JTA Named 2016 Outstanding Public Transportation System

[Metro Jacksonville]

JTA Named 2016 Outstanding Public Transportation System



The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is the recipient of the 2016 “Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award” from the American Public Transportation Association (APTA). JTA is an independent agency of the State of Florida governed by a seven-member board of directors. JTA operates Jacksonville’s public bus service, ferry service, downtown automated Skyway and paratransit service. The Authority also plans, designs and builds roads and bridges.

Read More: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2016-may-jta-named-2016-outstanding-public-transportation-system

[BenderRodriguez]

I find this extremely hard to believe. As a frequent rider of this system and having spent a decent amount of time on other systems both in the U.S. and overseas. It's clearly obvious that JTA and its public transit have A LOT of work to do. How they came to the conclusion of "most outstanding of 2016" will forever be a head-scratcher. Unless I'm missing the "read between the lines" politics of it all...

[Jumpinjack]

^ agreed. This fits right in with the thinking that gave the big transportation award five years ago for the FDOT interchange at I-10 and I-95.

2011 WINNER: On Time – Medium Project, I-10/I-95 Interchange "The Big I", Jacksonville, FL

The project finished six months ahead of schedule, which saved taxpayer dollars and countless commuting headaches. Motorists can now enjoy more time with family and friends and less time sitting in traffic thanks to smoother travels through this major interchange.

[Tacachale]

JTA transit has made HUGE improvements in the last couple of years. It's head and shoulders above where it was even 5 years ago and it sounds like the numbers are showing that. Presumably, that's why it was recognized.

[thelakelander]

JTA came up while I was in Houston last week with a few planners from that city. Evidently, their MTA overhauled their entire bus network a few months after JTA. So they were quite familiar with some of the recent things JTA has been doing. Now DART (Dallas) is following these successful route optimization initiatives.

[BenderRodriguez]

...is following these successful route optimization initiatives.

40+ minute headways on the regular service and the fact that it takes nearly 1.5 hours on their "rapid transit" just to reach downtown from NW Jax is hardly what I call "optimized". I couldn't be sustainable and just own a bike even if I wanted to if I just depended on the city's public services.

Sorry for sounding like a whiny so-and-so, but I really feel like JTA is approaching this the wrong way. Jacksonville's transportation problems are very unique seeing as we are "county sized" and not regular "city sized". It's time to think outside of the box on this, and if someone says "Flyer" I may jump off the nearest building. This doesn't even just need to be about the JTA or just their problem. I'm all ears and definitely open to another private entity stepping in and bringing more assets and routes to the market. 

[UNFurbanist]

I think this award is more about recognizing direction rather than actual results. It will be a few more years before Jax has anything resembling a "good" transit system but JTA is really trying to tackle these problems. I give them kudos for effort, we'll just have to see in 5 years if it has produced much fruit. Mobility Works corridors, FCF, the new JRTC, and possible skyway expansion are all the beginning of some positive change. Now if they can just work with Brightline and Amtrak to bring intra-city rail back downtown we might be cooking with gas.

[Tacachale]

Jacksonville's problems aren't that unique. Lots of transit systems go as far or farther than JTA does (many cross multiple local government boundaries). Historically JTA hasn't had good coverage or reliable service, but that's what's improving. I do think Jacksonville's spread out nature leads to coverage problems in the more outlying areas - ie, many people wouldn't consider the St Johns Town Center "outlying" but it's a good 10 miles from downtown by road. The fact that it feels like it's a "town center" can lead to unrealistic expectations about how transit is serving it.

[Steve]

I think this award is more about recognizing direction rather than actual results.

Agreed. They really are night and day from when Nat Ford took over.

[tufsu1]

...is following these successful route optimization initiatives.

40+ minute headways on the regular service and the fact that it takes nearly 1.5 hours on their "rapid transit" just to reach downtown from NW Jax is hardly what I call "optimized".

JTA went from 2 routes with headways of 30 minutes or less to 20....all without additional operational cost....that is VERY impressive

[exnewsman]

...is following these successful route optimization initiatives.

40+ minute headways on the regular service and the fact that it takes nearly 1.5 hours on their "rapid transit" just to reach downtown from NW Jax is hardly what I call "optimized".

JTA went from 2 routes with headways of 30 minutes or less to 20....all without additional operational cost....that is VERY impressive

and from zero with 15 minutes or better to 11.

I'm perplexed by the 1.5 hours on the Flyer comment. Its a 40 min ride and the Flyer is running over 90% on time, so that should be fairly consistent.

I saw a video about the Houston "ROI" they called reimaging. Almost identical issues as JTA had prior to ROI. 30 years since last overhaul. routes going through downtown. Poor frequency. Long transit times. You could have swapped out Houston and substituted Jacksonville and nobody would have known. One thing that was different.. one of their board members was a daily transit user so he knew the issues first hand.

[PeeJayEss]

So maybe JTA deserves a most-improved award? Certainly not an outstanding system award.

[tufsu1]

So maybe JTA deserves a most-improved award? Certainly not an outstanding system award.

or maybe you should look at the qualifications/requirements for the award...including the actual title - Outstanding Public Transit System Achievement Award - perhaps it makes more sense now?

[Ocklawaha]

Congratulations to JTA, Nat Ford and Company.

New buses ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT
New Schedules/Headways ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT
First Coast Flyer concept and implementation ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT
BRT/Bus Only lanes throughout the city ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT
$9.2 Mil saved over 15 years + Clean air conversion to CNG rather than Diesel ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT
Moving forward on the JRTC ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT
Taking over the Ferry ^^ BIG IMPROVEMENT

Even though I disagree on the JRTC plan, and still think it's wrong to bypass the historic station for something new when it's pretty much a given that the convention center is going to move sooner or later. Amtrak could come back downtown and Brightline will likely use that old station site if not buy out and develop the entire area for a real world class terminal, they will be the single biggest inducement for Amtrak to come back to the City Center.

Dropping Rapid-Streetcar from the future plans, and pretty much shelving the rail options is a case of 'penny wise and dollar short' thinking. I had a nice conversation with Steve Arrington last week and he agreed that the Skyway structure would support any people mover vehicles on the market when it was constructed, and that it would have no problem supporting heritage type streetcars. The anti-rail bias at JTA is highly suspect and unless they have something up their sleeve that none of us know about yet, this type of thinking will keep them and Jacksonville at the 'medium size system' for most of our lifetimes.

An area that still needed attention the last time I checked was the long-distance commuter X-Express buses to Ponte Vedra, Clay and surrounding areas. These schedules are a long-neglected area and need to be revised and expanded with many more options. The equipment is/was old and needs to be reordered along the lines of the First Class commuter services in New England and the San Francisco / Los Angeles areas. Meaning - over-the-road-coaches such as MCI/Setra, Prevost/Volvo, Van Hool or TEMSA.
EXAMPLES:
http://chbussales.com/new-coaches/ts-35
http://www.abc-companies.com/bus/new/motorcoaches/cx
http://www.mcicoach.com/public-sector/publicCommuter.htm
https://www.prevostcar.com/coach/x3-45-commuter

I'm all ears and definitely open to another private entity stepping in and bringing more assets and routes to the market.

Just an FYI. HELL WILL FREEZE OVER before someone, anyone, tries to open a private transit bus system... Economic's simply do not support such operations which is why Jacksonville, Houston, Dallas, etc ALL have public mass transit. Looked at another way, go out and buy a new city bus $500K then hire 4-5 drivers to offer a full schedule and cover off/sick days at $50K per year per driver + insurance, benefits etc. Fill your bus 2-3 times a day with 45 riders each paying $2 dollars for a ride, and the rest of the day operate with 5-15 riders per trip, then buy the fuel and tell me how much you'll need to keep from absolute destitution... Not going to happen!

[PeeJayEss]

So maybe JTA deserves a most-improved award? Certainly not an outstanding system award.

or maybe you should look at the qualifications/requirements for the award...including the actual title - Outstanding Public Transit System Achievement Award - perhaps it makes more sense now?

Nope