American Light Rail Systems by Ridership

[Metro Jacksonville]

American Light Rail Systems by Ridership



This list of United States light rail and streetcar ridership statistics indicates that success or failure of rail transit systems may not be based off of traditional density and urban area population statistics.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-jul-american-light-rail-systems-by-ridership

[jbroadglide]

MJ, maybe you could find out the answer to this question. Setting aside the fact that Jax covers 842 square miles, or whatever it is, if we just used the actual "City of Jacksonville" boundaries, how big an area would it be? And how would it compare to the other cities included in this list as far as square miles and population.

[vicupstate]

Pre-Consolidation Jax was 32 sq. miles, I think.

[Lunican]

For info about the old city boundaries and population: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2008-oct-the-plight-of-the-urban-core

2000 Old City Census Tract Density: 112,753 / 30.2 square miles = 3,734 residents per square mile.

[JeffreyS]

So New York, DC and Chicago are heavy rail systems not light?

[Lunican]

Correct.

[finehoe]

The Washington DC area is in the process of starting up light rail, both in the city proper and the Virginia and Maryland suburbs, but none is up and running yet.

[Fallen Buckeye]

After reading the Murray Hill article it struck me that A LOT of streets in our city don't even have sidewalks which seems to me would be important if we want to build a culture that would embrace mass transit. There are some areas of town that are ready from a pedestrian standpoint such as downtown, but a lot of areas where you might see a lot of tranisit ridership such as NW Jax have few basic pedestrian features like sidewalks and cross walks. It's a safety issue for pedestrians and motorists too.

Pedestrian improvements need to in place too if we want to really grow mass transit ridership in Jax because streetcars only will take us part of the way to where we want to go.

[tufsu1]

The Mobility Plan that the City is completing includes a thorough review and analysis of pedestrian facilities.

[thelakelander]

After reading the Murray Hill article it struck me that A LOT of streets in our city don't even have sidewalks which seems to me would be important if we want to build a culture that would embrace mass transit. There are some areas of town that are ready from a pedestrian standpoint such as downtown, but a lot of areas where you might see a lot of tranisit ridership such as NW Jax have few basic pedestrian features like sidewalks and cross walks. It's a safety issue for pedestrians and motorists too.

Pedestrian improvements need to in place too if we want to really grow mass transit ridership in Jax because streetcars only will take us part of the way to where we want to go.

Here is a link to the 2030 Mobility Plan's Pedestrian Network article we ran a few months ago:

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-may-2030-mobility-plan-pedestrian-network

[Fallen Buckeye]

That 2030 mobility plan seems to detail the macro view of pedestrian mobility, but a lot of the problems from my own observations are in the residential areas adjacent to the main corridors, too. The main coridors clearly take priority, but the adjacent areas are important, too. Are new developments required to include sidewalks and pedestrian features? What are we doing currently to help older residential areas within Murray Hill and West Jax and so on improve to get simple things like sidewalks? I really don't know how all this works here in Jax being that I'm from out-of-state.

[Ocklawaha]

So New York, DC and Chicago are heavy rail systems not light?

Yes BUT... light rail is showing it's skirt...

In New York, Brooklyn - Red Hook, a streetcar project has grown from a mismatched collection of old cars and a labor of love, to a failed bankrupt but gallant memory, to a whole new page of lifed booming with REAL $$ from NYDOT!

For Details see:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/trolley_good_news_for_red_hook_rail_VyUZydkkwcTTWb6BeYh6PO


Meanwhile Washington is in FULL STREETCAR ATTACK! See the details at this link.
STORY:
http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/06/02/washington-comes-closer-to-bridging-the-gap-with-its-new-streetcar-network/
MAP WITH DETAIL:
http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2010/06/02/washington-comes-closer-to-bridging-the-gap-with-its-new-streetcar-network/

Over in Chi Town, they have their own version of "Streetcar" this summer...
May 23, 2010 ... David Cromer's revival of the great Broadway Musical "A Streetcar Named Desire," has opened in Chicago at Writer's Theater...

DING, DING, DING...

Meanwhile down in Jacksonville, MJ has opened our own Broadway Show, in offices and media outlets throughout the city the latest version of "A DESIRE NAMED STREETCAR!" has electrified the city...

OCKLAWAHA