my life to pursue it and get all worked up - it's a nuisance, nothing more.  I share this story and others like it here, because I think it will gain more traction here with people that are in-the-fold- I've already gotten feedback, which is more than JTA gave you on your issue.

(I can already hear the rhetoric coming from that last statement.)

[fieldafm]

Although its not always the answer I want to hear... Kent Stover at JTA has always responded to my communications in a professional and timely manner.

I give him a thumbs up for that.  Thats better than I can say for most other city agencies(and I know JTA is a state agency).

If you have five free minutes(thats really all it takes), its pretty easy to tell by looking at the route maps how much duplication is wasted on some of these routes.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

If you want to forward him that excerpt from my last post about the WS-2 & WS-52, feel free.   I'm PMing you contact info if he decides to follow up.

[Kay]

How we handle the mass transit issue in this city has less to do with transportation and a lot more to do with community building, neighborhood revitalization, enhancing educational opportunities, job creation and economic development.

Exactly.  And yet, by having a separate transportation authority that is in no way connected to these other elements of our community, we have gotten where we are today.  Can we pull the transit element of JTA's operation away from them and start over with a more integrated approach.  Something so critical to the fabric of our community should not be operating as independently as they seem to be doing.

Fabulous idea!!!

[jcjohnpaint]

I mean maybe there is not enough traffic here for people to really get behind mass transit.  Most mass transit cities have absolutely horrific traffic problems.  Not to say I don't support mass transit (which I do), but in this country will not support something unless it is a total problem. 

[dougskiles]

Funny how these threads take on a life of their own.  Our last several pages of posts have had very little to do with Rick Mullaney.  And I don't want to break the momentum, since I am really much more interested in JTA and the Skyway than Rick (no offense dude).

I was at the FDOT Overland Bridge meeting and had the opportunity to talk to Steve Arrington (Director of Resource Management at JTA) for about an hour.  I had never spoken with him before in this way and it was very informative for me.  His explanation of what the Skyway was intended to be, what it turned out to be and possibly why it didn't turn out the way it was intended, was something I needed to hear.  We also talked about the multi-modal center, BRT, street cars and of course my favorite topic, extending the Skyway into San Marco.  The man is a wealth of knowledge and history and couldn't have been nicer to me and sincerely offered an opportunity for me to get more involved.

I am grateful for the conversation and plan to take him up on the offer.  Not sure exactly how that will be yet, but for starters he offered to be a part of the upcoming San Marco by Design workshop and hear what the neighborhood has to say.

I did find out that they are working with FDOT to make sure the Skyway can be extended beneath I-95 once the Overland Bridge project is complete.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

Maybe you could catch the skyway from San Marco to Central Station and count the amount of busses that pass by. 

[Ocklawaha]

I mean maybe there is not enough traffic here for people to really get behind mass transit.  Most mass transit cities have absolutely horrific traffic problems.  Not to say I don't support mass transit (which I do), but in this country will not support something unless it is a total problem. 

It's a commonly held FALSE  belief that mass transit is operated to relieve highway congestion. Nothing could be farther from the truth, mass transit is mobility for those without mobility, and for the rest of us it is a wonderful choice, IE: Do I sit behind the wheel for 45 minutes and swear, or sit on the bus and read a good novel?  Nobody has a valid complaint about traffic when a train or light rail vehicle flashes past them at 60 mph, while they sit in interminable grid lock.

OCKLAWAHA

[tufsu1]

I did find out that they are working with FDOT to make sure the Skyway can be extended beneath I-95 once the Overland Bridge project is complete.

correct....JTA (and others) lobbied FDOT to build a structure in the area instead of just using fill...that way the skyway could be extended.

[mtraininjax]

Who needs 34 points for a plan? Why not 56 or 73 or 92?

[Ocklawaha]

I did find out that they are working with FDOT to make sure the Skyway can be extended beneath I-95 once the Overland Bridge project is complete.

correct....JTA (and others) lobbied FDOT to build a structure in the area instead of just using fill...that way the skyway could be extended.

It might be the best we could get from FDOT, but the city would have benefited more if the road went lower and the Skyway went OVER it. Every executive vacationer and his/her family that speeds past on the interstate and saw "a futuristic monorail" pass over the freeway would be sold on JACKSONVILLE as a place to live and do business forever.

OCKLAWAHA

[lewyn]

If we just stop service on the Skyway, won't we wind up with a big, pointless eyesore in the middle of downtown?  And won't it be used, as abandoned properties are used, as a homeless shelter/drug den/house of prostitution/general center for crime and vice?

[thelakelander]

Most likely, which will make the fight for downtown revitalization worse.