Long Day's Journey Into Plight: Stephen Dare & JTA 2

[JaxNative68]

Stephendare is "I am Legend" . . . at least within the wood on the Westside.

TheProfessor: If you still lived there you might refer to it as Harlemington, as do many of its inhabitants.

[TheProfessor]

You should have gotten this on video Stephen.  It would be like the Blair Witch Project with an even more F-cuk up twist.  I would have so much hate toward humanity after such a day of disrespect.  You poor guy

[TheProfessor]

You should have gotten this on video Stephen.  It would be like the Blair Witch Project with an even more F-cuk up twist.  I would have so much hate toward humanity after such a day of disrespect.  You poor guy

Stephendare is "I am Legend" . . . at least within the wood on the Westside.

TheProfessor: If you still lived there you might refer to it as Harlemington, as do many of its inhabitants.

I don't live there, but I'll take Arlington over any redneck district on the Westside anyday!

[Lunican]

I guess now we know why it makes more sense to build things along a fixed mass transit route...

Imagine Equestrian Center Station

[TheProfessor]

Below is my e-mail conversation with JTA officials concerning the lack of dependable bus routes.  Thus the crazy day Stephen had....

ME:

After reviewing the plans for the future BRT routes, I noticed that north route does not termite at the airport, rather it terminates at a Wal-Mart.  The Jacksonville International Airport would be an obvious option for a northbound terminus for the line and offer Jacksonville residences a reliable alternative to driving to the airport, similar to how MARTA works in Atlanta .  Why is the airport not the northbound destination on the BRT?

JTA:

Thank you for your interest in the BRT project.

The initial BRT North Corridor project is a proposed bus corridor project along Boulevard St., Golfair Blvd. and Lem Turner Road  providing enhanced passenger shelters, low floor branded vehicles, traffic signal priority, and a section of bus lanes providing transit service every 10 minutes in the peak hour and every 15 minutes in the off-peak. It is being implemented what is currently a high ridership corridor to provide more efficient service.  The frequent transit service along the North Corridor will be supplemented by feeder buses to the BRT. This project will result in expanded transit service to the communities using feeder service and frequent premium transit service along the BRT route.  This is an expansion of mobility for residents along this high ridership corridor in the most cost-effective manner.

The BRT North Corridor project is not currently extended to the Airport as current demand along the North Corridor route to the Airport is not high. Thus, it is not cost-effective to expand the project to the Airport at this time.  It easily could be expanded to the Airport in the future as the travel demand grows. JTA has had discussions with the Airport about future expansion of the service and possible shared parking facilities (park and ride) as travel demand grows. Currently, the Airport is served by the CT 3 route along I-95.

ME:

That sounds nice in terms of profit margin.  However to have the BRT,which is the "backbone" of public transit, simply follow demand is shortsighted.  A defined North/South and East/West corridor that would work similarly to light rail is what would attract the non-traditional users and ensure future growth when paired with transit oriented development.  The only way to make the city's public transportation more used by those who also own cars would be to popularize it with dependability, valid end destinations, and designed bus shelters.  Please let me know your thoughts.

JTA:

Thank you for your interest in our BRT North Corridor project. As the BRT North Corridor project manager, I have been asked to respond to your inquiry below.

Unfortunately, public transit in the United States does not make a profit and thus, achieves no profit margin. 

The planned BRT system is part of a planned regional transit system and thus, there are several "backbones" to the future regional system. The regional system consists of different services serving different markets from our trolleys serving a small area to the regional commuter rail that serves a much larger regional area.  The service fits the market being served. BRT is providing a limited stop bus service that is connected to feeder routes that serve the neighborhoods, or circulators in the Downtown like the Skyway and Trolleys.

In planning for new transit service, a Minimum Operating Segment (MOS) is identified. The MOS is the first part of the service developed since it gains sufficient ridership and meets other Federal Transit Administration criteria.  Thus, the MOS or the first part of the BRT North Corridor project is from the Downtown BRT project at Broad and State Streets to the Walmart at I-295 and Lem Turner Road.  In the future, a BRT extension to the Airport could be re-evaluated against other alternatives such as a Northern Rail connection with bus shuttle service to the Airport or even possibly a rail connection with a light rail connection to the Airport.

You are correct frequent, dependable, attractive service to sought after destinations are important for improved transit service. The end station of the BRT North Corridor at the Walmart is currently the highest activity stop location after our major transfer centers and four of our Downtown major activity stops. Thus, the BRT North Corridor project will meet some of the goals you suggest.

If you have any further questions, please contact me.



At least JTA does a good job contacting you with a long response.  If only they invested this time into implementing a good system.  Sigh..

[TheProfessor]

Hey Stephen:

The first JTA response is from Wendy Morrow and the second is from Suraya Z. Teeple, AICP
Transportation Planning Manager.  This conversation took place back on May 21st.  I thought I would prod them a bit and see what they were thinking by making a BRT north destination a Wal-Mart instead of an international airport.  It made no sense to me.

[moosebumps]

Wow, I've yet to get a response from the three separate occasions that I've written them about my frustrations with their horrible route planning internet application.  The first time, it suggested that I walk through the rail yard behind Lowe's on Philips Ave to get to work.  On subsequent trials, I've had a hard enough time trying to find a starting/ending location that it agrees with that I rarely get to the point where route length would turn me away.  On each occasion, I remind them that Google has already done the leg work through their http://transit.google.com application and if people could quickly find an applicable route, they might actually ride the bus.  It's to the point that I don't even try, and I hate that.

[BridgeTroll]

Welcome moosebumps!  The frustration with the bus system is well documented... Watch for future reposts of Stephens trials and tribulations during his 30 day odyssey.  Keep putting the pressure on and do not give up!

[moosebumps]

Thanks!  I've kept up a bit with the transit developments in hopes of some win since moving here 3+ years ago.   I'm extra interested because a job in the rail industry brought me here,  but there's not much I can do to push rail transit in my lowly design position. 

btw, nice work Stephen, but if future articles induce as much anxiety as this one did I may be reading with a hand over my eyes.

[gmpalmer]

Professor -- when was the last time you were back in Arlinghood?

[TheProfessor]

quote author=moosebumps link=topic=5516.msg86342#msg86342 date=1247835841]
Wow, I've yet to get a response from the three separate occasions that I've written them about my frustrations with their horrible route planning internet application.  The first time, it suggested that I walk through the rail yard behind Lowe's on Philips Ave to get to work.  On subsequent trials, I've had a hard enough time trying to find a starting/ending location that it agrees with that I rarely get to the point where route length would turn me away.  On each occasion, I remind them that Google has already done the leg work through their http://transit.google.com application and if people could quickly find an applicable route, they might actually ride the bus.  It's to the point that I don't even try, and I hate that.
[/quote]


Moosbumps:  I talked to JTA and they assured me that their maps are uploaded to GOOGLE.  They are simply waiting on Google to update their maps.  How true this is I cannot say.[

[TheProfessor]

GMPalmer:  I have not been back to Arlington since Memorial Day.  I still hold it dear to my heart.  One day it will be revitalized.  It does have a lot of infrastructure and great proximity to downtown/beaches.  If only people had some vision.  I suppose all good things come in cycles.

[moosebumps]

Moosbumps:  I talked to JTA and they assured me that their maps are uploaded to GOOGLE.  They are simply waiting on Google to update their maps.  How true this is I cannot say.[

Yes!  I certainly hope that is true.  That would be quite remarkable.  Thanks for the update, I'll be keeping an eye out.

[Doctor_K]

The BRT North Corridor project is not currently extended to the Airport as current demand along the North Corridor route to the Airport is not high. Thus, it is not cost-effective to expand the project to the Airport at this time.  It easily could be expanded to the Airport in the future as the travel demand grows.

To me, that screams "Skyway" all over again.  We can expand it later should demand rise.  Well, if you build it half-a$$ to start with, no one will use it and thus demand will never increase.

Same stuff, different decade.  Shameful.

[Wacca Pilatka]

The photo edit for the Death Race Westside title card is spectacular