No Cars For JTA Employees Until Mass Transit Works.

[Dog Walker]

JTA doesn't care about mass transit, streetcars, buses or skyways.  They ARE a road agency.

"We will provide minimal services for the poor folk because nobody else really cares and they don't have much power." is their underlying mantra.  "People only care about sitting in their cars at overcrowded intersections so that is where we will spend our money."

Well, JEA, there are some of us who have seen effective, convenient mass transit systems in other cities and other countries and HATE having to take our cars everywhere and find a place to park them.  There are more of us everyday and we are getting tired of your once-an-hour, slow service.

[tufsu1]

JTA doesn't care about mass transit, streetcars, buses or skyways.  They ARE a road agency.

That may have been true at one time (although I doubt it), but its definitely not anymore...JTA is a full-service transportation agency now and has actively been studying many different transit modes.

[tufsu1]

capital outlay may not be a fair comparison...as has been pointed out on this site many times, transit projects often cost far less that road projects.

And major transit projects were never identified in this community before the last decade (when BRT was first studied)....most of the road projects JTA has worked on recently were first contemplated 15 years ago or more.

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

ROAR!

There was a conversation, in the shadow of a bank building, among many employed individuals who ALL enthusiastically concurred with my opinion that all city workers should have all family vehicles confiscated for at least six months as a condition of employment, including the mayor.

Let's see what happens to mass transit when city bigwigs have no choice but to take buses or taxis to get somewhere they can't walk to in less than ten minutes.

One lone dumbass whined, "But what about their children?" Uh, yeah. What ABOUT

[DeadGirlsDontDance]

..the children? Who cares about rich kids getting curb service? Not I. I don't care about anybody being hindered in their attempts to get where they want to go in a timely manner, when I have to leave my house at least an hour before my actual time of arrival, when I'm only taking ONE bus.

I think all city employees should be forced to got through the boredom, misery, and time-wasting that I have to deal with, just to give them some perspective. Example:

I live in Arlington. I had a job in Springfield. That's a 20-minute drive at most, even in heavy traffic. However, riding the bus, this 12.5 mile drive takes TWO AND A HALF HOURS.

I think all city employees and their immediate family should not be allowed to operate a vehicle. And no taxis, either. Walk and/or ride the bus, like poor folks.

[Deuce]

What the city and JEA should have done years ago is offered incentives for employees to live downtown or nearby in Springfield or Riverside or something. They still have an opportunity to do this when they don't have economy-compounded budget woes. In the JEA tower downtown there are only 2 people who live in Springfield. That's sad. Imagine the improved state of the historic district if a couple dozen lived in Springfield. That's not a lot but that would make a big impact.

[tufsu1]

I like the idea of incentivizing people to live downtown....but how should the City/JEA pay for that when everyone screams about higher taxes and fees?

Maybe one could argue that the overall costs borne to the City/JEA would be less for people living downtown vs. the suburban areas of Duval....but those are long-term savings...something citizens don't seem interested in hearing about these days. 

[Deuce]

Now, they can't pay. When times were good a few years back and when better times return (as I believe they will), this is more viable. The cost to provide services to someone in the urban core is typically less than someone who lives in the suburbs. Also, at least for a neighborhood like Springfield, this could increase property values and increase tax revenue. From a long term perspective, it might be more cost effective. But for me the city should do it to improve downtown and pull development away from the suburbs. It is the right thing to do environmentally.

[mtraininjax]

When the JSO restricts officers from taking home cars, I'll lobby the same for the JTA. Come to think of it all JEA, JAA, JPA, JSO, COJ officials should leave city/state cars at the business and use their own cars/vehicles and/or public transportation for commuting back and forth to home and work.

If they live outside of Duval County, they should think about their jobs.

[tufsu1]

Not exactly apples-to-apples comparison.

JSO allows ooficers to take cars home if they are parked outside (visible on the street)....it acts as a crime deterrent.

[jbroadglide]

And JSO are on duty even when they are off duty. If they are driving their police car during off hours, they can and will stop if they observe something unlawful. And they can also call for backup from a uniformed officer that way as well. Plus in an emergency they can be dispatched right from their homes. I have absolutely no problem with JSO having take home cars. Now as for other city agencies, especially those in non public safety areas, then I do have a problem with take home cars.
Just my two cents..

[Cliffs_Daughter]

I think all city employees and their immediate family should not be allowed to operate a vehicle. And no taxis, either. Walk and/or ride the bus, like poor folks.

Really?  ALL city employees?  Hmm... last I checked, quite a few of them don't make over $28,000 a year, but of course those employees don't make the news. Nor do they have anything to do with JTA or roadway design.

[Cliffs_Daughter]

However, Im with deadgirlsdontdance.  Everyone involved with planning routes at JTA should be forced to ride.

Now that I can agree with.

[Ocklawaha]

yeah. redesign the system. Build streetcars and a regional rail system. Let's stop being so dependent on the bus.

Don't sweat the small stuff FSUJAX, some of us have heard rumors that JTA is not only serious but is indeed looking to expand our Public Transit options. If this were not serious why is Clay County buying up land all along the CSX and openly calling it Park and Ride Lots?

If we were not serious about transit options very serious plans and studies are being done to extend our Skyway to Brooklyn and South to Atlantic at the FEC RY, with some pretty heavy talk about the Riverside line as far as Forrest.

If we were not serious about transit options, Sun Bus from St. Johns County wouldn't be interline connecting with JTA at both the Avenues and Ponte Vedra. This is something we couldn't even imagine back in 1980.

If we were not serious about transit options I-795 and "The Florida Georgia Parkway," perhaps the future I-22 wouldn't be on the radar, neither would an outer beltway. Love it or hate it, the I-795 and outer beltway will provide the truck bypasses to get the big rigs off our I-95, I-10, I-295. You remember I-295 don't you? It was a bypass for the city which has got some of the worst congestion in the US Interstate system.

If we were not serious about transit options streetcars would not be a part of our future plans, but the first study is already in the box, laying track towards the next study phases.

If we were not serious about transit options, the CSX B&B crews working on the Trout River Bridge would have never dared to say the "Commuter Rail" words, somebody has be clued in.

If we were not serious about transit options that huge parking lot that goes behind and North of the new stores at Avenue Walks wouldn't be there. But keep in mind that "there" is right next to the FEC RY mainline which blows between the Avenues and the Walks. They didn't build that lot as a train watching platform.

If we were not serious about transit options, JIA would still have 8,000 foot runways, and the old metal concourses, and nobody would be studying the "airport shuttle" route from JIA to the CSX at Main Street.

If we were not serious about transit options, the Lem Turner/Boulevard busway would be stillborn.

If we were not serious about transit options, Amtrak and FEC RY officials wouldn't be making frequent visits to our JTA and TPO, but guess what? THEY ARE!

Being the "Ancient One" on this site I was in Dallas when the "Cowboys" came to town. Prairie grass and 800,000 people in their metro, but we are fast approaching a time when Jacksonville will be twice that big.

Something big is about to happen here, a City that trashed it's streetcars and interurban routes and built 1/2 of a Skyway is starting to stir. That great orange colored beast of a City is waking up from a 70 year nap. Mike Blaylock, Scott Clem, and James Boyle, wouldn't be at the telegraph office tapping out the words TORA TORA TORA! (Tiger, Tiger, Tiger)

Nobody should ever be "forced" to ride any given mode of transportation, that idea reeks of National Socialism. However EVERY City Planner or JTA officer and staff member should have a log book, and every month it should be filled with notes on at least 2 transit experiences. The reason? Commuter Rail, or Commuter Bus, is a very shortsighted name. Transportation for lunch, the beaches, tourism or just for the fun of it should be factored into every breath. Transit just for fun? Non believers should make a pilgrimage to New Orleans or Tampa's streetcars. We ARE in the cross hairs of of four massive federal rail transportation projects. A new map lays out Higher Speed Rail from Jax to Orlando, New Orleans, Atlanta and New York.

TORA! TORA! TORA! neighbors.

OCKLAWAHA

[jbroadglide]

Hey Ocklawaha, regarding the crews on the Trout River bridge saying commuter rail..I'm not sure where that came from. The folks that I talked to, including the man who oversaw this project, made no mention whatsoever about commuter rail. The bridge needed upgrades, number one, because it was old and number two, upgrading the signalization and controls of the bridge so it could be moved from the dispatch center is another way for CSX to cut an employee, the bridge tender. Now maybe you heard it from somewhere else, I don't know. And it may be true. But I never heard that mentioned.
jb