Skyway ridership remains sparse

[Lunican]

Skyway ridership remains sparse



Passenger count on the downtown rail system has dropped by almost 20 percent in the past two years.

By LARRY HANNAN, The Times-Union

Jake Godbold lobbied for the Skyway when he was Jacksonville mayor. He looks at the elevated rail system today and said his support was misplaced.

"I keep thinking it will catch on, but so far, it hasn't," said Godbold, who was mayor from 1979 to 1987. "We just don't want to give our cars up."

Former Mayor John Delaney, who was critical of the Skyway when he first ran for office, jokes that he has now mellowed to the point he thinks the Skyway can work for Jacksonville.

Full Article:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101008/met_342252645.shtml

[Keith-N-Jax]

So why would ridership all of a sudden increase,have there been any changes or new destinations. Dont think so. Why ask a question when the answer is right in front of you?

[Doctor_K]

Indeed, Keith.  No destinations = no overt reason for ridership to suddenly increase.  I think that if a lot of the thoughts and ideas laid out in Ocklawaha's "What if the City Gave You the Skyway" threads from everyone were implemented, that ridership number would increase substantially. 

Until then?  Ridership won't do much, IMO.

[Ocklawaha]

The TU completely misses the point in the "None of them make a profit", statement. In fact the whole article which quotes my expansion ideas without the details (which the TU had in hand after the interview) seems to focus on the same old "If it's a train - then it MUST MAKE MONEY" crap that has been thrown at AMTRAK for 36 years. I would love to go back (and  I might) to see why the "negative profit" spin was laid down when we need a development tool and connecter in the core?

What's this crap about Scott Clem and I not agreeing? "Mann likes expansion but Clem doesn't think so." Give me a break. Scott is saddled with a task of putting the best face on the SKYWAY - AS IS. He and I, in fact the whole of JTA agree that the logical expansions to a few more stations would do wonders. But you put two friends at odds with your spin. "Clem doesn't think so," but want's to study taking it to Atlantic in San Marco, my God TU did you even look at the map you got from me? DUH? Where was that San Marco extension? Yeah, I thought so. 

I'm calling you out TIMES-UNION, tell me... how much money did Boone Park make last year? Did we all enjoy the profits from the school system? What about our police department - does it make money? Oh, JTB - that wonder slab on the Southside of town, a REAL profit center for the city right? Maybe those stupid looking "Potato Chip Truck Thinks Its A Trolley" things downtown made money? You seem to LOVE THEM... so tell me, where's my share?  Those big diesel buses or the JTA connection shuttles - big profit - HUGE!

It's clear and simple, but I write as if you would explain it to an infant. WHY? Because as far as transit goes this city is still very much a crawler. It hasn't made the giant leaps into major city status because our own people - indeed our leading newspaper, doesn't understand mass transit.

MASS TRANSIT:

A PUBLIC SERVICE, to releive congestion, offer development options, offers mobility to the immobile, offers alternatives attractive to all, CONNECTIVITY, the ability to move about freely. CHOICES. OPTIONS. A network of inter-laced modes that form a matrix for ease of movement.

PROFIT?:

COME TO YOUR SENSES TIMES UNION

STORY IDEA?

Do a report on the new 2ND Avenue Subway in New York City, slant it to profit, use the same points in your Skyway piece... Lotz a luck bub.

[thelakelander]

There is really no reason to expect a ridership increase on the skyway in its current configeration.  Personally, with the turnstiles always broken, I'm suprised to see that it pulls in 2,000 riders a day.

Jacksonville Skyway - 2,000 riders/day - 2.5 miles in length (system connects a bus terminal with parking lots.  Other than Hemming Plaza, no direct connection to key downtown destinations.)

Detroit Peoplemover - 7,500 riders/day - 2.9 miles in length (system goes into several downtown office buildings, garages, a casino and within a block or two of Ford Field and CoAmerica Park.)

Miami-Dade Metromover - 30,250 riders/day - 4.4 miles in length (a no fare system that connects dowtown with the Omni area, American Airlines Arena and the Brickell Financial District.  It also directly connects with Metrorail, a heavy rail system that reaches the suburbs)

Just looking at the three siblings, it quite evident why the skyway fails to attract ridership and what two of the potential solutions should be.

1. Needs to connect with key downtown/inner city destinations.  End points should be popular destinations, not parking lots or bus terminals.  It seems like transit planners never really considered what their target market for ridership would be.  If so, the current path would have not been built.

2. Regional mass transit system needed to feed it with riders.  Miami's metromover carries +30,000 riders a day because suburbanites can arrive via Tri-Rail (commuter rail) and Metrorail (heavy rail).  These systems stretch into areas of heavy suburban congestion.  Without a regional mass transit system in place to give people a viable alternative to driving, its foolish to expect people to drive downtown, park, hop on the skyway, then walk a few blocks to a destination they can just drive straight to.

[Coolyfett]

So why would ridership all of a sudden increase,have there been any changes or new destinations. Dont think so. Why ask a question when the answer is right in front of you?

Because MetroJacksonville.com is doing its job.....Talking it up, talking it up, talking it up! There has been no new destinations, but for some reason the JTA Skyway is a hot topic again.

Keep talking it up MJ.com....its a slow process, but I see wheel starting to turn.

The Skyway does need to be expanded. But places need to be built where stations are also. Both things need to happen.

[Charles Hunter]

Lake, remember the original idea was to have parking and bus intercept at the fringes of downtown, with the people mover taking people "the last mile" into downtown.  There were not supposed to be massive parking garages, or suburban buses, downtown.

cooley - you are right - I hope the Bay Street development gets going soon, and ties into the Jefferson Station (like a Clarkson development was supposed to do, when the people mover was built).

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, in addition to downtown declining, and garages being built, the original idea would have also been negatively affected by poor route planning.