Let’s Get Back to the Basics at JTA

[thelakelander]

CEO Nat Ford's departure is an opportunity to rethink what works and retire what doesn't.

Read More: https://www.thejaxsonmag.com/article/let-s-get-back-to-the-basics-at-jta/

[Ken_FSU]

Great stuff, Marcus! Hope it gets in front of the right folks.

[Charles Hunter]

Excellent analysis of what JTA needs to do.

Providing frequent and reliable service is the key to maintaining, and increasing, ridership. Keeping the fare reasonable is also important, but if the buses are an hour apart (like they will be on the majority of routes after the service cuts), and arrive to the bus stops later than the published schedule - or worse earlier than scheduled - it doesn't matter how low the fare is. There is a share of the community that has no other choice than transit, but you won't get "choice" riders, those who will leave their car at home, or a convenient parking lot, to ride the bus.

Having routes that go where people want to go is also important. Something that gets more difficult as the region (city) becomes more and more dispersed.

Oh, and JTA needs to stop lying to the people that the Flyer service is "Bus Rapid Transit." It is not. JTA had several "Express Flyer" routes as far back as the late 1970s/early 80s, that served park-and-ride lots (mostly in shopping centers), and provided limited stop service to downtown. The modern iteration seems to have better amenities at bus stops, and service isn't limited to the morning and evening peak hours. Otherwise, it runs in mixed traffic just like all the other bus routes.

[jaxlongtimer]

Excellent overview of JTA today and going forward.

Charles, good points.

At the end of the article, the last heading mentioned "regional transit."  So, what monies does JTA get from the surrounding counties to extend bus or rail transit to them?  If not now, what could be going forward?  Especially, since the surrounding counties now have representation on JTA's board.

Just like master planning needed for Downtown, where is a master plan for the multi-county region?  Does the North Florida TPO have one?  Is it current? 

I will say, if JTA can't even run an adequate bus system in Duval County, I don't know how they could go beyond that.  Running a decent bus system should be pretty basic after about a 100 years or so of them being around.  As noted elsewhere, it comes down to a diversion of resources for U2C, the Skyway and, in prior decades, road building.  Buses have been relegated to the bottom of JTA's mission... only getting lip service.  Truly abominable for a MASS transit agency.

I would suggest the new JTA CEO fix the bus system out of the starting gate to build some credibility and get back on mission.  Abandon U2C immediately and deal with the Skyway options after buses are fixed given buses are needed much more than the Skyway.  Then, move on to various rail solutions which clearly will require regional partnerships and new funding sources.

One more point:  The JTA CEO needs to be tied at the hip with Downtown master planning.  MASS transit is key to a successful urban district but you would never know that in Jacksonville today.

[marcuscnelson]

Thanks for the kind words! Some notes on what's been said:

Oh, and JTA needs to stop lying to the people that the Flyer service is "Bus Rapid Transit." It is not. JTA had several "Express Flyer" routes as far back as the late 1970s/early 80s, that served park-and-ride lots (mostly in shopping centers), and provided limited stop service to downtown. The modern iteration seems to have better amenities at bus stops, and service isn't limited to the morning and evening peak hours. Otherwise, it runs in mixed traffic just like all the other bus routes.

I think it gets harder to seriously claim that the Flyer is BRT when frequency is degraded, especially if it is meant to be the core of the transit system. It isn't unreasonable, given where Florida is from a transit standpoint, to consider those routes of that category (look at how PSTA's Spark service was forcibly downgraded from dedicated lanes like SunRunner to something much more akin to the Flyer, or how SunRunner itself has lost portions of dedicated lanes by state mandate), and I think certain platforms like the Transit App do a good job of discerning those core lines, but it should be paramount to show commitment to the $140 million investment made in building out that network.

I suspect it would be controversial but I'd prefer to see a push to move some local routes out of downtown (using Flyer lines at their promised frequencies to make those connections into the urban core) over degrading all of the routes at their current distributions or cutting certain routes outright. There might also be room to consider consolidating Flyer lines with their express versions to preserve overall frequencies.

At the end of the article, the last heading mentioned "regional transit."  So, what monies does JTA get from the surrounding counties to extend bus or rail transit to them?  If not now, what could be going forward?  Especially, since the surrounding counties now have representation on JTA's board.

Just like master planning needed for Downtown, where is a master plan for the multi-county region?  Does the North Florida TPO have one?  Is it current? 

I will say, if JTA can't even run an adequate bus system in Duval County, I don't know how they could go beyond that.  Running a decent bus system should be pretty basic after about a 100 years or so of them being around.  As noted elsewhere, it comes down to a diversion of resources for U2C, the Skyway and, in prior decades, road building.  Buses have been relegated to the bottom of JTA's mission... only getting lip service.  Truly abominable for a MASS transit agency.

As I noted over the past year or so, it was a serious misstep on the state's part to automatically extend JTA board membership to the counties surrounding Jacksonville without requiring some sort of long-term financial commitment, akin to Duval County's sales tax for JTA or Pinellas County's property tax for PSTA. But what's done is done there. On the bright side, two out of three of those surrounding counties have already effectively surrendered responsibility for the most barebones transit service to JTA anyway, but obviously building a larger regional system will demand a larger commitment, especially if that might come in the form of much better bus services or even rail. The possibility that public services overall might be kneecapped by voters in November adds some complexity to that.

I don't anticipate being placed in a position to make those decisions on how service should operate in surrounding counties, but it's certainly worth keeping in mind that the Express Select system, barebones as it is, does exist, and finding ways to expand on that, or make reasonable extensions of routes that already near those areas, is a potential path forward. That will require some creativity on JTA and the county's part to make those services fast and useful, but it's certainly not impossible if the political desire is there, especially as regional growth and congestion continues.

I would suggest the new JTA CEO fix the bus system out of the starting gate to build some credibility and get back on mission.  Abandon U2C immediately and deal with the Skyway options after buses are fixed given buses are needed much more than the Skyway.  Then, move on to various rail solutions which clearly will require regional partnerships and new funding sources.

From what I'm presently aware of as to JTA's current condition, the first step is going to be figuring out what money exists right now to operate the bus system. The board's approved cuts are assuming that sales tax revenue will be low next year. Doing everything possible to encourage economic activity in Duval County will make a difference in what transit service is available. Things like pushing to finally allow redevelopment around transit stations without careful hand-holding by JTA will matter because sales taxes from purchases made in service of that can be reinvested into better transit.

As I discuss in the editorial, using available bonding authority for approved LOGT projects to make bus service more efficient as soon as possible will also be key. Every possible avenue to push for things like reducing dwell times or consolidating stops or getting buses through intersections faster can make a difference for what every dollar is buying in service.

Similarly, U2C's future is ultimately a question of how the money available to JTA can be stretched to both wind down that program (assuming that course of action is agreed upon) to the extent desired and (provided Council approval if that is needed) make the key investments in fixing the Skyway and planning for its longer-term future happen as soon as possible. I've said before that I think there is promise in the underlying technology for transit purposes, in the right regional context that genuinely enhances mobility, but the philosophy beneath the specific form U2C has taken has clearly proven undesirable and unnecessary in the broader transportation environment, and we should not throw good money after bad if we can help it. If that's agreed upon, then getting Beatty-Beep out of their contract, finding good adaptive reuses for the AIC and other assets, and moving forward with solutions that work at scale should be a clear Year One objective for JTA's future leadership.

On a broader note, as I point out early in this piece and have said to others, I don't want this to be about dancing on graves. In his long tenure, Nat Ford had some real accomplishments. The Flyer existing at all, the JRTC coming to life in a more reasonable form than earlier concepts, LOGT expanding and giving the next CEO some options as to future plans. These are genuine victories for mass transit on the First Coast. The places where Ford fell short are serious, and in my opinion grave errors in judgment, but that does not invalidate the good things he's done, and given the grace he's been allowed by our leaders, ultimately can't be an excuse to not do better in the future. This piece is about laying out the things future JTA leadership needs to be thinking about for the greatest chance of success, and hopefully nudging whoever that will be in the right direction to make those things happen.

[Charles Hunter]

Excellent overview of JTA today and going forward.

Charles, good points.

At the end of the article, the last heading mentioned "regional transit."  So, what monies does JTA get from the surrounding counties to extend bus or rail transit to them?  If not now, what could be going forward?  Especially, since the surrounding counties now have representation on JTA's board.

Just like master planning needed for Downtown, where is a master plan for the multi-county region? Does the North Florida TPO have one?  Is it current? 

...

One more point:  The JTA CEO needs to be tied at the hip with Downtown master planning.  MASS transit is key to a successful urban district but you would never know that in Jacksonville today.

Yes, the North Florida TPO does have a regional transportation plan - cleverly called the Long Range Transportation Plan, or, since government can't operate without acronyms: LRTP. The horizon year is 2050, it was adopted in November 2024, and is updated every five years. With the next update due by November 2029, the NFTPO will probably start working on it in the second half of next year.

When developing the Long Range Plan, the NFTPO typically takes the plans of the JTA (and JAA and JaxPort) and inserts them into the LRTP as-is.

On your last point - coordination with downtown master planning - a huge YES. Of course, the first step is for there to be downtown master planning. Historically, this has always been a problem. Back in the 1970s, when JTA was developing a downtown bus circulator system with parking lots on the fringes of downtown - the Downtown Development Authority (precursor to the DIA) and City were permitting and building parking garages in the core.

I suspect it would be controversial but I'd prefer to see a push to move some local routes out of downtown (using Flyer lines at their promised frequencies to make those connections into the urban core) over degrading all of the routes at their current distributions or cutting certain routes outright. There might also be room to consider consolidating Flyer lines with their express versions to preserve overall frequencies.

The original concept of the Skyway was to intercept cars with parking garages, and transfer bus passengers at the end stations, to reduce the numbers of cars and buses in the core. This would have allowed improved frequencies on the bus routes, since they wouldn't be spending time traveling at 5 - 10 mph in the core (or allow providing the same service with fewer buses - and drivers).

[marcuscnelson]

^ Right, and while the Skyway might not necessarily achieve all of that as-is right now (on this note, it appears JTA is running the Southbank Line of the Skyway as a bus bridge right now), I think it's possible to find ways to maintain frequencies by reducing the amount of crossover on routes.

For example, the First Coast Flyer's Red Line crosses the Mathews Bridge to reach Arlington, but so does Route 10, which per the 10's schedule takes twenty minutes between Rosa Parks and Regency! It might be worth examining the feasibility of truncating Route 10 at Regency Square so that it can provide higher frequency service between there and the Beaches, while riders can transfer to the Flyer to reach Downtown and beyond. Maybe they don't trust themselves to reliably support those connections, or riders feel like they'll risk a missed trip and ruin their travel, but those are problems that be solved with operational discipline and (where possible) improved infrastructure.

[Charles Hunter]

^ What the transit industry calls "forced transfers" can work if the agency does everything right. This includes (in no particular order, using the marcusnelson example, but they are general princples)
1. No fare penalty for having to change vehicles. If it currently costs $2.00 to make the trip to downtown on the #10 route, it should still cost $2.00 if the passenger is required to change buses at Regency.
2.  Schedule design and schedule adherence become much more important. (In the morning) You don't want the #10 bus arriving at Regency just after the Flyer bus has already left for downtown. It isn't as critical if the Flyer has very short headway (time between buses), but if the wait is more than 10 minutes, people get antsy. Assuming the #10 route runs less frequently than the Flyer, it would likely be scheduled to arrive at Regency shortly before the Flyer arrives, wait at the station ("dwell"), and not leave until after the Flyer arrives, so passengers can transfer from one bus to the other. [bus nerd alert] The best way to do this to facilitate low-wait-time transfers, is to have the feeder route (#10) headways a multiple of the trunk route (Flyer) headway. If the Flyer has 10 minutes between buses, the #10 could be scheduled every 20 or 30 minutes.

It's not rocket science ... it's Bus Science!