This Is Embarrassing

Ocklawaha · May 04, 2010, 12:59:38 AM

CAN YOU BELIEVE WE DO THIS IN AN INTERNATIONAL EVENTS SITE?

UNIQUE?

SCENIC?

REALLY?

WHERE?

Keep in mind we DO NOT HAVE TROLLEYS in Jacksonville. The "things" we have running around town are rejects from a transit nightmare and sold at a discount lot for failing county fairs. Being more closely related to the automobile then to a true trolley, and built on a potato chip truck frame and chassis, every citizen should be alarmed that our transit agency thinks us so dumb as to be pacified with a cheap imitation. Welcome to Jacksonville, home of the PCT BUS (Potato-Chip-Truck-Thinks-It's-A-Trolley).

Quote
http://www.cvent.com/destination-guide/jacksonville/transportation.shtml

Trolleys
Jacksonville has three trolleys that offer unique and scenic transport around the city. The Riverside Trolley travels between downtown and the Five Points areas; the Beaches Trolley travels between South Beach and Atlantic Boulevard; and the Downtown Trolley has three lines - Bay, Beaver and Laura & Ocean - that stop at points of interest such as the convention center, Jacksonville Landing and Veteran's Memorial Arena.

Hours and schedules vary based on trolley route. The Beaches and Downtown trolley lines offer free rides. The Riverside Trolley fare is $0.50.

This is embarrassing, a truly pathetic attempt to appeal to an uneducated peasantry. A deception so base as to render it's authors to a registry for criminal hyperbolic carnival hawkers. JTA has proved stupid is a boundless concept in Jacksonville. We'll even make our vastly wiser visitors feel a void of purpose, when they turn off I-95 to see the "Trolley's" and find... NOTHING! Ordinarily Jacksonville's lust to be Orlando is insane, but we have had lucid moments when we were merely stupid, and this is one of those times. "TROLLEYS-R-STUPID!"

OCKLAWAHA

Coolyfett · May 04, 2010, 02:42:39 AM

those aint trolleys

blizz01 · May 04, 2010, 07:22:51 AM

At least get some hub caps............The city's pretty proud of 'em. I saw a group of kids going to prom in a charter last weekend.

at8363 · May 04, 2010, 10:30:09 AM

Coolyfett - Is that a picture of MARTA you're sporting?

Dog Walker · May 04, 2010, 11:05:38 AM

They are cramped, noisy and bumpy. We ride the Riverside trolley downtown all the time anyway. Ten minutes between buses and they go where we want to go. We only wish they would extend the hours and days.

Even a bad transit option with good frequency and routes is better than NO transit. Now if they would just give me a smooth, quiet ride on rails......(sigh).

CS Foltz · May 04, 2010, 11:55:22 AM

Dog Walker I have to agree! But why make the silly things look like a trolley when it is just a glorified bus? The real think would be so much better and lots more user friendly! Silly City!

LPBrennan · May 10, 2010, 07:20:36 PM

I saw a complaint several years ago- I believe in a rail-oriented magazine- about a fan who made a side trip to a city whose literature listed a "trolley" as among their attractions. The quotes around trolley tell you what he found there.

It's hard to come up with an adequate name for these things: Buses they are, trolleys they are not, nor trolleybuses, either.

"Small buses disguised as old-fashioned trolley cars" though somewhat accurate, is a mouthful. I dunno.

Ernest Street · May 10, 2010, 09:20:56 PM

My Nickname would be ....TROLLOP
You know what a Trollop is. Sorry if any women are offended, but the trolley/buses are painted up Whores.

mtraininjax · May 10, 2010, 10:46:37 PM

We have far toooooooo many things in this town that are embarrassing to get uptight over what a diesel engine with 4 tires and bus seats is called along the Sunflower route downtown.

It is far better than nothing.

I-10east · May 10, 2010, 11:10:13 PM

^^^I agree. Something is telling me that we are in the minority esp. on this site. IMO alotta people are looking at the aesthetics of a trolley moreso than the true need of a trolley here. Most if not all true trolleys that I see are in tourist towns; I consider Jax as more of a business city. You'd think that we had L.A. smog the way people complain about the so called "gas polluting, thick smoke belching" buses/bus trolleys. I'd bet if those buses/bus trolleys were electric(green) people would still complain; It's all about the trolleys/rail aesthetics, over the true need on this site IMO.

thelakelander · May 10, 2010, 11:37:40 PM

Quote from: I-10east on May 10, 2010, 11:10:13 PM
^^^I agree. Something is telling me that we are in the minority esp. on this site. IMO alotta people are looking at the aesthetics of a trolley moreso than the true need of a trolley here. Most if not all true trolleys that I see are in tourist towns; I consider Jax as more of a business city. You'd think that we had L.A. smog the way people complain about the so called "gas polluting, thick smoke belching" buses/bus trolleys. I'd bet if those buses/bus trolleys were electric(green) people would still complain; It's all about the trolleys/rail aesthetics, over the true need on this site IMO.

I-10, you should check out our transit section when you get the time. Its about reliability, sustainable community building and economic development, not aesthetics. Reinstalling fixed rail in urban areas has been a major trend in America for well over a decade now. Cities of all sizes and economic backgrounds are embracing this trend because of the quality-of-life aspects that come with them and their tendency to attract pedestrian scale economic development. The trend has grown to the point that even the federal government has started adopted complete streets policies and multimodal transportation solutions as opposed to the old highway or bust development strategy. Btw, a few "non-tourist" cities that have real trolleys include Charlotte, Tucson, Kenosha, Little Rock and Memphis.

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2009-may-america-rediscovers-the-streetcar

I-10east · May 10, 2010, 11:50:43 PM

Thanks for not beating me up too bad Stephendare. LOL. You've brought up some good points. Do you agree with me that most trolleys are in tourist oriented cities? For Jax, if I had a new choice of transit to pick between light rail and trolley, I'd go with light rail.

JeffreyS · May 10, 2010, 11:58:08 PM

I would choose trolleys to go where they already were and commuter rail to take advantage of the fact that we have so much rail, and transit corridors already in place. Best of all these rail lines come together right in the middle of downtown at our already here grand historic rail station.

I-10east · May 11, 2010, 12:14:22 AM

Thanks for the info Lake. Yall sound very knowledgeable concerning transit, I'm just a guy posting a thread. LOL. My main concern is that hopefully when the novelty wears off, that we won't end up with another white elephant AKA Skyway Express. Hey Lake, I consider The Skyway a "bust" ridership-wise; Outta curiousity, any current streetcar "bust" in a particular city, or has ridership been successful in all of the streetcar cities?

ProjectMaximus · May 11, 2010, 12:35:45 AM

Quote from: I-10east on May 10, 2010, 11:50:43 PM
Thanks for not beating me up too bad Stephendare. LOL. You've brought up some good points. Do you agree with me that most trolleys are in tourist oriented cities? For Jax, if I had a new choice of transit to pick between light rail and trolley, I'd go with light rail.

I might be wrong, but I think light rail serves longer distances than real trolley/streetcar. So I don't think you'd be picking between the two so much as picking between two types of rail service, one making many stops within the urban core and the other taking you out of the core.