Metro Jacksonville

This is the brand new JTA 'super' bus stop that we promoted on MJ at the corner of Galicia and Old St. Augustine Road next to the San Jose Manor (retirement) Apartments.  The lack of something as simple as trash collection seems beyond the ability of our city and it's various state authorities.

Some of you might recall the appalling conditions which we found at this stop thanks to the efforts of Ms. Sonia Alvarez, one of their alert building managers. Lori Boyer jumped right on this and within weeks JTA came out and started construction on this site, as well as adding a trash can and moving a southbound stop up to this corner. They marked the southbound side adding painted data to the curb, sidewalk and street. Over at Galicia and Old Kings Road, new signs went up and an old bus bench was relocated.

At this point the whole concept seemed to sputter, cross walks for the elderly were never installed, and no shelter or slab of any kind was ever placed at the corners of Cadiz and Old Kings, or on the southbound side of St. Augustine Road.

We at MJ are hoping this could yet be a prototype for citizen involved placement of proper bus shelters, and we have identified another half dozen sites M/L centered on retirement villas.

Perhaps JTA or the COJ felt that this single sheltered stop was 'good enough' and indeed it is a refreshing change of pace from our typical poorly incorporated bus stops. Perhaps there is a rule that only one shelter per corner should be installed as long as there are thousands of stops with absolutely NOTHING throughout the city.

We beg to differ with those who would institute such a rule, consideration needs to go into EVERY bus stop, with a carefully thought out idea of who will use it and how it will be used.  For example at this stop, St. Augustine Road is a fast 4 lane 'speedway' with a fairly long distance between stop lights.  As a result the seniors and handicapped are forced into a deadly game of 'Frogger' every time they cross to catch those southbound buses.  A cross walk, with a yellow diamond sign with a yellow flasher would at least notify drivers that people are trying to cross this busy street. A shelter on the southbound side as well as at least one at Old Kings and Galicia.

You would NEVER see these conditions in Palm Beach, Heathrow, Doctor Philips, Boca Raton or Coral Springs, and there is no reason why we shouldn't set the bar just as high if for no other reason then to give us a goal to aspire to.  Mr. Ford, this is the nature of the mess you have inherited, Lori, keep up the good work and let's fix this city wide! Thank you!

I agree, the conditions of our bus system could be better. I have some thoughts on the trash issue after a brief rant on bus-system operating hours.

I am not sure if it would make a difference in Jacksonville but there is nothing worse than not being able to get home. I think that the hours of operation for JTA should be at least till midnight.   Sometimes I feel that public transportation should be a thing offered at all hours of the day. 

On that note, I think I would trade some 'super' bus stops for more buses and more punctual and frequent schedule times. One should be able to get to the bus stop or station and not have to wait more than 30 minutes. I firmly believe that hardcore reliability will spawn a greater need for more commuters to sponsor JTA. I know express bus systems along with park and rides can make more money if people could just rely on the bus to get them to and fro without subjecting them to unreliability or high wait times. Something as simple as reliability, increased service hours either in later hours of operation or an increase in bus frequency throughout the operation day, could shift some commuters away from their cars or other mediums of transportation in spite of lacking 'super' bus stops.

I would love to see some photos of the 'super' bus stop at the corner of Galicia and Old St. Augustine Road for each day of a one week period.

I knew of this one lady who picked up trash around her neighborhood. I knew she packed the trash in little bags which I only saw lined up one time of the few I spotted her collecting trash.  When I saw this overloaded trash can at Galicia and St. Augustine I immediately thought of that dear old lady -but in the context of her putting out the trash for our picture in question. The funny thing is that I never found out what happened to the trash. I mean this lady was like a trash ninja.

I guess in a way -away from projection- I may just simply want to find out where this trash happens to come from? I want to see a version of the little old lady who picks up trash or just plain neglect in the form of single stills or video. It should be like a nature show in which one sees flowers come to life except we would see more and more trash appear.

I also wonder what happens if someone who works the bus-route-trash service skips the shift in which the corner of Galicia and St. Augustine gets trash service.

I don't mean to push any buttons, especially since the corner of Galicia and Old St. Augustine Road could just need two trashcans instead of just the one.

Thanks,

unifiedthought

Quote from: unifiedthought on December 18, 2012, 01:22:13 AM
On that note, I think I would trade some 'super' bus stops for more buses and more punctual and frequent schedule times. One should be able to get to the bus stop or station and not have to wait more than 30 minutes. I know express bus systems along with park and rides can make more money if people could just rely on the bus to get them to and fro without subjecting them to unreliability or high wait times.

The stop at Galicia is super sized to accommodate wheel chairs, walkers and bicycles. Stops placed in front of hospital, rehabilitation or retirement facilities should always include ADA compliant access and accommodations.

No urban transit system should be altered for the purpose of "making money."  A general rule of thumb in the industry is that 25% of your operating income originates at the farebox and 75% of your cost is labor, result? You won't make money and the focus of your efforts should be in providing as many seamless rides/routes as possible. A core of the bus system representing at least one or two routes (subject to study)  in each section of the city could/should operate until midnight/2 am. 24 hour service might be feasible with the creation of a nocturnal 'hospital connector.'

Changing the system to a gridded network with 20-40 minute headways would be a great start but none of these idea's will improve ridership as long as the passengers have to deal with sitting in someone else's garbage.

Any chance JTA issues another RFP for private construction and maintenance of bus shelters?  That would pretty much eliminate most of this problem.

In general, JTA in the past has cared little about ADA or its public transit customers.  An example to look at is the arrival of newly purchased vehicles for their Community Shuttle services.  The CS's are a vital part of their current system, provided more localized services in communities that might be too large or spread out to be properly served by regular bus service.  While the CS system isn't perfect, it is still vital.  The older vehicles on this system were equipped with bike racks and the entrance had a sloped entryway for passengers with walkers and shopping carts.  The new vehicles which have been out on the road about a month do not presently have bike racks, they are on order and so anyone who uses CS service to transport their bikes is presently out of luck.  Also the new vehicles have 4 steps to climb to enter the vehicle.  I use a walker and so I either must fold my walker up and hoist it up and down the stairs myself, occasionally a driver or a passenger may offer to help, but not guaranteed, or I must ask the driver to operate the lift in the back of the vehicle for me, particularly if I'm carrying more than my usual 1 tote bag (for example if I do some light grocery shopping).  There was no lift on the older CS vehicles, just a small ramp the driver had to operate to breach the gap between the curb and the vehicle.
Also a high percentage of our regular buses have stairs to be navigated by elderly and disabled passengers.  I moved here a little over a year ago from San Diego and that region hasn't had buses with stairs in over 10 years.  The newest buses in JAX are older than the oldest buses in San Diego.  I hope things will change under Mr. Ford, but am not holding my breath

Actually you'd be wrong about the age of our equipment. The average age of the San Diego's fleet has dropped from 9.2 to 6.7 years, while the JTA bus fleet averages 6.48 years.  Jacksonville gets the gold star.

I agree that we should be looking at low floor buses with 'docking ability' (meaning the bus can follow an auto-pilot signal to bring it up only an inch from the curb) Such buses are equipped with a mechanical docking arm and guide wheel to assist with precision docking ability that allows people to board without worry over the gap between bus and bus stop platform.

Also just to let everyone know I returned to Galicia and Old St. Augustine road today and the stop has not only been picked up and the trash dumped, it appears to have been raked and given a general cleaning. Kudo's to JTA for their rapid response to this situation, take a bow boys and girls.

From our experience in dealing with JTA in the neighborhood I wouldn't be so fast to congratulate them on a job well done. Trash pickup is a contracted job with, according to JTA, a $26 per pickup per location up to X number of pickups per month. I don't remember that number X.  A number of times, members of our neighborhood association have emptied a container to prevent it looking like the one in the photo. We even have small wastebaskets attached to bus stop poles where there is no cover or seating to remind riders and others to not throw their trash on the ground. We empty those regularly. JTA signed off on our waste collection efforts.

They would not, however, allow us to put our own large waste container at a major bus stop, citing first that their contract with the entity that picks up trash gives them exclusivity and would have to be modified for the additional receptacle and more money be paid out. Plus, the city required a certain look to the receptacle shroud (as seen in the photo). We could not afford the price tag even if they allowed it.

JTA and COJ.
Golden parachutes for everyone. We just celebrate corruption.
As to trash at the last Waterways Commission meeting the worker bees when notified of a problem swarm and correct it. The stretch over in San Marco is a good recent example.
I don't pretend for a second to know the intricacies of these stops and trash pickups. Ock, that picture says it all. But it is seen throughout Jacksonville.
SHADCO- JSO
BUSCO-JTA
Ride the bus, with the clean up guy, The most frequent bus rider of that route, the bus driver, the JTA, pencil pusher and speed dialer
Results may be a more pleasant riding experience.

All of this may be true, but it should take away from the two facts in my post.

1. JTA fleet is younger then Denver's.

2. JTA immediately picked up and cleaned the stop when the trash situation was pointed out.

I realize those photos could have been anywhere in the city, but that goes far deeper then simple failure on the part of JTA or their contractor.  Many of the trash receptacle's around town belong to the COJ, those in parks and public spaces for example and as a rule, they look pretty bad. When the city or state (in the case of JTA) acts quickly and correctly to fix a problem spot we should be just as fast to give kudos as we are to condemn.

Don't

Quote from: Ralph W on December 19, 2012, 01:39:16 AM
From our experience in dealing with JTA in the neighborhood I wouldn't be so fast to congratulate them on a job well done. Trash pickup is a contracted job with, according to JTA, a $26 per pickup per location up to X number of pickups per month. I don't remember that number X.  A number of times, members of our neighborhood association have emptied a container to prevent it looking like the one in the photo. We even have small wastebaskets attached to bus stop poles where there is no cover or seating to remind riders and others to not throw their trash on the ground. We empty those regularly. JTA signed off on our waste collection efforts.

They would not, however, allow us to put our own large waste container at a major bus stop, citing first that their contract with the entity that picks up trash gives them exclusivity and would have to be modified for the additional receptacle and more money be paid out. Plus, the city required a certain look to the receptacle shroud (as seen in the photo). We could not afford the price tag even if they allowed it.

If the community would stop using the bus stop trash cans as their personal dumpster, issues like these wouldn't be a problem. You can tell by the photo that this was not a cup here and a wrapper there. There are grocery store bags of trash stuck in the container. Not really the intent of a trash can at a bus stop.

^That could just be somebody's lunch that they got to go and they ate it at the bus stop. My dinner last night came in an identical bag and it would look the same way in a trash can.  That's a massive can and a couple large dinners wouldn't cause it to overflow like that.  Clearly the can hasn't been emptied in days if not weeks.  One person misusing the can isn't to blame, it's COJ who has dropped the ball.

If you want to start posting pictures of overflowing City trashcans I would do it. I know of a few that are overflowing right now. Shame them into having adequate routine maitenance.

Now before the council, DIA/CRA in the USA, and FDOT trash spotter cameras at JTA bus stops. Emergency passage expected.

Sad to say but the camera's are probably just one more item that won't be maintained.

Quote from: Captain Zissou on December 19, 2012, 09:34:30 AM
^That could just be somebody's lunch that they got to go and they ate it at the bus stop. My dinner last night came in an identical bag and it would look the same way in a trash can.  That's a massive can and a couple large dinners wouldn't cause it to overflow like that.  Clearly the can hasn't been emptied in days if not weeks.  One person misusing the can isn't to blame, it's COJ who has dropped the ball.

You're right it's not jsut one person's trash. As Ock pointed out in his original post - this can is right next to the San Jose Manor (retirement) Apartments.

Quote from: exnewsman on December 19, 2012, 01:57:15 PM

Quote from: Captain Zissou on December 19, 2012, 09:34:30 AM
^That could just be somebody's lunch that they got to go and they ate it at the bus stop. My dinner last night came in an identical bag and it would look the same way in a trash can.  That's a massive can and a couple large dinners wouldn't cause it to overflow like that.  Clearly the can hasn't been emptied in days if not weeks.  One person misusing the can isn't to blame, it's COJ who has dropped the ball.

You're right it's not jsut one person's trash. As Ock pointed out in his original post - this can is right next to the San Jose Manor (retirement) Apartments.

So you are saying that senior citizens are leaving their self-contained environment with dozens of receptacles and countless staff to go fill up this trash can?  They use shuttles to do much of their traveling, which would drop them off at the door of the apartments, not the bus stop.  They, who have impared mobility, are venturing out over 100 yards to dispose of their trash, while bypassing a number of cans on the way.   Makes sense....

Quote from: Ralph W on December 19, 2012, 01:39:16 AM
From our experience in dealing with JTA in the neighborhood I wouldn't be so fast to congratulate them on a job well done. Trash pickup is a contracted job with, according to JTA, a $26 per pickup per location up to X number of pickups per month. I don't remember that number X.  A number of times, members of our neighborhood association have emptied a container to prevent it looking like the one in the photo. We even have small wastebaskets attached to bus stop poles where there is no cover or seating to remind riders and others to not throw their trash on the ground. We empty those regularly. JTA signed off on our waste collection efforts.

First I would like to say I was not entirely aware of trash pickup by JTA was contracted out. I just wonder why the job has to be contracted.

When I think of trash pickup for bus stops I see a truck that is driven across all the routes. It has the little light on top and everything is fine.

I don't see the truck and the guy as working for a different company than JTA.

In short all I am saying is that the job should be JTA's alone, and none of it should be contracted to any person with random interests that are obviously amounting to various problems of sub-par-service across Jacksonville for JTA.

It would be nice to see accountability for a bus stop coming directly from JTA and not the trash contractor.