Metro Jacksonville

Being that I have the available time, I'm firing off as many creative ideas as possible here for reaction/response.

QUESTION: Is it possible to install a temporary street car with "temporary tracks" on downtown street, as you would set up a model train for example by laying down track on the road surface for a weekend only?

Call it an Arts and Streetcar Science festival.
Obtain a permit to close off the street like the "placemaking" example on youtube  Stephen had.
Setup your trolley track and vehicle early in the morning
Power source? I dont know how that would work. City might balk at people trying to electrify a temp track.
Combine the event to take place with another one like a concert, festival etc.
Poll people, record sales numbers, then take it all down and start a campaign for more.

Again, do it as a nonprofit to see if people will donate to the cause.

Vancouver was able to do something similar for the Olympics.

(http://photos.metrojacksonville.com/photos/790812185_xmNxi-600x10000.jpg)

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2010-feb-affordable-streetcar-vancouvers-olympic-line-

Something worth trying. I Feel like we have a better chance to get what is needed/wanted than the idiots would at JTA.

Anything to hide this BRT that is hurting the little integrity Jacksonville has as a city.

I Laura Street would be the best place to do this. Hemming Park frequently is the site of spontaneous events. In the near future, restaurants will be opening at the Laura Trio and MOCA/Library is already there.

The ultimate would be boarding the streetcar INSIDE THE LANDING and it takes you right up Laura.

Eventually you'd want to run this thing from the LANDING, past FCCJ, through the HOGAN CREEK PARK and up to SHANDS

Another simpler possiblility would be HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE. Since Laura is supposed to be Historical, it'd be one way highlight that. How nice would a carriage ride thourgh a new Hogan Park and ultimately a fixed up Springfield be? Beautiful.

Quote from: rjp2008 on August 09, 2010, 02:39:22 PM
I Laura Street would be the best place to do this. Hemming Park frequently is the site of spontaneous events. In the near future, restaurants will be opening at the Laura Trio and MOCA/Library is already there.

The ultimate would be boarding the streetcar INSIDE THE LANDING and it takes you right up Laura.

Eventually you'd want to run this thing from the LANDING, past FCCJ, through the HOGAN CREEK PARK and up to SHANDS

Another simpler possiblility would be HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGE. Since Laura is supposed to be Historical, it'd be one way highlight that. How nice would a carriage ride thourgh a new Hogan Park and ultimately a fixed up Springfield be? Beautiful.

Good vision.

there is talk about trying to do a demonstartion commuter rail line...to serve as mitigation for the pending I-95 construction.

And yes, this has been put forward by some at JTA.

Also, one could argue that the Riverside Trolley is a demonstartion in itself to see what level of demand there would be for a streetcar line serving the same areas.

Good point about Trolley

Quote from: tufsu1 on August 09, 2010, 04:58:50 PM
there is talk about trying to do a demonstartion commuter rail line...to serve as mitigation for the pending I-95 construction.

And yes, this has been put forward by some at JTA.

Also, one could argue that the Riverside Trolley is a demonstartion in itself to see what level of demand there would be for a streetcar line serving the same areas.

Bull shit TU! The stupid Potato Chip Truck playing streetcar does NOTHING to test the viability of REAL streetcars in Riverside. The closest it might come is by offering close headways ridership will probably jump, however it won't be because the people of RAP are too stupid to know the difference of a rubber tired fake or a steel wheeled beauty.

This was graphically illustrated by the "Old Pueblo Trolley" in Tucson, Arizona. The transit agency saw that the people LOVED the old streetcars on the museum line so they went JTA and bought POTATO CHIP TRUCKS, the ones that look about as much like a real streetcar as Xaviera Hollander does to the Virgin Mary. Here's how it all tumbled out:

"Old Pueblo Trolley" a museum line that only ran on weekends or holidays, and even then only when there were enough volunteers to keep an hourly schedule. The Trolley boys charged a couple of bucks to ride. The route ran from the University in the general direction of downtown, but fell quite short of the "nightlife" and urban center.

The Potato Chip Truck - Trolley "THING" covered the same route, it ran something like 18 hours a day, 365 days a year, every 20-30 minutes, the only difference was it ran from the university all the way to the downtown hot spots.

After a couple of years of service, the transit agency added up the numbers and got smacked with a bombshell.
The Old Pueblo Trolley carried almost double the passengers per year as the stupid PCT which goes to prove the old adage about bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Using a PCT to gauge a REAL STREETCAR is about as accurate as counting mosquitoes to estimate the bat population of Poughkeepsie.

Ock - tell me how a group could install a temporary weekend trolley as a demonstrator downtown. Is there any way to install such a track on the street without breaking ground?

There are ways to do this but track is the key. I'll write more on this tomorrow, y'all remind me and I'll do an info-post-rant...

OCKLAWAHA

If you're talking about using existing track, you're really limiting yourself to basically the old F&J line in east Springfield.  On top of that, you'll still need the city and NS to buy in. Demonstration or starter line, you'll need to elect a mayoral candidate that supports the concept.

No, I'm talking about a couple weekend warriors laying down some kind of temporary powered track for an exhibit demonstration downtown as part of a festival or something. Like the "placemaking" video but with a streetcar, probably a much smaller one.

I cant find the technology, but essentially its like a giant model train. You lay down track right on the street. Maybe it's embedded within a sloped rubberized form. The Trolley itself can be powered by batteries so the track need not be electrified.

Do it in conjuction with a trade show in Jax so the supplier would foot the bill for letting use track technology.

Again, its just for one weekend, but you hope the city wants to keep it and perhaps the company donates the portion of track laid down perhaps in exchange for something like free rides for life on teh Skyway ;););)

http://www.railwaypreservation.com/vintagetrolley/los_angeles.htm

Ock what companies make portable street level trolley tracks that could work for this?

It's called panel track.

(http://www.metrojacksonville.com/photos/thumbs/lrg-2142-p1040416.JPG)