JTA wants to possibly extend the Skyway...
QuoteBy Max Marbut, Staff Writer
Jacksonville's automated, elevated monorail system marked its 25th anniversary Tuesday with JTA officials offering a look back – and a look ahead.
Nathaniel Ford, CEO of JTA, said the authority has commissioned a study of the Skyway's future, both in terms of maintaining the service in its present state and looking toward the future, including extending the routes and possibly upgrading the 25-year-old technology.
"We want to keep the existing system in good repair and we want to examine the cost to expand the technology throughout the urban core," he said.
full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=543101
A bit off topic, but I didn't know we had a different skyway back in the day. Picture from the article:
(http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/slideshow_image_sizer.php?img=storyimages/1401897136OldSkyway3.jpg)
what happened to the old "boxy" design in this photo?
Yeah. That's a part of the reason why they Skyway ended up costing just as much as heavy rail to build. The technology was changed.
Quotewhat happened to the old "boxy" design in this photo?
I believe some of the old cars were at one time being used in one of the Chicago airports.
^I think they still are. At least they look pretty much the same.
I support limited Skyway expansion to:
Forrest Street in Brooklyn - Though I prefer recycled stations at Fire Station 5 and Annie Lytle
UF Health, provided it serves the Health Dept and VA.
San Marco, provided it gets over the FEC RY and includes access to Baptist/Aetna without playing frogger.
The Eastside/Fairfield Sports District and A.P. Randolph.
Farm Market/Woodstock - 'As if that would ever happen....'
Streetcar appears to be dead again, 34 years and counting... remember my words, 'RAIL is a 4-letter word in Jacksonville.'
Quote from: fieldafm on June 05, 2014, 11:33:26 AM
Quotewhat happened to the old "boxy" design in this photo?
I believe some of the old cars were at one time being used in one of the Chicago airports.
ORD:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airport_Transit_System#Fleet
QuoteThe airport originally obtained 13 256-type cars to be used in the system, and two additional cars later were purchased from Jacksonville, Florida's JTA Skyway after the Jacksonville Transportation Authority decided to switch to a more cost-effective technology. Out of the system's 15 cars, only 12 of them are utilized at the moment, with three held in reserve.
The JBJ's Editor-in-Chief's position regarding the Skyway ???:
QuoteEditor's Notebook: We've all been taken for a ride on the Skyway
Mayor Alvin Brown, not one known to shy away from a press conference, didn't show up as advertised. Neither did Congresswoman Corrine Brown, herself no wallflower.
Smart move. For a politician, attending a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Jacksonville Skyway Express is like showing up for a photo-op with Justin Blackmon – nothing good is going to come out of it.
The Skyway Express, a.k.a. the Automated Riderless Express, a.k.a. SKYTREC, a.k.a. the People Mover, was, and still is, the biggest boondoggle in Jacksonville's history. Somewhere around $200 million has been spent on this mono-mistake, much of that in 1980's dollars, which, adjusted for inflation, probably gets you past the final price tag of the Duval County Courthouse, a.k.a. the Taj Duval.
full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/06/04/editors-notebook-weve-all-been-taken-for-a-ride-on.html
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CRITICAL%20Maps/ScreenShot2014-06-05at114519AM_zps41c52dc0.png)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CRITICAL%20Maps/ScreenShot2014-06-05at114356AM_zpse94ef6fd.png)
Orange color lines represent a much higher level of BRT then what we currently plan; which isn't BRT at all by the,
'BRT Standard 1.0'
Those cars BTW were trouble prone, at that time the Morgantown WV people mover was having a failure rate of about 65%. This is why Detroit went with a rail system for there's and we changed to monorail.
As for costs the monorail on a single beam, without the 'bathtub' they put it in, is both quiet and much cheaper then the current system. However when the system was built, based on the San Diego price tag, we could have built 15 miles of state-of-the-art Light Rail. My point is if we MUST continue to jump off this cliff, then at least make the system viable.
How far would you take BRT north up Kings Road and west on Post Street?
Quote from: thelakelander on June 05, 2014, 12:25:27 PM
The JBJ's Editor-in-Chief's position regarding the Skyway ???:
QuoteEditor's Notebook: We've all been taken for a ride on the Skyway
Mayor Alvin Brown, not one known to shy away from a press conference, didn't show up as advertised. Neither did Congresswoman Corrine Brown, herself no wallflower.
Smart move. For a politician, attending a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Jacksonville Skyway Express is like showing up for a photo-op with Justin Blackmon – nothing good is going to come out of it.
The Skyway Express, a.k.a. the Automated Riderless Express, a.k.a. SKYTREC, a.k.a. the People Mover, was, and still is, the biggest boondoggle in Jacksonville's history. Somewhere around $200 million has been spent on this mono-mistake, much of that in 1980's dollars, which, adjusted for inflation, probably gets you past the final price tag of the Duval County Courthouse, a.k.a. the Taj Duval.
full article: http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/06/04/editors-notebook-weve-all-been-taken-for-a-ride-on.html
Basically, his argument is: "People have said all along that the Skyway should be expanded for it to become useful. Well, it's never become useful by magic voodoo, so we shouldn't listen to real ways to improve it either."
On the upside, this may be the one local news article where the comments section is worth reading.
How nice, another study.
Quote from: thelakelander on June 05, 2014, 12:58:37 PM
How far would you take BRT north up Kings Road and west on Post Street?
Here's a progression of the map.
Keep in mind that red is simply 'basic BRT' by international standard (not JTA/FDOT standards) in other words they would need some style, queue jumpers, real time information, ticket vending, docking, etc... A bit over what JTA has currently planned. Also this could be the build-out with the lines opening in stages, for example if we did full blown gold BRT on the Arlington Expressway and JTB it should be fairly easy to pull off, center lanes, exclusive busways, stations at overpasses onto center platforms. I would NOT attempt to carry this type of system beyond the current expressways that have the potential for improvement anyhow. You can also see how Post Street sets up a possible line into Cecil, Middleburg, or northward into the industrial core at Cassat/Edgewood. I like this much better then Park Street. I also separates the lines better in Riverside. Kings would go to Edward Waters, then out to Edgewood as it grew up. That northern route would use Pearl Street through Brentwood as it is both wider and has more businesses (historic streetcar route).
The core entries from the south would be the same way:
Skyway = Riverside
BRT = Park (through Brooklyn)
Streetcar = Myrtle (this sets up a Durkeeville extension that could be very popular.
Ditto on the streetcar, I'd start with the 2030 plan and phase in the cross town, '7 line' etc as the urban core expanded around better transit.
Skyway would also be phased, San Marco, Stadium, UF, North Riverside, Farm Mkt/Woodstock
The Gainesville spur should be an immediate study, RDC type service, perhaps twice daily and weekends with an inbound Friday-Saturday and outbound Saturday-Sunday/Holidays. This line based on current track speed is good for a 2 hour trip = to the current Greyhound run. This ties two large metro's and can stand with both JTA and RTS as champions. Contracted service with a company like Iowa Pacific would bring it in below Amtrak prices.
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CRITICAL%20Maps/ScreenShot2014-06-05at11700PM_zps07a515c4.png)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CRITICAL%20Maps/ScreenShot2014-06-05at11619PM_zpsc37420c6.png)
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa111/Ocklawaha/CRITICAL%20Maps/ScreenShot2014-06-05at11602PM_zps285f97ea.png)