JBJ: We must not dawdle if we want a riverfront miracle mile

[Kiva]

I can give you an example of something we did this week. We hosted a talk with WJCT where over a hundred people came out learn about Jacksonville's forgotten spaces and what can be done about them. We're hosting another one about transit in a few months. The goal is to get people better informed about urban issues to help push things in a positive direction. It may not be a big, showstopping move, but I like to think it got people thinking in a new way.

I couldn't make it to the WJCT forum. Can a transcript of it be posted here?

[Kerry]

Cool.

[thelakelander]

WJCT is working on putting the panel discussion in video/radio/podcast format.

[fieldafm]

I can give you an example of something we did this week. We hosted a talk with WJCT where over a hundred people came out learn about Jacksonville's forgotten spaces and what can be done about them. We're hosting another one about transit in a few months. The goal is to get people better informed about urban issues to help push things in a positive direction. It may not be a big, showstopping move, but I like to think it got people thinking in a new way.

I couldn't make it to the WJCT forum. Can a transcript of it be posted here?

http://news.wjct.org/post/jaxson-panel-discusses-forgotten-spaces-places-reimagined

[fieldafm]

^There are things RAP can be reasonably criticized for, but it's true that it's a lot easier to sit here and kvetch than to get up and do something.

I would be all in favor of forming a group that demanded some action from the City.  Hell, we can meet at my Brooklyn apartment.  Sitting around and doing nothing is the thing I hate the most - and the thing Jax is best at.  I have a whole list of things the City could do unilaterally that would make big improvements - from practically free to radical change.

Kerry, what's frustrating about incessant negativity is that many of us are actually out there

Can you give me an example of something you are trying to change/improve about urban Jax?

I'll give you an example I would like to see done - a bike sharing program.  I travel to cities all over the country and darn near every one of them has a bike share and there are 2 rouge scooter share companies that just randomly drop their scooters around cities.  Not only can we not get a legal bike share system we can't even get the law-flaunting scooter companies to drop their illegal scooters here.

https://www.google.com/search?q=scooters+dropped+downtown&gws_rd=ssl

2nd time JTA has tried to attract a bike share program to Jax.
https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/bike-share-program-proposed-for-jacksonville/

The first was through a failed TIGER grant application in 2014
https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2014-may-extending-the-skyway-and-bike-share-in-jaxs-future

Members of this forum have had a hand in both efforts 

[Kerry]

Why is JTA doing this instead of the City?

[thelakelander]

They're in the business of mobility and bike share is a first/last mile form of mobility.

[Kerry]

The City isn't in the mobility business?  JTA is a State agency.  Was the State involved with any of the other bike share programs in the state?

Seems to me this should at least be a DIA effort.

https://www.wptv.com/news/region-s-palm-beach-county/boynton-beach/boynton-beach-looks-at-bike-sharing-for-the-city

[thelakelander]

No, the city isn't in the multimodal mobility business. It makes all the sense in the world for bike share to be coordinated with mass transit. JTA isn't the first transit agency to try to coordinate the placement and operation of first/last mile solutions like bike share with their transit stops:

http://betterbikeshare.org/2018/01/19/pittsburgh-milwaukee-explain-linked-bike-share-transit/

http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/bikeplans/Metro-Bike-Share-Business-Plan-04172018-Final.pdf

https://www.eugene-or.gov/2551/Bike-Share

http://www.govtech.com/fs/Bay-Area-Agencies-See-Smart-Bike-Program-as-Last-Mile-Transit-Solution.html

The main thing for JTA and Jacksonville is not to think or plan in silos. Bikes/scooters, etc. can be clustered around Skyway stations but the real destinations they need to naturally tie into are places away from the Skyway's path.....Five Points, TIAA Bank Field, San Marco Square, 8th & Main, Brooklyn, Jacksonville Farmers Market, etc.

[Kerry]

Well the RFP from JTA does none of that and appears to promote a dockless model - which is practically worthless.  Sorry, not getting my hopes up.

[thelakelander]

The RFP appears to promote the use of Skyway stations as bike stations. That doesn't sound like dockless to me. However, it does sound like a waste of money since the expensive bike stations that popped up a decade ago aren't actually needed. With that said, the four firms who responded specialize in different areas, so I don't believe every proposal will be identical. I'm looking forward to hearing what they've come up with.

Also, you don't have to get your hopes up but in one of these threads you mentioned your desire for bike share.....well someone is attempting to make that happen. Let's see how it plays out.

[Kerry]

The RFP says the bikes have to be self-locking.  Maybe that means they have to lock themselves into the docking station but I read it has being able to lock themselves to nothing since it says they have to be able to standup on their own while locked.

Yes, I would love a bike share system.  Here's to hoping I'm wrong about this attempt.

[thelakelander]

I personally prefer dockless because I believe that's more financially viable without the support of public dollars. However, I won't lose any sleep if someone proposes $40k bike stations but has a business model that is still self sufficient.  I still have a lot of questions about this proposal but I'll wait till the end of the month for more information to be released.

[Kerry]

The problem I have with dockless is that it isn't dependable.  You never know where a bike is going to be.  While working in OKC there was a station 3 blocks from my apartment and 1 block from my office.  I knew every morning there would be between 4 and 8 bikes in the rack.  Dockless?  Who the heck knows where a bike could be.  At that point it stops being a transportation option.

[thelakelander]

I've only used them once. I found them more convenient because they were literally everywhere while the traditional bike stations they were competing against were in select locations that I had to go out of my way to find or use. No matter how far out I was from the major tourist areas, a few bikes could be found within close proximity with the use of their app. But that was in San Diego. I assume whatever comes to Jax won't be as robust.