No end to debate over Downtown’s bus shelters

[thelakelander]

JeffreyS, those Chicago shelters and their ads are an eyesore on our beautiful urban landscape.  This is much better.

[urbanlibertarian]

I love the smell of sarcasm in the afternoon... and the smell of advertising 24/7.  It smells like economic growth. 

[stjr]

How is advertising on a bus shelter(done in most cities) any less different than a bus plastered with advertising?  

Fieldafm, have you read the last page of this thread?  Or any of the many other threads on MJ about this subject?  If so, you would maybe appreciate what the real issue is here (clue: it isn't, per se, ads on bus shelters).

Why don't posters here talk about the real issue: allowing billboards, flashing mobile signs, etc. back in the city?

Build all the bus shelters with ads you want but like brainstormer suggest, do it without unintended consequences to the rest of our sign law.

We talk of misspent finance and bad planning at JTA and when they DO come up with a great idea? Well we find a way to shoot that full of hole too?

I wouldn't call this a "great idea" as much as a lazy way of doing something JTA should have done decades ago and now doesn't want to deal with.  JTA is just "passing it off" to someone who will do the job for them.  As stated before, this whole project is peanuts to dollars spend by JTA, mass transit costs, and monies spent on road projects.  When someone reliably gets the whole costs of bus shelters, lets compare it to what JTA plans to spend on its new palace, excuse me, headquarters in the transportation center.  Fact is, JTA finds government grant money for projects it really wants to do.  Bus shelters aren't one of those projects.

[fieldafm]

I hear you about the laws of unintended consequences, but the great thing about the law is that every ordinance/rule/bill/etc can be amended to include as specific of language as you want.

The city(wisely) settled with the Jaguars about signage issues...  why not JTA?  If BRT is as great as many say it is(Im not a transportation guru whatsoever), why would we not want to find a way to fund its growth?
 

[stjr]

I hear you about the laws of unintended consequences, but the great thing about the law is that every ordinance/rule/bill/etc can be amended to include as specific of language as you want.

The city(wisely) settled with the Jaguars about signage issues...  why not JTA?  If BRT is as great as many say it is(Im not a transportation guru whatsoever), why would we not want to find a way to fund its growth?
 

Fieldafm, according to the experts, the City didn't pass a law that is sure to pass muster in court without unintended consequences.  In fact, similar laws have led to rulings supporting the unintended consequences.  So, we have a problem here.  That's the basis for the concerns over this plan.

As to BRT (whatever that really means), I don't think this is dependent on the bus shelter project.  But, since you bring it up, it's another project that will spend many multiples of the $$$ needed for bus shelters.  Maybe, if JTA had packaged bus shelters as an INTEGRAL component of BRT, it would have received enough grant money to pay for them.  But, that would require thinking outside the box, and JTA has proven that is not their strong point except when they want to do something for their own self interest.

[braeburn]

JeffreyS, those Chicago shelters and their ads are an eyesore on our beautiful urban landscape.  This is much better.

Yikes!! That looks horrible!...and I think it is right around the corner from my building!

What a contrast. Could someone please elaborate the reasons for (not just) this, but for the rest of the blight? It is as if the city has nothing to be proud of.

[thelakelander]

Here are my two cents:

1. No political will to follow a long term vision.

2. A long going coordination problem between local governmental agencies.

3. A poor understanding of how important pedestrian connectivity plays in creating vibrancy in urban areas.

4. Investing and designing urban projects from a suburban mindset and policy.

[JC]

I think the argument should be over whether or not to air condition the things. 

[duvaldude08]

Why is it that we cant accomplish SIMPLE task in this case. Bus shelters and parking for the landing should not be issue that are DEBATED. I love Jacksonville, but I despise the city government.