JTA To Move Forward with Philips Highway BRT Plan

[Ocklawaha]

Personally, I already have a preferred name for the regional rail entity, FIRST COAST TRANSIT or "FCT". The regional authority should be called NEFRTA (North East Florida Regional Transportation Authority)

And while I am on a roll here, turn the Skyway format over to FCT and let them re-purpose it for routes that can't be served by heavy rail. If JTA refuses, then drop and dismantle it and stop the cross subsidy. Let JTA stick to roads and buses, and turn rail transit over to FCT.

First NOBODY is talking about heavy-rail in Jacksonville! We need to pack in another 4 million or so people before that kind of thing is even dreamed of.

Commuter rail is a whole different animal, CTA is heavy rail and METRA is commuter rail (note the little train on the bottom of my posts...METRA-CHICAGO).

JTA is chasing a dream of empire, and don't think for a second that the current directors don't hear the cha-ching from rail studies. While we're on the same team about mass transit, rail or logical Skyway solutions in Jacksonville might be like wishing in one had and spitting in the other and checking to see which fills faster.

OCKLAWAHA

[spuwho]

Commuter rail is a whole different animal, CTA is heavy rail and METRA is commuter rail (note the little train on the bottom of my posts...METRA-CHICAGO).

JTA is chasing a dream of empire, and don't think for a second that the current directors don't hear the cha-ching from rail studies. While we're on the same team about mass transit, rail or logical Skyway solutions in Jacksonville might be like wishing in one had and spitting in the other and checking to see which fills faster.

OCKLAWAHA

The New Mexico Rail Runner serves Albuquerque and Santa Fe just fine and they don't have 4 million people. So I don't think it is out of the question for NE Florida.

The only critical issue I see is placing regional transit in the hands of a non-transparent, semi-accountable entity like JTA. If I was the county administrator for a collar county like Clay, Nassau or St Johns, who was being asked to partner with them, I would want contractual constraints on their rein of authority outside the Duval County line. While regional cooperation is desirable, I have no taste in the exportation of poor public service.

[thelakelander]

The New Mexico Rail Runner is commuter rail, which is what has been proposed here.  Atlanta's MARTA, DC's Metro, Miami's Metrorail and Chicago's El are examples of Heavy Rail.

[spuwho]

The New Mexico Rail Runner is commuter rail, which is what has been proposed here.  Atlanta's MARTA, DC's Metro, Miami's Metrorail and Chicago's El are examples of Heavy Rail.

While the delivery methods are important: Commuter, heavy/light rail etc. My earlier post was expounding on organizational methods and I was using Chicago as an example of regional cooperation even while different client delivery methods are still in use.

If BRT makes sense as a JTA, Duval only implementation, then let commuter (or what ever rail methods work best) in a regional setting take place.

[Ocklawaha]

No condemnation intended my friend, your point was loud and clear and it's great that you are speaking up. The only reason Lake and I jumped on the fine line definition of the various types of rail is because most people in JAX don't have a clue. Newspaper accounts of "Light Rail on the CSX mainline" and other nonsense has just served to confuse everyone. Now we even have people claiming that our monoRAIL is not a type of rail.

I think BRT has a fantastic place in our mass transit system especially in the Northwest, Argyle/Bellair, Post-Normandy, and Arlington-Beaches or Southside-Beaches corridors. It could easily cross the line into Middleburg, Nocatee or WGV connecting those communties with commuter rail.

Glad your on the team.


OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

I-95 and Philips are a mess today. The option of commuter rail would give riders an option to completely avoid gridlock caused by unpredictable auto accidents. One the other hand, JTA's BRT down Philips would be caught in today's melee.

[uptowngirl]

I-95 and Philips are a mess today. The option of commuter rail would give riders an option to completely avoid gridlock caused by unpredictable auto accidents. One the other hand, JTA's BRT down Philips would be caught in today's melee.

+1

The light switches are also a mess. You can sit through four or five lights during rush hour at the high traffic intersections like Baymeadows and Emerson. While I find myself needing to go to the Southside quite often, I dread the drive during the week. A commuter rail would be fabulous, especially if there was additional connectivity to key spots.