Riverside Avondale Night Trolley

[Chaz1969]

fieldafm, I sincerely appreciate the attention you are bringing to the night trolley which I also think is a great addition to the neighborhood.  Having said that, you stated earlier in this thread that ridership has been down for "3 straight months" when I believe 2 would be the correct number based on your earlier posts.  In my opinion, it seems very short-sighted to say that a 2-month downward trend means the end of the trolley service.  The numbers I've seen posted elsewhere on metrojacksonville from the 4 months went something like this:

963 riders
   -January 15, 2014
1408 trips
   -February 11, 2014
1171
   -March 13, 2014
Ridership over the weekend dipped slightly from last month.
   -April 8, 2014

So what were the actual totals for April?  Seems like we are getting at least a thousand a month...so what number is needed to keep this going?  Thanks

[ChriswUfGator]

The ridership numbers don't look that bad to me, honestly. The trolley runs at off hours and a thousand people is nothing to sneeze at.

[AuditoreEnterprise]

1k for a newer service really isn't that bad... I wouldn't doom it until you pull in half of opening month. Until then it technically is still up... If you bought stock at $1 a share and it soared to $100 would you sell just because it went to 90... probably not because you are still in the green... sorry I just see numbers from a different perspective

[ProjectMaximus]

Nobody bought anything at any price though, auditore. The analogy doesn't make any sense. I'm pretty sure the goal was to reach a particular benchmark by the 5th and 6th month to convince JTA to continue/extend the service and the sad truth is that we probably need to overperform much much more than the average JTA service line for that to succeed. If it was all relative as you're suggesting then we should have limited January to just 100 riders so we could show JTA how much growth there has been 

The ridership numbers don't look that bad to me, honestly. The trolley runs at off hours and a thousand people is nothing to sneeze at.

I agree it's definitely far higher than the average JTA service. But I'd imagine JTA is holding this nighttime service to a far higher threshold.

[mtraininjax]

so what number is needed to keep this going?

That is the real mystery! Kind of like the ghost app when it sometimes stops working at 1 am in the morning!

[AuditoreEnterprise]

i think you failed to see the comparison so i will break it down with numbers so its easier to understand...
month 1 - 963 riders = -0-
month 2 - 1408 riders = ^445 riders over month one
month 3 - 1171 riders = down 237 riders from previous month, but ^208 riders from month 1.
month 4- no number but slight dip... meaning about the same numbers...

So technically riding is still up over the opening month. Meaning it is still providing riders to more than opening. No where in the statement did they say there was a quota. that being said it is said solely because it is not increasing in numbers it is going to be closed.


Now on to my comparison.

if you bought a stock for $1
month 2.. stock closes at $100
month 3... stock closes at $90

do you sell a stock that is still in the profit ranger over the initial amount just because it dipped. No. that is all I was saying.

[ProjectMaximus]

The comparison still makes no sense, my friend.

To your first point, it seems like the first month ridership was a disappointment. Maintaining that, or seeing only a slight improvement, would also be a disappointment. Especially since there was an expectation of ridership growth.

Since you like stock analogies...thats like getting a 3% annual return on your portfolio over two decades. Hey you're "up" overall, but you're not gonna be happy about it.

[johnnyliar]

I rode the trolley tonight and had a blast!

I sincerely hope that it gets extended!

[fieldafm]

I rode the trolley tonight and had a blast!

I sincerely hope that it gets extended!

Thank you Johnny!

Hoping for a much better turnout tonight.

[Lucasjj]

As usual, we had a fun time riding the trolley last night. We bounced from Carmines to Bold City to Five Points and back to the Garage. The trolley app makes it so easy and the drivers have been excellent. And just some icing on the cake, our ride from Five Points to King St featured a group sing along of "I've Got Friends In Low Places". The whole trolley sang it together.

For two of the people with me last night this was their first time riding iit and they loved. If you haven't take advantage of it yet, get out there and use it tonight.

[mtraininjax]

If JTA wants this thing to succeed, the need to sell the passes on the bus. Or be greedy and not offer change at all on the fare boxes.

The 7 pm trolleys were ghost towns, but the ones at the end of the night were packed. Check out facebook, loaded with selfies from the trolley latenight!

[AuditoreEnterprise]

It's saw a poster of the route in Chamblin's yesterday. It is a fairly decent sized route as well

[johnnyliar]

And just some icing on the cake, our ride from Five Points to King St featured a group sing along of "I've Got Friends In Low Places". The whole trolley sang it together.

I was on that trolley with 5 of my friends who were first time trolley riders. They had SUCH a good time! So funny that "Low Places" was the song that everyone knew!

When will we know if the trolley becomes permanent?

[fieldafm]

Final weekend of the trolley trial is tonight and tomorrow.

Please consider inviting a friend and riding tonight and tomorrow. Leave your car at home, hop on board ($1.50 exact cash fare each way) and grab a bite to eat (or catch a movie, or go to the free wine tasting at Riverside Liquors, or play some Jenga at Bold City Brewery, or grab some frozen yogurt with your kids, etc).

[MissMinda]

I'm going after work to buy a couple passes and enjoy an evening out.