Getting to know the Next Director of JTA
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/2137904931_BwQ4cmK-M.jpg)
With three finalist in position to replace Michael Blaylock as the executive director of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Metro Jacksonville looks into the transportation background of Steve Bland, Nathaniel P. Ford, and Frank T. Martin.
Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2012-oct-getting-to-know-the-next-director-of-jta
Based on a quick read through and the limited info available, I would think Mr. Nathaniel Ford would be the best for the future of transportation in Jacksonville. I would bet, however, that Mr. Steve Bland is on the top of JTA's list.
Yeah I too think Ford would be the best of the three, but personally they all seem blah
^What type of person or professional background do you wish the next director to have?
I'd definitely like to see someone who's going to push rail over an expansion of BRT.
I'm guessing they're leaning toward Mr. Bland based on his BRT background. I also have to wonder about Mr. Ford. It seems as if Jax would be a step down after years of running transit systems in Atlanta and San Francisco. Maybe I'm a cynic but it wouldn't surprise me if there's more back story to his history that we don't know about (other than the credit card issues mentioned in the story).
Quote from: comncense on October 09, 2012, 09:21:53 AM
I'd definitely like to see someone who's going to push rail over an expansion of BRT.
If rail is your thing, Ford probably has the best background overseeing a public agency with multiple types of rail transit in operation. Since 1992, he's had roles with BART, MARTA, and Muni plus he started off as a train conductor for BART. While over Muni, its transit operations included bus, trolley buses, light rail, subway (Muni Metro), cable cars, and a heritage streetcar line. Muni also shares four metro stations with BART.
Bland is probably your BRT guy. While Pittsburgh already had LRT and BRT when Bland joined, Bland has been in the forefront of recent BRT projects in Albany, NY and Pittsburgh over the last decade.
Since Martin hasn't worked for a public transit agency in eight years, it was a little difficult to dig into his background. Nevertheless, the one agency he was over in San Jose, does have LRT and he worked with Miami-Dade's rail operations during their early years.
Quote from: TomHurst on October 09, 2012, 09:31:26 AM
I'm guessing they're leaning toward Mr. Bland based on his BRT background.
If Bland wins, I hope he loses the BRT is like rail, but with buses thing. We've been there, done that, here in Jacksonville. There's nothing wrong with BRT but let's not sell it as an equal replacement for rail. Instead they should complement each other.
QuoteI also have to wonder about Mr. Ford. It seems as if Jax would be a step down after years of running transit systems in Atlanta and San Francisco. Maybe I'm a cynic but it wouldn't surprise me if there's more back story to his history that we don't know about (other than the credit card issues mentioned in the story).
Here is a look into Ford's decision to leave Muni last year.
QuoteNat Ford, the embattled executive director of Muni, will be stepping down from his post at the end of the month.
The decision for Ford to leave the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni, was a mutually-agreed upon departure between him and the agency’s board of directors, said Tom Nolan, the board chair.
Ford, who earns $308,000 a year, recently signed a two-year contract extension with the agency. Under the terms of his exit, he will be paid $375,000, plus three months of health insurance coverage, which will bring his total departure package to $384,000, Nolan said.
Job speculation has swirled for months concerning the future of Ford, who has been rumored as the lead candidate at a number of agency openings in the past, including a prominent position at a Washington, D.C., airport authority. His persistent job hedging had some transit advocates calling for his ouster by the agency’s board of directors.
Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/06/muni-chief-nat-ford-quit-next-month-sources-say#ixzz28oEctQv0
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/06/muni-chief-nat-ford-quit-next-month-sources-say
http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2011/06/muni-deputy-chief-carter-rohan-resigns-list-replace-nat-ford-shrinks
The fact that the Muni board would buy him out of his contract and pay him $375k to not work there anymore, is troubling. Though going from Muni to JTA would be like the Suns getting Clayton Kershaw back (Going from the big leagues to Double A), so maybe he would be worth the risk.
Ford does have a lot of experience with heavy rail and LRT, but having researched Muni for personal reasons (possible move) it has a horrible reputation now and nobody seems to have anything nice to say about it (reliability issues, etc). Not sure if it's at all attributable to Ford.
Also, Ford and Beverly Scott may have been great for MARTA (and Beverly is now going up to head MBTA in Boston), but MARTA has lost a lot of its reputation under their (and Ford's 2nd) watch. Recent audits reveal insane cost overruns, employee absenteeism costing additional $11MM/year, a depletion of the operating working capital account by 2018 (used to cover operating losses), $7.1B in capital deficiencies through 2021, and a complete loss of faith from the state Legislature. Base fare has gone from $2 to $2.50. Headways have lengthened and service cut back. Bus routes pared back or eliminated. And worst of all, under Ford's watch MARTA's reputation has deteriorated, making it more difficult to crawl out of the hole it is in.
Good luck in your decision. All these agencies trade people routinely anyway, and only some of them seem to be decent (actually usually the smaller systems pushing for LRT/streetcars seem to be headed by the better candidates, not these larger big city HRT/bus guys).
Ford does have a lot of experience with heavy rail and LRT, but having researched Muni for personal reasons (possible move) it has a horrible reputation now and nobody seems to have anything nice to say about it (reliability issues, etc). Not sure if it's at all attributable to Ford.
Also, Ford and Beverly Scott may have been great for MARTA (and Beverly is now going up to head MBTA in Boston), but MARTA has lost a lot of its reputation under their (and Ford's 2nd) watch. Recent audits reveal insane cost overruns, employee absenteeism costing additional $11MM/year, a depletion of the operating working capital account by 2018 (used to cover operating losses), $7.1B in capital deficiencies through 2021, and a deteriorating view by the State and the public. Base fare has gone from $2 to $2.50. Headways have lengthened and service cut back. Bus routes pared back or eliminated. And worst of all, under Ford's watch MARTA's reputation has deteriorated, making it more difficult to crawl out of the hole it is in.
Good luck in your decision. All these agencies trade people routinely anyway, and only some of them seem to be decent (actually usually the smaller systems pushing for LRT/streetcars seem to be headed by the better candidates, not these larger big city HRT/bus guys).
Personally I want someone who believes in Jacksonville's transportation infrastructure future. This would include rain and streetcar. As I see it, Ford would be the one. We are a city who relies too much on roads (which includes buses/ fo BRT). Our transportation infrastructure is not diverse. I would like to stop seeing paralleling services/ ex fo BRT running parallel to Skyway and proposed future rail. We need to stop investing in now for the sake of the future- more foresight.
Seems to be some good spots on all three resumes. I'd be surprised if they picked Bland. Ford has a lot of directly relevant experience, although Martin served over what was probably the highlight of local rail growth in Miami. If we had had that here, the Skyway may not have become a rolling punchline.
Steve Bland would seem to be appropriately named. And he seems like the likely status quo choice for JTA.
Thanks for sharing this info with us.
I dont think it really has anything to do with pushing one mode over another. it is bigger than that.
Yeah, just the name "Bland" alone speaks volumes of Jacksonville's charactor and intrests. (or should I say "lack thereof")
Can't we always count on JTA to do the wrong thing? BOHICA!
I just heard the JTA board will select one of these candidates tomorrow at 1:30p.
Live blog coming our way? I have an insane amount of work to catch up on, otherwise I would be there.
Yes, we're planning to have either Stephen or Ocklawaha there to possibly live blog.
Btw, Larry Hannan has some more information about the candidates on the FTU:
http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-10-09/story/three-finalists-jta-job-offer-disparate-experiences
Glad see the mention of rail in the article.
I got on the WS7 bus this morning. This is the bus I take every day; And each day it seems to get more crowded.
So I had four comment cards left in my backpack. I pulled them out and addressed the packed bus.
I said that this rout is overcrowded and if you can help me. Who wants to take a comment card and tell them that we need to run this route every half hour instead of just every hour. We also need to run the bus later also.
Everyone agreed and I gave away all of my extra comment cards. I then told everyone that more cards are available at the main terminal. I hope my movement takes off.
Is there more I can do?
Any suggestions?
Is anyone going to live blog the interviews?
Stephendare is supposed to. I'm pulling up in the JTA parking lot now.
good.
No Stephen and all I have is my cell phone. Should be an interesting meeting. Each candidate will give a 10 minute presentation and answer questions from the board. Then the board will make their selection.
It will be Bland first, Ford second, and Martin to present last. They'll eliminate one candidate first and then debate the final two.
Congresswoman Brown pretty much just said its going to be a problem in the community if the winner isn't a minority.
Bland is up.
Bland is excited about the possibility of joining JTA. He sees opportunity of synergy with roads and transit under JTA. Believes he can work with the community with transit by starting off with a clean slate.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 10, 2012, 01:43:51 PM
Congresswoman Brown pretty much just said its going to be a problem in the community if the winner isn't a minority.
Translation=good luck getting money from Washington if you don't hire a minority....
Bland says 13% of JTA riders are choice riders. Believes great opportunity to grow this market segment. Uses Charlotte as an example of sprawling city that has improved transit. Says if Jax can't keep up, we will struggle to keep up economically as well. Said we need to focus on service as a method of improving transit. Said we can improve by eliminating service duplicity.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 10, 2012, 02:03:18 PM
Bland says 13% of JTA riders are choice riders. Believes great opportunity to grow this market segment. Uses Charlotte as an example of sprawling city that has improved transit. Says if Jax can't keep up, we will struggle to keep up economically as well. Said we need to focus on service as a method of improving transit. Said we can improve by eliminating service duplicity.
We can start by modifying the BRT route to not duplicate the skyway.
In response to a question about LRT in Charlotte, Bland said it was a game changer. Said that doesn't mean it will be for Jax if the service is bad. It's really up for the community to decide and not JTA.
Bland likes Jax because its a blank sheet of paper. Said most cities our size already have pretty well established transit systems. Ford is up.
Ford started off as a train conductor with NYC's system. He's been CEO of 2 of the 10 largest transit agencies in the country.
You mean, Nathaniel Ford. Not McCray. No, Bland didn't talk about this stuff. He talked more general.
Ford definitely seemed to be the frontrunner on paper...Good to see he's the real deal.
He probably had this locked up before today, but sounds like he's making it an easier decision for the board.
Martin's presentation so far sounds like he's inclined to accept staying the course. Both Ford and Bland came off more visionary. This could be a result of them running larger systems recently and Martin being in the private sector.
My opinion, based off their presentations today?
1. Ford
2. Bland
3. Martin
Sounds like Gaffney likes Ford. It would be an embarrassment to put Martin in a position that maybe over his head.
Quote from: CityLife on October 10, 2012, 02:59:37 PM
Ford definitely seemed to be the frontrunner on paper...Good to see he's the real deal.
He probably had this locked up before today, but sounds like he's making it an easier decision for the board.
Agree.
So are we thinking that they actually got this one right?
thanks Stephen for the updates.
I think they definitely got this one right....the only problem is what if they can't reach agreement with Ford...then they fall back to Martin...who was probably only #2 because of the comments made by Corrine and Gaffney
Great updates on the meeting.
Ford said he wanted the JTA job and obviously JTA wanted him. He doesn't expect any delay in contract negotiations.
Great choice Jax
Quote from: stephendare on October 10, 2012, 04:00:08 PM
Deibenow asks Gaffney:
As a council member is there any one of these candidates that you can not support or work with?
We are looking for a leader.
Its very obvious who has the most experience.
More football metaphors.
The council will work with all of them, and we would prefer Tebow (Tim) or Michael Vick.
I have friends and my house has been vandalized, but god is looking out for me.
I understood where Gaffney was going with the football references but I think he used the wrong players to compare what we witnessed today.
Ford was the Tom Brady of that group. He's a guy who has won multiple championships and clearly has command of the huddle when its late in the 4th Quarter and your squad needs the TD to win. Bland was Trent Dilfer. An average QB with decent skills. If you have a great team in place, he knows enough to not screw it up and go with the flow and every now and then, he'll make a decent play. Martin, on the other hand, I felt sorry for. The other two were NFL caliber. Compared to those two, Martin was Al Bundy. Great high school player but now an out-of-shape shoe salesman who's married with kids.
From being in the crowd, today's selection should have been an easy choice, once Bland was eliminated. It was like Blaine Gabbert lining up against the 85' Bears. One guy has been intimately involved with three of the largest transit agencies in the country and the other guy is still struggling to put together a power point.
OMG! I'm playing the lottery tonight!
YIPPEE!
Great updates, and it sounds like they made a winning choice.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 10, 2012, 06:28:37 PM
Quote from: stephendare on October 10, 2012, 04:00:08 PM
Deibenow asks Gaffney:
As a council member is there any one of these candidates that you can not support or work with?
We are looking for a leader.
Its very obvious who has the most experience.
More football metaphors.
The council will work with all of them, and we would prefer Tebow (Tim) or Michael Vick.
I have friends and my house has been vandalized, but god is looking out for me.
I understood where Gaffney was going with the football references but I think he used the wrong players to compare what we witnessed today.
Ford was the Tom Brady of that group. He's a guy who has won multiple championships and clearly has command of the huddle when its late in the 4th Quarter and your squad needs the TD to win. Bland was Trent Dilfer. An average QB with decent skills. If you have a great team in place, he knows enough to not screw it up and go with the flow and every now and then, he'll make a decent play. Martin, on the other hand, I felt sorry for. The other two were NFL caliber. Compared to those two, Martin was Al Bundy. Great high school player but now an out-of-shape shoe salesman who's married with kids.
From being in the crowd, today's selection should have been an easy choice, once Bland was eliminated. It was like Blaine Gabbert lining up against the 85' Bears. One guy has been intimately involved with three of the largest transit agencies in the country and the other guy is still struggling to put together a power point.
Love it^. Hopefully Ford can lead us to the playoffs. Heck, I'd even take a winning season.
I hope the JTA Board lets Ford be innovative and customer oriented, and the Council adequately funds the JTA (Mobility Fee, extend the gas tax that is about to lapse) for transit.
The way it sounded at city hall tonight, we'll have some context sensitive streets design guidelines in place that public works will have to abide by, as well.
Great points Charles.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 10, 2012, 06:28:37 PM
the other guy is still struggling to put together a power point.
ouch!
Since we're having some fun here, I just hope that FORD can undo the damage done by GM in 1932-1936!
I'm going to celebrate by grilling out tonight with beer and a bonfire.
I already started drinking
Great updates, thanks to Stephen and Lake for the dialog.
I look forward to seeing an interview with Mr. Ford by metrojacksonville once his contract is in place.
In Jacksonville, I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.
Otherwise in Atlanta, this just in.
QuoteOctober 10, 2012
VIA San Antonio chief accepts MARTA top post
SAN ANTONIO â€" Citing mainly personal reasons and the great opportunity, VIA President/CEO Keith Parker said Tuesday he will leave San Antonio to become GM of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), starting there by early December.
The VIA board immediately appointed Deputy CEO Jeff Arndt, 57, as interim president and CEO. Arndt, who Parker hired earlier this year, has three decades of transit experience, including 25 years at Houston's public transit system, where he helped launch that city's light-rail system, according to a San Antonio-Express News report.
SOURCE: METRO MAGAZINE
So Atlanta is getting the BRT guy, and San Antonio has elevated the Light-Rail guy. All the while, we're getting the RAIL, LIGHT-RAIL, COMMUTER RAIL, SUBWAY, EL, STREETCAR, CABLE CAR GUY... Oh and did I mention buses? Yeah, them too.
Quote from: Ocklawaha on October 11, 2012, 11:58:29 PM
In Jacksonville, I think we've all arrived at a very special place. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically.
Otherwise in Atlanta, this just in.
QuoteOctober 10, 2012
VIA San Antonio chief accepts MARTA top post
SAN ANTONIO Citing mainly personal reasons and the great opportunity, VIA President/CEO Keith Parker said Tuesday he will leave San Antonio to become GM of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), starting there by early December.
The VIA board immediately appointed Deputy CEO Jeff Arndt, 57, as interim president and CEO. Arndt, who Parker hired earlier this year, has three decades of transit experience, including 25 years at Houston's public transit system, where he helped launch that city's light-rail system, according to a San Antonio-Express News report.
SOURCE: METRO MAGAZINE
So Atlanta is getting the BRT guy, and San Antonio has elevated the Light-Rail guy. All the while, we're getting the RAIL, LIGHT-RAIL, COMMUTER RAIL, SUBWAY, EL, STREETCAR, CABLE CAR GUY... Oh and did I mention buses? Yeah, them too.
I think you're wrong here. Atlanta is ditching the traditional big transit system bureacracy guys (which you are getting) for a guy who laid the groundwork for the soon to happen streetcar in San Antonio (and who hired his replacement, someone who built Houston's LRT). The SA guy has experience operating a bus system, but also building up momentum, support, attracting funding, and putting into place a system to incorporate alternative modes of fixed-rail transit. Ford has merely inherited and run big city rail/bus systems and has left each in worse shape from what I can tell (reputation of Muni is horrible in SF and reputation of MARTA in Atlanta is similarly awful). Also keep in mind Atlanta is gunning for streetcars and is laying track right now for one line, so the board at MARTA wanted a streetcar guy (these are usually found in the smaller cities, which are the cities putting in streetcars mostly, not the big metro areas).
Finally, SA is sad to see Parker leave. Atlanta is not shedding any tears to see Beverly Scott or Ford leave (Scott will go to run MBTA in Boston...another typical big city transit chief trade).
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/morning_call/2012/10/new-marta-chief-received-praise-from.html
QuoteVIA board member Mary Briseño told mysanantonio.com following the announcement that Parker was a finalist for the MARTA job - “Obviously we would hate to see Mr. Parker go. He’s done a tremendous job for us and left us in a better place than we were before. But I don’t want to be premature; hopefully, maybe he’ll see things differently†and not leave San Antonio."
I repeatedly warned against Ford. Wasn't Jax considering a former CATS guy from Charlotte? Maybe it was Atlanta. I think that would have been the best bet...someone involved in putting up LRT and streetcars in a developing southern city, not someone who has overseen and left in worse shape big transit systems in 5 million person metros.
The BRT guy was Steve Bland of Pittsburgh, who was a finalist for both the MARTA and JTA jobs. At the JTA presentation, Bland mentioned he was a little intimidated of the Atlanta job because it was a much larger city than what he had been used to, so Atlanta made the right decision in going with Keith Parker from San Antonio.
Keith Parker was the CEO of Charlotte's CATS from 2007 to 2009. Before then, he was the assistant city manager of Charlotte. The planning of Charlotte's LRT dated back to 1999. Groundbreaking for their LRT took place two years before Parker was hired at CATS.
I'm actually pretty happy Nathaniel Ford is coming to Jax. Out of the three finalist, he was clearly head and shoulders above the other two. He was over MARTA through the development of the Lindbergh Station TOD site. JTA actually took a trip up there to view it a few years back when Ford was there. That was mentioned at the presentation as well. The Breeze card was also implemented during Ford's tenure at MARTA. Furthermore, MARTA has always had a bad reputation. I remember when my older brother moved up there in 1988, it had a bad reputation then. It just didn't have any TOD. So I'm not sure it's Ford fault for how MARTA is viewed in Georgia.
To be honest, if all Ford does is come in here and significantly revamp the bus system and leave in two years, it would be a huge success over what we currently have in place.
^^^Again, MARTA chose Keith Parker, who ran VIA in San Antonio. You're confusing people. Also Ford is not credited up here with having anything to do with Lindbergh, just so you know, though he may have overseen the partnership that a couple of prominent Atlanta developers fostered to make it happen in the late 90s early 2000s. Besides, Lindbergh is the best and only TOD we have, and it is pretty darn pathetic. The Breeze system is convenient, but if Ford and all the others overseeing MARTA had not changed to a card system, we'd be the only thing still using tokens, so that was a pretty obvious choice...not anything ingenious.
I'm sure Ford's great, but I have been using MARTA long enough to even remember the coins. Fares have gone up dramatically. Service has been cut. Safety has been a concern. The reputation of MARTA alone arguably killed TSPLOST this year. Suburban counties want in on transit now, but they don't want MARTA as the fiscal side has become a huge issue, and the last report by KPMG was that compared to other systems MARTA has a problem with too large of benefits (22% higher than similar systems) and employee absenteeism (costing an additional 11% more than necessary), and that there are many areas of operations that can be outsourced, but haven't. These are the areas that MARTA leadership should have focused on. Without higher taxes or the state stepping in MARTA will be broke by 2018. Time is running out to get the fiscal house in order and improve legislative relationships outside of Atlanta, something the past leadership left for the next guys.
Overall it was a lost decade for MARTA. Last expansion was way back in 90s. Everything has deteriorated since then. The Streetcar and Beltline are major positives, but totally separate from MARTA. Credit goes to the grassroots organizations, mayors and city leaders (public and private) getting those done. Everybody's waiting for good leadership at MARTA before they start attaching their name to it.
No need to get defensive, simms. I'm sure Atlanta transit will be fine.
I'm sure Ford will do as good of a job as the limitations of the agency will allow, he was clearly the best candidate of the three (though they were never going to pick Bland). I have some hope for JTA; the fact that they've pulled off some solid roadbuilding projects shows they can be perfectly capable in the area they emphasize, so hopefully they'll be able to make the transition if the leadership changes direction a bit.
Marta is no different then any other operation where Heavy Rail and bus are the only options. Heavy Rail construction pretty much came to a halt after Miami Metrorail and Baltimore's metro. There have been some spotty expansions here and there, but Heavy Rail systems may be out of the limelight for the foreseeable future.
San Antonio, had a plan for a comprehensive rail network as the largest city in America with bus only mass transit. That plan was taken down, and replaced with BRT. Not unlike Tampa, San Antonio's Via did a poor job of selling rail to the masses and the project crashed at the voting booth. Granted the light rail and streetcar plans have reemerged, but they'll face a constant firestorm of angry 'tea party' tax payer's to get track on the ground.
Jacksonville is in a much better position with Skyway, city buses and express buses, and a solid funding mechanism for streetcar and commuter rail. Given we'll have a guy completely familiar with all of the above, I'm cautiously optimistic.
So JTA seems to think Ford's a big TOD guy and MARTA seems to think Parker's a big streetcar guy, perhaps both are misguided. If Parker wants to tie streetcars into MARTA, he'll have an easier time doing it in Atlanta where the Tea Party won't derail him in the city than he had in SA. If Ford wants to do TOD in Jax, he'll need to work on getting a system built first.
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 09:39:02 AM
If Ford wants to do TOD in Jax, he'll need to work on getting a system built first.
actually, no....because you can set up good development that is transit (and pedestrian) oriented...and if high quality transit never comes, you still have a nice walkable community.
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 08:09:20 AM
^^^Again, MARTA chose Keith Parker, who ran VIA in San Antonio. You're confusing people.
No I'm not. Keith Parker was the CEO of Charlotte's CATS before he moved on the VIA.
http://www.itsmarta.com/marta-gm-selection.aspx
sure hope Ford wasn't a decision maker on MARTA's ad campaign from years back....
MARTA is SMARTA
which was only bested by
SEPTA - We're Getting There!
seriously....people get paid to come up with these
Well ok...TOD without the T. Higher quality developments are pretty standard nowadays. I guess I can call a lot of the infill going up where I live TOD, even if it is not near a metro station. In that case Black Sheep's new development is a TOD. The small projects in San Marco are TODs. Let's stick with the traditional definition here and just ackowledge that overall development standards with or without transit have changed and need to continue to change (and improve).
I was referring to TOD as mastered in the DC metro, where entire CBDs spring up around metro stations. Where having the Nats stadium in your backyard is merely a bonus but the real impetus for your development is Waterfront or Navy Yard metro station. Where the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor has become the national model...a miles long string of walkability built on the DC metro and nonexistent without.
Jax can perhaps do TOD at Kings Ave station, but aside from that all other stations are already "downtown". It needs to build a system or expand the skyway before it can start up the officially recognized TOD. Otherwise I agree...higher quality developments that fit in with "complete streets" guidelines can still be built basically anywhere.
Quote from: tufsu1 on October 12, 2012, 10:39:32 AM
sure hope Ford wasn't a decision maker on MARTA's ad campaign from years back....
MARTA is SMARTA
which was only bested by
SEPTA - We're Getting There!
seriously....people get paid to come up with these
Hahaha. It is pretty ridiculous. In most cases MARTA is not smarta and SEPTA is certainly not "getting there" any time soon.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 12, 2012, 10:33:42 AM
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 08:09:20 AM
^^^Again, MARTA chose Keith Parker, who ran VIA in San Antonio. You're confusing people.
No I'm not. Keith Parker was the CEO of Charlotte's CATS before he moved on the VIA.
http://www.itsmarta.com/marta-gm-selection.aspx
That makes me even happier...I thought someone in the running for one of the cities was involved with CATS. Glad to be rid of a big system/big city bureaucrat and replaced with a smaller city guy who has touched the developmental process of LRT and streetcars.
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 10:40:55 AMJax can perhaps do TOD at Kings Ave station, but aside from that all other stations are already "downtown". It needs to build a system or expand the skyway before it can start up the officially recognized TOD. Otherwise I agree...higher quality developments that fit in with "complete streets" guidelines can still be built basically anywhere.
Using most of the cities that opened starter rail lines over the last decade as examples, TOD starts occurring when you make the public commitment to actually moving forward with your project. Charlotte, Austin, Salt Lake City, Denver, Houston, etc. all saw TOD spring up along the transit corridors before their actual operation.
In Jax's case, there are TOD opportunities still available around several of the existing skyway stations and Prime Osborn (assuming its converted back into a train station). The mobility plan also generates the capital funding for a streetcar connecting downtown to Riverside and Springfield. It's possible for TOD concepts to come online around these corridors, as well as the commuter rail corridors over the next few years. Outside of that, high quality infill development that is context sensitive is also good thing Jax should strive for as well.
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 10:43:27 AM
Quote from: tufsu1 on October 12, 2012, 10:39:32 AM
sure hope Ford wasn't a decision maker on MARTA's ad campaign from years back....
MARTA is SMARTA
which was only bested by
SEPTA - We're Getting There!
seriously....people get paid to come up with these
Hahaha. It is pretty ridiculous. In most cases MARTA is not smarta and SEPTA is certainly not "getting there" any time soon.
Quote from: thelakelander on October 12, 2012, 10:33:42 AM
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 08:09:20 AM
^^^Again, MARTA chose Keith Parker, who ran VIA in San Antonio. You're confusing people.
No I'm not. Keith Parker was the CEO of Charlotte's CATS before he moved on the VIA.
http://www.itsmarta.com/marta-gm-selection.aspx
That makes me even happier...I thought someone in the running for one of the cities was involved with CATS. Glad to be rid of a big system/big city bureaucrat and replaced with a smaller city guy who has touched the developmental process of LRT and streetcars.
I'm not trying to get in a pissing contest between who's better out of Parker and Ford. I think both MARTA and JTA made good decisions in their selections over the past week.
Quote from: simms3 on October 12, 2012, 10:40:55 AM
Jax can perhaps do TOD at Kings Ave station, but aside from that all other stations are already "downtown". It needs to build a system or expand the skyway before it can start up the officially recognized TOD. Otherwise I agree...higher quality developments that fit in with "complete streets" guidelines can still be built basically anywhere.
The other logical location is the Brooklyn. The only real expense will be creating a station at the OEM spur (and maybe a small extension). Although I am little unsure how this will be handled operationally. We would end up with three spurs coming into one line. Works fine northbound, and becomes a real hassle southbound. I see people regularly confused by the Convention Center or San Marco split. And once you realize the error, you have just committed yourself to a much longer journey.
As to the Ford question, I think he is coming into town at a great time. I see public support for transit only getting stronger, particularly with the help of this forum and the many advocates we have around town talking it up at every opportunity.
I talk about it all the time. Let the FDOT handle the road construction; Let JTA focus exclusively on mass transit.