JTA BUSES
Scrap rapid transit plan
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority's rapid transit plan for buses should cause Jacksonville to be angry.
The JTA wants to sell us on the plan of tearing up some of our busiest roads for close to 20 years to build dedicated bus lanes.
Cities that have tried these bus rapid transit plans have then had to pay again to convert them to rail.
We have rail corridors all over Jacksonville already. If it is time for dedicated mass transit, use the rails we already have.
The JTA wants to take people's homes and businesses to make way for this blight on our city.
We need to fight this ridiculous plan or we will pay a billion dollars for buses painted like trains.
JEFF SUTTON, business owner, Jacksonville
Wow - someone that gets it.
Wow, I couldn't have said that in less then 10,000 words! Great stuff.
I would add that REMEMBER that BRT is a cafe of "Bus Toys" that systems can select from to build BRT, some cheaper systems have only a few of the features and work perfectly well, while other full feature systems such as Curitiba, Brazil (poster child for BRT) are now building rail because BRT failed to carry the load.
We NEED BRT, but we sure Don't need it in any of the corridors JTA has proposed. We don't need BRT as our "Rapid Transit System" or mainline either. BRT, has a place here, in fact a far larger system then JTA has cooked up. But one that uses simple current roads, turnouts, signal priority, low-floor, limited stops, and very limited busway for spot congestion by-passes. Something to the tune of $2 Million a mile and connecting and feeding to and from JAXTRAX Commuter Rail. A glance at the map for example shows rail passing by Gateway Plaza and Shands Hospital. On that same map from across the room one can see Lem Turner, Moncrief, New Kings, and MLK. Makes me wonder where JTA found these guys?
If I were in charge, I wouldn't fire a soul... just give them the per mile budget, and toss a few lines on a map sending them down the hall to the drawing boards!
Ocklawaha
See Victoria, I can even have compassion...
I'm down with BRT too in the right places. You should continue to dialog and spreading the word we're for BRT just in the right applications and we should not rule out commuter rail in the right places.
Good letter. Keep it up.