JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA – March 17, 2014 – Blueprint 2020 is the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's (JTA) five-year strategic plan to implement select initiatives designed to immediately enhance the economic viability of greater Jacksonville. Included in this plan, the JTA is conducting a Route Optimization Initiative to completely redesign the Authority's fixed route bus and community shuttle services. The goals for this initiative include:
• Providing more direct service
• Improving bus frequency
• Increasing bus stop amenities
• Extending hours of operation
"This Initiative will optimize our transit routes to make them more frequent and direct," says Brad Thoburn, Vice President of JTA Long Range Planning. "Route Optimization will also improve bus hours of operation on key corridors, provide express service to park-n-ride facilities, align routes with the First Coast Flyer (BRT), and make the overall system simpler and easier to use."
For the first time in 30 years, the JTA will evaluate the entire system to provide better mobility and enhanced customer service. In order to obtain greater customer feedback in the route optimization, the JTA is holding a series of public meetings in each community corridor, to share the proposal and service enhancements. The public is strongly encouraged to attend to review the proposal and provide input.
Route Optimization meeting dates and locations for March 2014 are:
Southeast
March 18, 2014
St. Vincent's Hospital
4201 Belfort Road, Main Hospital
Auditorium C
Jacksonville, FL 32216
Northwest
March 19, 2014
Legends Center
5130 Soutel Drive
Jacksonville, FL 32208
North
March 20, 2014
Oceanway Senior Center
Multi-purpose Room
12215 Sago Avenue
Jacksonville, FL 32218
Southwest *
March 24, 2014
FSCJ Kent Campus
3939 Roosevelt Blvd
Room E-112
Jacksonville, FL 32205
* This meeting will be merged with the rescheduled Southwest CAG.
Greater Arlington/Beaches
March 25, 2014
Jacksonville Beach City Hall
11 3rd Street North
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
Open House style meetings are held between 6-7:30 p.m.
For additional information about our Route Optimization Initiative please visit www.jtafla.com or contact JTA's Senior Manager of System Planning, Carl Weckenmann at cweckenmann@jtafla.com or 904.633.8510.
It is probably a great thing for them to look at improving their routes and schedules but it is exactly why buses and BRT do not encourage private investment in the areas they serve. Why invest around something that can change.
Very true but if their enhanced bus service is going to work at all, and if they ever want to build (REAL) BRT, they are going to have to make this leap. This is going to be quite painful to some, hopefully a big blessing to many others. We'll have to take a wait and see attitude.
There are now some tools to judge the system by, you'll be seeing more about this in a upcoming article.
You really need to review the route changes. Some of them are completely non-sensical. Places that only used to require two buses will now require four. And they are no longer going into the neighborhoods where they will be most needed. Trip frequency in some areas are increasing from 30 minutes to 75 minutes. Makes absolutely no sense. In addition for those riders who will need to transfer several times now to reach their final destinations, JTA does not offer free transfers. So a typical 2 bus trip costing three dollars one way will now double. Many people who ride these buses are on a tight budget already, and doubling their expense and decreasing service will only lead to people losing their jobs, and a decrease in ridership.
For example, the re-routing of the X4 Orange Park Express. It suffered a deline in ridership by almost 75% because they eliminated service to Wells Road, and Blanding. Their idea is that people will drive their cars to the Blackcreek park and ride, then take the bus, which runs three times in the morning and three times at night, is not in the best interest of your normal commuter. The buses need to go where the people who need them the most, and get them from their residences to where the jobs are, namely Southside, Northside and Downtown. The Westside is where buses need to run more frequent, as that area has now fallen upon hard times due to the lack of job growth there precipitated by the Navy shutting down Cecil Field. The jobs just aren't there, and communters are heading to the Southside for office jobs, and less skilled labos to the Northside for warehouse jobs.
JTA fails to address. This everytime they change the schedules and routes they do not look at the impact of one change that affects commuters across the board.
I challenge the board and transit planners of the JTA to actually ride the routes they set up, and get feedback from the riders on board. Having meetings which do not conflict with people's work schedules would be step in the right direction as well. I wanted to give me feedback, but could not because due to the buses I take, I would arrive late to the meeting by almost an hour. And that was leaving from work two hours early.
^^Very good points. Obviously they should never assume people can just hop in their cars and drive to a certain pickup point. The whole purpose of offering bus service is a door-to-door concept.
Also good idea that they should ride on and interview the people using their buses. I would hope they do this in some form already.