Let’s Get Back to the Basics at JTA

[marcuscnelson]

Small comparison I came across and thought I'd note, JTA's System Map as of:

July 2025

May 2026

November 2026

Aside from the color changes, I do notice that they seem to have gone to some lengths to maintain route coverage where possible, with tweaks to certain routes to make up for some of the removed ones. Better than nothing given the magnitude of the fiscal cliff, but obviously frequency is suffering badly as a result.

Also found some earlier maps, from 2014 and then 2011 for further comparison.

That being said, any thoughts on where it might be possible to look for the funding needed to restore (or improve) frequencies? Say, in the range of ~$50-70 million per year to allow for a real, sustained investment in transit operations?

[thelakelander]

I'm not sure about where to find new funding. I'd first want to understand how the system survived for years offering more frequent services, while maintaining reserves for a rainy day. If they can stop spending on whatever put them in a $40 million hole over a 2-3 year period, there should be existing revenue available to restore services. This would likely mean giving up NAVI for starters.