QuoteThe Florida Times-Union
August 18, 2007
Bus service coming to Ponte Vedra next month
By CHRISTINA ABEL,
Shorelines staff writer
Starting next month, workers who live in Duval County but work in Ponte Vedra Beach can take a $1.50 bus ride to their job.
The bus service into northern St. Johns County will start Sept. 3 to help businesses and their employees who lost moderately-priced apartment housing to condo conversions.
Mike Miller, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's director of external affairs, announced the new route at a Wednesday transportation meeting in Jacksonville Beach.
Community leaders and businesses began the effort for a bus to cross the St. Johns county line two years ago, after many of the apartments in Ponte Vedra Beach where employees lived were converted to condos, pricing them out of the market.
"Currently their workforce has no means of public transportation," Miller said.
Jeffrey Oliasami, the Sawgrass Marriott general manager who has been instrumental in getting the route planned, said the service will benefit all Ponte Vedra Beach businesses.
"This means so much for all of the businesses in Ponte Vedra Beach, large and small," Oliasami said. "People want to work in St. Johns County, but they haven't been able to get to us."
In the first phase of the new bus route, people who need transportation to the Sawgrass Village and Winn-Dixie on Solana Road may catch a JTA bus at four Duval County locations: the Gateway mall in north Jacksonville, the downtown JTA hub, St. Johns Town Center and at Southbeach Parkway in Jacksonville Beach.
Then, by early next year the JTA plans to add service to bring employees from around the Jacksonville area to Baptist Medical Center-Beaches in Jacksonville Beach.
Full Article:
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/081807/nep_192153611.shtml
"Clang, Clang, Clang..." read the headlines of the Beaches Leader Newspaper. Looks like Mr. Miller at JTA has BS'd the Beaches City Councils that the JTA Bus-thinks-it's-a-trolley will be the magic carpet that will build strong ridership and success for the new bus routes. BULL CRAP MIKE! The damn little, bumpy potato chip trucks pretending to be trolleys will do NOTHING for anyone. For the same dollar amount (over $200,000 a copy for the record) the Beaches could have a nice clean uniform, smooth riding transit bus, or two, or three.
"People will ride trolleys that won't ride buses..." the newspaper parroted the Council and JTA's line. Oh yeah, like they do in downtown Jacksonville, where the so-called "Trolleys" are ridership failures. Don't worry, JTA bought more of the gas hogs anyway. Now they have convinced innocent sister Cities of a diabolical lie. Would I ride a "Bus-thinks-it's-a-trolley?" NO! I'd be afraid someone that respects my opinion might see me, besides I know a Wal-Mart that has a "happy trolley" out front, and it only costs a quarter to ride.
Do I hate buses? Hell no! That's why a said, a nice clean, uniform, transit bus. The trouble is, these faux trolleys are conversions built on potato chip truck frames at some "Faux Trolley Factory". Thus they do NOT have the classic ride, quiet, suspension, speed, and other comforts of a modern transit bus. For heavens sake JTA, quit trying to sell what you don't have. We don't have TROLLEYS in NORTH FLORIDA. We have buses, lots of buses, a half done skyway and a couple of pontoon boats... That's it. With your logic, if I put carboard eyes and ears on my old VW, and stuck a tail in it's rear quarter, I could sell DONKEY rides! JTA, Time to pull you heads out...
BEACHES? Beware the lies of Myrtle Avenue.
Ocklawaha