TOD: Jacksonville just doesn't get it

[thelakelander]

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.  This is definately the case with our $750 million dollar, 20 year plan to construct bus expressways through the core.  Especially, in the decades long neglected Northside of town where this exact line, this TU opinion piece promotes.  Why?

1. It runs parallel to a major neighborhood divider: I-95.  Northside residents don't live and work on I-95.

2. JTA plans to spend over $17 million dollars of taxpayer money on right-of-way costs for this route, despite the city already having control of the 5 mile S-Line rail right-of-way in the Northside that goes directly where those residents live and work and where JTA's proposed busway would end and begin.

3. You can attract quality TOD, without good "T" (Transit).  It's well known (at least outside of Jacksonville) that buses are a poor motivator quality large scale transit oriented development.[/u]  Because of the flexible nature of BRT (meaning JTA can move the route whenever they deem it's necessary at some point in the future), few smart developers will be willing to invest hundreds of millions on a development built around a transit stop that can do a "Puff the Magic Dragon" at any point in the future.

Anyway, here's the TU's opinion piece.


Northern connections

By The Times-Union

The concept of transit-oriented development is simple.

Build a transportation hub that incorporates retail, commercial and sometimes residential uses.

Learn from other cities' experiences, choose the design carefully and involve the public.

The JTA has already begun this process at Kings Avenue Station and a chunk of land downtown near the convention center.

Its next spot will be near Golfair Boulevard and Interstate 95.

An abandoned flea market, a gas station or a piece of city-owned property are in the running.

That's an exciting prospect for the Norwood and Brentwood areas as redevelopment continues.

Once chosen, the site will be used for JTA's bus rapid transit system and link to its feeder buses and park-and-ride service.

Though still in the planning stages, the hub should have services such as dry cleaning, convenience store retailers and restaurants, a JTA spokesman says.

The long-range idea is to get people out of cars and into buses.

Less congestion, better for the environment.

In the case of Golfair's neighborhoods, many residents already use bus transportation.

A new hub at the interstate would offer a better regional connection to education and work opportunities.

It would also supplement the heavily used bus station at Gateway Town Center.

In other cities, transit-oriented development often spurs residential growth around it.

That means the potential to fuel economic changes exists, too.

Both would be more than welcome results for Northwest Jacksonville.

[downtownparks]

Lake, have you tried contacting Gaffney? Since a good chunk of the S-Line is in his district, he might be worth talking to. Granted he is a junior councilman, he is at the very least responsive. I will email you contact info for his assistant.

[Jason]

The long-range idea is to get people out of cars and into buses.

..... I'm lost for words.

[Dapperdan]

Yes! Diesel is the mode of transportation of the future! Remember all those diesel engines in The Jetsons?

[raheem942]

Yes! Diesel is the mode of transportation of the future! Remember all those diesel engines in The Jetsons?

i love ur sarcasm