Hey All!
We're excited to join the Metro Jacksonville community and share with you up-to-the-minute updates and answer any questions you have about One Spark 2015.
One Spark 2015 is one week away! Plan your One Spark experience by checking out the Creator Projects: https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/projects (https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/projects)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8737/16807850900_4c51654882.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/rBfCuL)1 week (https://flic.kr/p/rBfCuL) by onesparkmmvolunteers (https://www.flickr.com/people/121929144@N05/), on Flickr
The One Spark app for 2015 launched today! The app will complement your One Spark experience by making it easy to check the full schedule, find what you're looking for on the festival map, and, most importantly, contribute to and vote for your favorite creator projects! Download it today (of if you downloaded it last year, download the update), creator or login to your account, and start bookmarking your favorite projects. Let us know if you find any bugs!
To download the One Spark app download, visit:
• One Spark app in Apple's App Store: http://apple.co/19FKlih (http://apple.co/19FKlih)
• One Spark app in Android's Play Store: http://bit.ly/1IR9hja (http://bit.ly/1IR9hja)
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8729/16815963699_8325ca7277.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/rBYd9B)app (https://flic.kr/p/rBYd9B) by onesparkmmvolunteers (https://www.flickr.com/people/121929144@N05/), on Flickr
Awesome, me and my pals will be down there. I hope the app is better than last year, the app was pretty much unusable. And while the support people were friendly they couldn't get it to work either. I ended up using my phones browser.
Looking forward to this though. If you haven't been I would strongly suggest you go, there's so much to do, see and eat, it's a great time!
Thanks! We did a huge overhaul of the app this year, check out our blog to read more about the improvements to the app: https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/blog/2015-one-spark-app (https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/blog/2015-one-spark-app)
Also, please download it and let us know if you find any bugs!
Looking forward to all updates on MJ from you all. I'm will be there every day but will keep up on other things I miss. I've downloaded app. Thanks, all!
Thank you!
There are 555 projects entered into One Spark 2015, check 'em out before you arrive at the festival: http://bit.ly/1M3EFee (http://bit.ly/1M3EFee)
The question we get the most - where do I park downtown? Now I know most of the folks in this forum frequent downtown, but for those that don't, here's all the info on parking and transportation for One Spark 2015: http://bit.ly/1NccnyH (http://bit.ly/1NccnyH)
Join us for the One Spark Opening Ceremony tomorrow night, 6pm at Hemming Park, followed by and Echosmith and Mates of State free concert!
(https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8794/16438768244_319870cbfe.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/r3CZ5G)tomorrow (https://flic.kr/p/r3CZ5G) by onesparkmmvolunteers (https://www.flickr.com/people/121929144@N05/), on Flickr
Can't wait to see Mates of State in Hemming Park. How was that not pumped up a LOT more? That's a good get for a free show downtown. All of my 30 - 35 year old hipster friends (who comprise MoS following) had no clue. Step that promotion game up :)
Quote from: Murder_me_Rachel on April 07, 2015, 09:57:59 AM
Quote from: InnerCityPressure on April 06, 2015, 11:33:18 PM
Can't wait to see Mates of State in Hemming Park. How was that not pumped up a LOT more? That's a good get for a free show downtown. All of my 30 - 35 year old hipster friends (who comprise MoS following) had no clue. Step that promotion game up :)
This definitely would be exciting news if it was 2003.
Haha. I agree that they are not "top of the pops" right now, but they are still a national act that usually skips towns like Jax. They still sold out 2 nights in a row at 9:30 club in DC in 2009, so, dated, but not like bringing in the surviving members of Sublime or something. The point remains - they could draw a bigger crowd if the niche group of 30 somethings (who were 20 in 2003) were aware. And it's free, so this is not like the conversation about the expensive music festival that we had a few months ago.
Quote from: Murder_me_Rachel on April 07, 2015, 09:57:59 AM
Quote from: InnerCityPressure on April 06, 2015, 11:33:18 PM
Can't wait to see Mates of State in Hemming Park. How was that not pumped up a LOT more? That's a good get for a free show downtown. All of my 30 - 35 year old hipster friends (who comprise MoS following) had no clue. Step that promotion game up :)
This definitely would be exciting news if it was 2003.
Echosmith is super relevant at the moment, so bringing an established band to bring out the 30 somethings was a good idea IMO.
Quote from: Murder_me_Rachel on April 07, 2015, 09:57:59 AM
Quote from: InnerCityPressure on April 06, 2015, 11:33:18 PM
Can't wait to see Mates of State in Hemming Park. How was that not pumped up a LOT more? That's a good get for a free show downtown. All of my 30 - 35 year old hipster friends (who comprise MoS following) had no clue. Step that promotion game up :)
This definitely would be exciting news if it was 2003.
Come on now. Mates of State aren't that dated. The height of their relevance was probably more between 06-09.
Its a good free show for Jax. Might even get me to stay out late on a work night.
Quote from: Murder_me_Rachel on April 07, 2015, 02:05:19 PM
Quote from: CityLife on April 07, 2015, 10:25:46 AM
Quote from: Murder_me_Rachel on April 07, 2015, 09:57:59 AM
Quote from: InnerCityPressure on April 06, 2015, 11:33:18 PM
Can't wait to see Mates of State in Hemming Park. How was that not pumped up a LOT more? That's a good get for a free show downtown. All of my 30 - 35 year old hipster friends (who comprise MoS following) had no clue. Step that promotion game up :)
This definitely would be exciting news if it was 2003.
Come on now. Mates of State aren't that dated. The height of their relevance was probably more between 06-09.
Its a good free show for Jax. Might even get me to stay out late on a work night.
Hey, if that's your thing, go for it and enjoy it. Personally, doesn't do it for me.
Its not "my thing". I've seen Mates of State for free once already and wouldn't have them anywhere near my top 50 bands of the 2000's. They are still decent enough to get me to consider hanging out there tonight. I was merely pointing out that they have been somewhat relevant after 2003.
I just downloaded the app. Pretty cool and easy reference space.
Includes schedule of events. List every creator. And, Map.
It seems like it is easier to navigate this year. I'm not about to throw my phone at the wall.
Still...
I'm having a difficult time understanding how to vote for a contributor.
Never mind...
QuoteHere are the key details you need to know for voting at One Spark
You must be present at One Spark in order to vote for Creator Projects.
You must have a registered voter account at onespark.com
Voters must check-in at the festival after Voting live either by using the One Spark app or by going to an Information & Voting Kiosk
Voting will go live at 11am on April 8, 2015.
https://onespark.com/festival/2015/participate-voter (https://onespark.com/festival/2015/participate-voter)
Maybe list that explanation in the app or mention why voting won't work from my kitchen table. Otherwise, I was going to assume something was broken and probably wouldn't try to vote at the event based on my kitchen table experience.
You said it well, Stephen.
As Damian mentioned, most people at the festival are relaxed and seem to know what it's all about. Besides the ones that are just down here for the energy, people are enjoying the music, the sights and mingling with creators.
I'm interested to see how the crowd makeup changes throughout the day/week. What do you expect?
(https://ignitemediajax.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/img_9067-1.jpg)
(https://ignitemediajax.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/img_9060-1.jpg)
Here's the Hamburger Mary's crew in Hemming Park this afternoon after they danced their hearts out on the small wood stage next to Vagabond Coffee. They will be performing a series of Drag Queen shows downtown for the week of One Spark. Karissa Wade (bottom), known as Jacksonville's queen of cabaret and comedy, is the title performer.
Photo credit: Frances Hanold
Here are the infamous body sock people:
(https://ignitemediajax.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/good-suit.jpg)
They are One Spark creators whose project is Flip Our Class, creator No. 21870 (https://onespark.com/festival/2015/projects/flip-our-class-be5ed357-544e-43b0-a507-8f19ba2b6b19). They are trying to raise funding to help teachers integrate technology into classroom instruction.
(https://ignitemediajax.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/20150408_180747_resized.jpg)
(https://ignitemediajax.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/20150408_180512_resized_1.jpg)
(https://ignitemediajax.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/20150408_181132_resized_1.jpg)
Should there be more efforts to get art in public places in Jacksonville? How should it be done?
One of the most enchanting parts of One Spark is all the public art that floods into downtown.
Seen today:
- Students of the enlivening spaces class at UNF created an 8-foot tall mixed media sculpture, Spark Attack!, creator No. 22000. Art activist Wayne Wood commissioned the piece (https://onespark.com/festival/2015/projects/spark-attacj).
It'll be floating in Hemming Park for the remainder of the festival, but will then swim elsewhere. Hundreds of photos have been taken of the sculpture in Hemming Park already.
-Yarn Bomb Jax, creator No. 21863, decorated Hemming Park with knitted graffiti (https://onespark.com/festival/2015/projects/the-yarn-bomb).
- Ronald Schroeder, inventor of his creator project Mechanicus Pygoscelis, No. 22161, showcased his big wheel bike and mechanical penguin on Laura Street (https://onespark.com/festival/2015/projects/mechanicus-pygoscellis-mac).
Photo credit: Amanda Dawson
The shark ate the goldfish. RIP goldfish. :( :'(
The goldfish lived to swim another day by the UNF Library.
(http://scontent-b.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/s306x306/e15/10899481_880137808702966_538814706_n.jpg)
Thanks for the info Taca.
Checked it out for a few hours last night, really, really impressed the amount of work they've put into Hemming thus far. Lots of good/positive energy, which sadly, always leaves me thinking "what if".
Anyone notice there's no real "living art pieces" like there were last year. Remember the funky space man with lights, the dude in tights hanging upside down, the "living statue" near the Landing?
Its still neat, just wish there were more weird & funky pieces like before.
(http://i.imgur.com/czSGVau.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/tKKdlLy.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/svyjxSQ.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/xahBVhU.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/D7d56jj.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/1UUpNm4.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/nnkjcKn.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/QhUDgqq.jpg)
Peestandingup,
Do you have any pictures of the living art from last year? Would love to see them.
Does anyone know why they scheduled so much construction to happen the week of One Spark? Lots of roads are already blocked for the festival, and it seems most of the others are blocked for construction.
Quote from: IgniteMedia on April 09, 2015, 01:32:23 PM
Peestandingup,
Do you have any pictures of the living art from last year? Would love to see them.
Sure! Here ya go: http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,21260.msg372171.html#msg372171
Quote from: stephendare on April 09, 2015, 02:11:25 PM
Quote from: IgniteMedia on April 09, 2015, 02:04:25 PM
Does anyone know why they scheduled so much construction to happen the week of One Spark? Lots of roads are already blocked for the festival, and it seems most of the others are blocked for construction.
Its piss poor coordination, Ignite Media.
Part of the problem is that downtown is carved out as a special section of the city and it had its own traffic engineer for many years. That person retired a few years back and his job was split between two other guys in two other agencies.
About a year ago, both those guys retired.
So now there is not a person who looks at these plans and goes: "Hey!! this is going to be a real German Goat Hump!"
You'd think addressing an issue like that would be top of the list. Any sign of improvements?
Quote from: Downtown Osprey on April 09, 2015, 09:57:00 AM
Checked it out for a few hours last night, really, really impressed the amount of work they've put into Hemming thus far. Lots of good/positive energy, which sadly, always leaves me thinking "what if".
What "what if's" do you have in mind? Anything you'd particularly like to see changed or added?
Quote from: stephendare on April 09, 2015, 02:11:25 PM
Part of the problem is that downtown is carved out as a special section of the city and it had its own traffic engineer for many years. That person retired a few years back and his job was split between two other guys in two other agencies.
About a year ago, both those guys retired.
So now there is not a person who looks at these plans and goes: "Hey!! this is going to be a real German Goat Hump!"
actually the City recently did hire a new traffic engineer....first time we have had one in something like 7 years.
That said, he's only been in town for a few months....and much of the construction is FDOT.
In case you are interested, I posted an article about the beers of One Spark to my blog. Check it out.
https://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/beer-plentiful-at-one-spark-2015/ (https://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/beer-plentiful-at-one-spark-2015/)
(https://sprbrewcrew.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/one_spark_beer.jpg)
We love seeing all the awesome pictures! And for parking & transportation issues, we have tons of info at https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/experience-transportation-and-parking (https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/experience-transportation-and-parking)
TWO MORE DAYS OF ONE SPARK! Don't forget to contribute to and vote for the Creator Projects that inspire you!
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7584/16459645174_f8295d61af.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/r5tZ4L)Screenshot 2015-04-08 17.58.50 (https://flic.kr/p/r5tZ4L) by onesparkmmvolunteers (https://www.flickr.com/people/121929144@N05/), on Flickr
Just got back from OneSpark, I have to say what a great festival. I also agree it's much more organized than last year and the app is much improved.
The streets are buzzing with people and there's also a sense of safety. All and all a great time.
I agree too that without the skyway it would be a nightmare. If only the skyway would extend its regular hours to something more reasonable, especially on the weekends and art walk.
Good job to everyone involved. OneSpark seems to be getting better each year!
Quote from: Gonzo on April 10, 2015, 01:16:12 PM
In case you are interested, I posted an article about the beers of One Spark to my blog. Check it out.
https://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/beer-plentiful-at-one-spark-2015/ (https://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/beer-plentiful-at-one-spark-2015/)
Sorry but not sure how in the blog post, you can say "beer was plentiful at One Spark"... The beer garden had one booth and there were only 3 selections - two Intuition pours that I've never heard of and Angry Orchard. I was not super impressed with the beer offerings for a city that is known for having tons of breweries.
Beer was available at many locations outside of the beer garden. Even sweet Petes had beer for sale in the lot next door, including bold city.
Quote from: marty904 on April 11, 2015, 09:58:01 PM
Quote from: Gonzo on April 10, 2015, 01:16:12 PM
In case you are interested, I posted an article about the beers of One Spark to my blog. Check it out.
https://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/beer-plentiful-at-one-spark-2015/ (https://sprbrewcrew.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/beer-plentiful-at-one-spark-2015/)
Sorry but not sure how in the blog post, you can say "beer was plentiful at One Spark"... The beer garden had one booth and there were only 3 selections - two Intuition pours that I've never heard of and Angry Orchard. I was not super impressed with the beer offerings for a city that is known for having tons of breweries.
Hey Marty - We have two Beer Gardens - one has our Intuition brews and the other has a larger selection. The one with the larger selection is at the end of Hogan Street next to the river. Enjoy!
One Spark Update:
Over 295,500 people have attended the festival to date. Wow! Thanks for all who came out and supported. Contributing and voting goes until 3 pm, so please take a minute and make a contribution to a project that inspires you! https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/projects (https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/projects)
Here's our statistics from One Spark 2015: https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/blog/one-spark-2015-statistics (https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/blog/one-spark-2015-statistics)
We also announced our Juried Award finalists today and they're pitching on the Hemming Park stage until 4:30 p.m.: https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/blog/one-spark-2015-juried-award-finalists (https://www.onespark.com/festival/2015/blog/one-spark-2015-juried-award-finalists)
Join us for the Closing Ceremony at our Main Stage in Hemming Park at 5 p.m. today!
(https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7584/16459645174_f8295d61af.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/r5tZ4L)Screenshot 2015-04-08 17.58.50 (https://flic.kr/p/r5tZ4L) by onesparkmmvolunteers (https://www.flickr.com/people/121929144@N05/), on Flickr
Wow pretty crazy, JTA had to shut down the Jefferson platform due to over crowding:
http://status.onespark.com/
Is that 295k unique visitors? If so, impressive.
Quote from: acme54321 on April 12, 2015, 06:16:40 PM
Is that 295k unique visitors? If so, impressive.
We had this discussion last year. Not unique, but total. No real way for a free festival to determine unique visitors. Count is really no different than any multi day festival that is free.
Check ins or votes from unique visitors would be interesting to see.
Textbook Boomerang wants a recount.
Quote from: coredumped on April 12, 2015, 02:37:25 PM
Wow pretty crazy, JTA had to shut down the Jefferson platform due to over crowding:
http://status.onespark.com/
It's very hard to get on the train at Jefferson, given that the Skyway's Northbank leg is a basically an 'express train' full of people from the Convention Center to Hemming stations' during One Spark. During the peaks, a very small amount of people can get on at Jefferson and Central.
Quote from: edjax on April 12, 2015, 07:41:41 PM
Quote from: acme54321 on April 12, 2015, 06:16:40 PM
Is that 295k unique visitors? If so, impressive.
We had this discussion last year. Not unique, but total. No real way for a free festival to determine unique visitors. Count is really no different than any multi day festival that is free.
I know. How do they determine the number of visitors per day to begin with? One thing that would be easy to see would be check ins or total number of voting apps that were downloaded.
Quote from: I-10east on April 13, 2015, 12:01:47 AM
Quote from: coredumped on April 12, 2015, 02:37:25 PM
Wow pretty crazy, JTA had to shut down the Jefferson platform due to over crowding:
http://status.onespark.com/
It's very hard to get on the train at Jefferson, given the the Skyway's Northbank leg is a basically an 'express train' full of people from the Convention Center to Hemming stations' during One Spark. During the peaks, a very small amount of people can get on at Jefferson and Central.
Not happy how this station was handled at all. We went on Saturday and tried to board from the Jefferson station and watched three trains stop from convention center packed full with no room. Finally, we decided to catch space on a train heading to convention and just ride it back. When we get to Convention and the JTA worker sees that we aren't getting up to leave, he proceeds to lecture us on how the trains are supposed to be empty so they can load a full load of people. We told him there is literally no way to load from Jefferson and he tells us we are not being fair to the people waiting at Convention. Made me so angry. We refused to get up so there wasn't much he could do.
Not sure if in the future maybe an express train can run from convention to central and maybe a train just go back and forth from Jefferson to Central. Something needed to be done though.
The Skyway isn't a good system to handle big crowds. You can't add express trains and extra cars like you can do with more commonly used fixed transit modes. That's why some believe it would be a waste to expand it to the Sports District.
Couldn't the cars be expanded / enlarged? I noticed that all of the stations have extra boarding zones that are blocked off / bolted shut. I feel like the capacity is there, the cars are just too small to fully utilize the system. I'll try to post pictures later if anyone's unsure what I'm talking about.
Quote from: thelakelander on April 13, 2015, 09:24:33 AM
The Skyway isn't a good system to handle big crowds. You can't add express trains and extra cars like you can do with more commonly used fixed transit modes. That's why some believe it would be a waste to expand it to the Sports District.
But didn't the original plan include room for more cars? The platforms certainly are big enough. Is it just a matter of buying the mid-cars and putting them on the tracks?
A bit more on-topic: congrats to all the OneSpark winners!
Quote from: thelakelander on April 13, 2015, 09:24:33 AM
The Skyway isn't a good system to handle big crowds. You can't add express trains and extra cars like you can do with more commonly used fixed transit modes. That's why some believe it would be a waste to expand it to the Sports District.
Just curious why you can't do express cars? To me it would seem to be a programming change that just tells the train to avoid a certain station and re routes the train ? Train leaves Convention packed, bypasses Jefferson and stops at Central. It then goes back to Jefferson, picks up crowd, and deposits them at Central and then goes back to Convention and repeats process. Would it add a bit more time between the waits ? Possibly, but it would be fair to all stations.
JTA Announced that they would shut down Jefferson on the weekends. Not sure how well that was communicated or executed though.
Regardless, if the Skyway regularly had anywhere near this many people on it, the thing would function differently. It would make a lot more sense to order to two middle cars for each train, which would increase capacity dramatically.
Quote from: Dapperdan on April 13, 2015, 10:03:56 AM
Quote from: thelakelander on April 13, 2015, 09:24:33 AM
The Skyway isn't a good system to handle big crowds. You can't add express trains and extra cars like you can do with more commonly used fixed transit modes. That's why some believe it would be a waste to expand it to the Sports District.
Just curious why you can't do express cars? To me it would seem to be a programming change that just tells the train to avoid a certain station and re routes the train ? Train leaves Convention packed, bypasses Jefferson and stops at Central. It then goes back to Jefferson, picks up crowd, and deposits them at Central and then goes back to Convention and repeats process. Would it add a bit more time between the waits ? Possibly, but it would be fair to all stations.
Not sure how you could regularly do that and keep up the timing. The entire system is 2.5 miles and automated, so it's based simply on timing of all of the cars in conjunction with each other. If you stuck an express train in the middle of two regular trains it then it would blow the timing of everything.
With a real transit system, there is typically a third track that would allow one train to pass another. Generally, local stops have external platforms (as opposed to a center platform that the Skyway uses) with three tracks, the middle one(s) being express track for passing. Also a lot easier to do this with a driver than to make it automated.
Quote from: thelakelander on April 13, 2015, 09:24:33 AM
The Skyway isn't a good system to handle big crowds. You can't add express trains and extra cars like you can do with more commonly used fixed transit modes. That's why some believe it would be a waste to expand it to the Sports District.
You could do it, but you'd likely have to effectively mothball all of the middle stations for an hour or so and just skip them (or not allow boarding at them).
It's not a one track system. It has two on each side plus it has little pull off points here and there .
Quote from: Dapperdan on April 13, 2015, 10:35:02 AM
It's not a one track system. It has two on each side plus it has little pull off points here and there .
Not really. It has places where the trains can switch tracks, but that isn't really a passing siding (plus if you ever watch how slow that is for them to do it, it's not sustainable in typical flow.
A typical transit method has places that have more than two tracks that can serve for true passing.
By the time one spends the millions to add cars no one else has, extra track for express trains, etc., they'd be better off retrofitting the entire thing to a different mode...that comes with the extra capacity and opportunity to expand into adjacent neighborhoods.
Quote from: Steve on April 13, 2015, 10:49:31 AM
Quote from: Dapperdan on April 13, 2015, 10:35:02 AM
It's not a one track system. It has two on each side plus it has little pull off points here and there .
Not really. It has places where the trains can switch tracks, but that isn't really a passing siding (plus if you ever watch how slow that is for them to do it, it's not sustainable in typical flow.
A typical transit method has places that have more than two tracks that can serve for true passing.
Pretty much, something like this, where the express trains can run on the middle tracks and not stop at local stations:
(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/Learning-From/New-York-City-March-2015/i-VcndVsc/0/L/DSCF5234-L.jpg)
With that said, it wil be a long time before the Skyway "needs" express trains.
^See Steve's comment above.
the way they were running them was a bit dangerous in my opinion. They were so crammed that not everyone had something to hold onto and if you have been on them, you know when they hit those turns there is a jerking motion that made several people stumble and almost fall. I know it is counter intuitive, but I almost feel like they should have had bus trollleys running from station to station as well.
Quote from: Dapperdan on April 13, 2015, 01:20:34 PM
the way they were running them was a bit dangerous in my opinion. They were so crammed that not everyone had something to hold onto and if you have been on them, you know when they hit those turns there is a jerking motion that made several people stumble and almost fall. I know it is counter intuitive, but I almost feel like they should have had bus trollleys running from station to station as well.
There were indeed trolleys running to supplement the Skyway's capacity issues.
Quote from: Dapperdan on April 13, 2015, 10:35:02 AM
It's not a one track system. It has two on each side plus it has little pull off points here and there .
It's only one track per side. (http://jacksonville.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/lead_photo_wide/editorial/images/images/mdControlled/cms/2010/09/05/704703331.jpg)
I was talking to some people at Downtown Vision and apparently the current system was designed by Bombardier Transportation who does not make any of the models that we have anymore. It doesn't matter whether or not we need extra cars or a new rail because either way we can't get them since they're not produced . Which goes into the idea that expansions would be pointless if the current system doesn't go through a complete reconstruction with a new system design that costs less to run and uses less resources to make. Which is what I believe should be done.
Perhaps a moderate redesign to utilize a different type of rail car, coupled with transitions to ground level at the current "end of the line". Then, we would have a more flexible, easily expandable, service. This would obviate the need to demolish or completely redesign the existing system. Just thinking out loud here.
This was brought up once before. I thought they could add extra cars?
They can only add a middle section. Bombardier would have to make them special for JTA. It would cost millions...that's why looking at retrofitting the system, allowing it to be easily extended at grade to the surrounding neighborhoods would be much more beneficial.
as noted previously elsewhere on this site, JTA is currently studying long-term viability of the Skyway and potential for reconfiguration of the system and/or its infrastructure. Initial findings should be out in the next few months.
Interesting in that the most discussed topic of One Spark is the Skyway.
I will have to go back and look, but I think the Skyway was only #2 last year in topic length post One Spark.
Quote from: Houseboat Mike on April 13, 2015, 04:42:54 PM
Quote from: Dapperdan on April 13, 2015, 10:35:02 AM
It's not a one track system. It has two on each side plus it has little pull off points here and there .
It's only one track per side. (http://jacksonville.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/lead_photo_wide/editorial/images/images/mdControlled/cms/2010/09/05/704703331.jpg)
Doesn't matter. One side can be express and one side can be normal stops. It has been done in the past.