Metro Jacksonville

Misery loves company :'(

QuotePhoenix launches rail system Atlanta covets
Ga.’s lag in mass transit hinders growth, metro civic leaders say

By Ariel Hart

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Thursday, January 01, 2009

Phoenix â€"- A train seems about as normal as a water buffalo on Phoenix’s Central Avenue, but here one comes, gliding along what used to be the center lane. Excited would-be passengers chatter under an artsy awning as it approaches their platform. The word “Disneyland” keeps popping up â€"- the train’s sleek shape prompts thoughts of Tomorrowland.

As of this week, Phoenix has light rail, and metro Atlanta mass transit boosters are jealous.

“I continue to be frustrated that we can’t seem to move in that direction,” said Sam Olens, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Cobb County commission. “We’re losing our competitive advantage.”

Two years ago, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce invited reporters to hear officials from Phoenix and other cities talk about their new transportation initiatives. The message was clear: Atlanta and Georgia could be left in the dust.

On Wednesday, Sam Williams, president of the chamber, said in a statement that “cities that have made transportation a priority, like Phoenix, Dallas and Charlotte, continue to leapfrog Atlanta with respect to regional mobility. … While these areas make progress, we seem choked in congestion with little leadership to get us out.”

As another legislative session begins, Atlanta remains the second-most-congested urban area in the nation. The Georgia Legislature has tried and failed to pass a transportation funding measure and is preparing for another go in the 2009 session.

Olens said plum employers with skilled jobs are slipping away. “In the last two years, I’ve had two major corporations tell me they would not move their headquarters to the Cobb Galleria area because all we had are buses,” Olens said this week.

Rail transit opponents in Georgia agree that congestion must be addressed. But they say rail isn’t an effective way to do it, especially in a spread-out area like Atlanta.

Both Phoenix and Charlotte got nearly half of their rail money from federal funds. City and special regional taxes paid the rest of the $1.4 billion cost of the line that runs 20 miles through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.

Phoenix, like Atlanta, is a sprawling collection of communities. Life without a car there is challenging.

While the Phoenix line met its share of controversy in getting approved, this week that seemed forgotten for many of the 150,000 to 200,000 who tried it out for free on its grand opening.

Families and groups of friends crowded station stops to gawk and ride between public parties and pub crawls.

On train platforms, local businesses passed out coupons and fliers.

There was at least one protest sign â€"- complaining that the last train would run three hours before bars’ 2 a.m. last call.

Outside a standing-room-only train car Saturday morning, Central Avenue was nearly deserted. Tracks sit flush with the street, and trains travel alongside car traffic.

They stop at red lights, although they can sometimes make them go green.

The fun will subside today when the line starts charging â€"- $1.25 for a single ride â€"- and finds out how many riders are in for the long haul.

> ON THE WEB: www.valleymetro.org/metro_light_rail/

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2009/01/01/lightrail.html

Atlanta should not cry.  After all, they do have a decent heavy rail system already in place.

At least these cities realize that not having rail-based mass transit alternatives puts them at a disadvantage.  I don't think Jax's leaders have grown to the point where they realize the disservice they are actually doing to the community.

You do have to respect that they want what is best for their communities.  I can't seem to shake my disappointment with not trying to capitalize on Obama's stimulus package.

isn't it interesting how most places/people look at what others have with envy!

the fact is ATL has a decent system in MARTA but they can't get the funding to keep it up....and many suburbanites refuse to take it because they don't think it is safe....now MARTA could use some extensions and/or they should look at commuter rail...as well as some more local urban transit such as the Peachtree streetcar concept or the Beltline. 

Quote from: thelakelander on January 11, 2009, 01:55:23 PMI don't think Jax's leaders have grown to the point where they realize the disservice they are actually doing to the community.

How long will it take for them to grow?

Marta is having some issues with money, not sure what is going on, the trains are always packed when I ride. GA gov doesn't give them any money, seems that they never have. I have a friend is Phoenix she says the trains out there are really nice, although lately all she talks about is Cardinals and football....how lame is that?

Tufsu I am feeling a little Phoenix train envy.

Everyone gets it but Jacksovville ...

__________________________________________________
Progressive Railroading - Ohio governor expresses support for state's '3-C' Corridor - 1/30/2009

Here's a sign that support for intercity passenger-rail service is gaining steam in Ohio: For the first time in many years, the governor mentioned passenger rail in his State of the State speech, according to advocacy group All Aboard Ohio.

In his speech given last week, Gov. Ted Strickland discussed the importance of developing the Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati (3-C) Corridor.

"Our goal is to link Ohio's three largest cities by passenger rail for the first time in 40 years," he said. "This will be a first step toward a rail system that links neighborhoods within a city, and cities within our state."

On Jan. 1, Amtrak began working on a nine-month implementation plan to begin operating trains on the corridor by 2010's end. The Ohio Rail Development Commission and Ohio Department of Transportation are seeking $100 million in federal stimulus funding for the corridor's first phase and another $100 million through the recently passed Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act for engineering and environmental impact studies necessary to fully build the Ohio Hub system.

I'm jealous.  This is the exact thing Amtrak has been begging Florida to help invest in for years.  I doubt the state even included something like this on their stimulus funding wish list.

(http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x59/bobmiami/sfdywer.jpg)
MIAMI? Yeah, Days of the Future Past...(BobMiami Album)

Quote from: thelakelander on January 11, 2009, 01:55:23 PM
Atlanta should not cry.  After all, they do have a decent heavy rail system already in place.

At least these cities realize that not having rail-based mass transit alternatives puts them at a disadvantage.  I don't think Jax's leaders have grown to the point where they realize the disservice they are actually doing to the community.

What is interesting to me is that the population of Miami and Jacksonville traded places for the lead city in Florida, in the years 1935-40. Our streetcar was abandoned starting in 1932, piecemeal until 1936. Miami kept their lines until 1940-41 - long enough to pass us by.

Are streetcars the magic bullet? Maybe so, maybe not, but certainly wouldn't lose anything by building and FINISHING a mass transit RAIL system in our city.  

OCKLAWAHA

here's an update....the Maricopa sheriff used the LRT to transport prisoners across Phoenix this week....I mean, how cool is that?

There's a fight brewing between Beltline planning and CSX over a heavy rail commuter plan adjacent to a portion of the northwest (I think) quadrant of the Beltline.
I'll try and find a link from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Interesting article since over the last year the editors of the "Atlanta Constipation and Urinal" have come out again and again for more freeways.

In one article they called the LRT idea, "a touristy cute idea which will gobble up millions of dollars and not serve as transit anywhere..." Sounds like some of the TU boyz and girls, CLUELESS.

Perhaps they should take a trip to Dallas or Salt Lake City, to see what LRT can do. Streetcar try Portland or Tacoma.

I am certain that IF Atlanta keeps voting down Commuter Rail, Streetcars, and LRT, there will be a day in the not so distant future when Charlotte rockets past them - going in different directions. Jacksonville? I think we have a model train club.

OCKLAWAHA