Mayor proposes water taxi stop for Riverside

[Dog Walker]

Right now there are hundreds of workers each day from Fidelity National, Lender Services and Blue Cross who are using the Riverside trolley to go to Five Points or the landing at lunch time.  There might be enough people who would like to go to one of the restaurants on the Southbank to make a lunchtime water taxi schedule worth while.

[CS Foltz]

Well we subsidize just about every other form of mass transit....why not this also..........makes me wonder just how this breaks down on a per-rider basis..........tufsu/Ock? I have a hard time getting with the program when everything else must be a break even proposition, so I have to ask why not this also? Monthly pass or something similar might make sense but still wonder as to the actual cost to the public!

[tufsu1]

the water taxi operations are not subsidized, which is why it costs $3-$5 to ride...what the City has done is give them exclusive rights, which squashed any potential competition.

[CS Foltz]

OK much thanks for the info........."exclusive rights" huh?  Are they Coast Guard certified for operations? A total of 76 points out of 100 is kinda shabby but not my call!

[Dog Walker]

CS, the water taxis and the operators are Coast Guard certified.

[Miss Fixit]

the water taxi operations are not subsidized, which is why it costs $3-$5 to ride...what the City has done is give them exclusive rights, which squashed any potential competition.

Exclusive rights + dock funded by city = subsidy

[fsujax]

Who cares if it's subsidized. It's a good thing for the Market and Downtown. It also allows many an opportunity to enjoy the river, especially our suburban friends who drive to the Market on Saturdays and those of us who do not own boats!

[Miss Fixit]

Who cares if it's subsidized. It's a good thing for the Market and Downtown. It also allows many an opportunity to enjoy the river, especially our suburban friends who drive to the Market on Saturdays and those of us who do not own boats!

I use the water taxis from time to time and agree that they facilitate enjoyment of the river by visitors to Jax.  However, we should question whether increase city support of the water taxi system is appropriate given other needs:  education, jobs related transportation, basic infrastructure problems, homeless issues, etc.

[grimss]

If I understand this correctly, there will also be room for private boats to dock and offload passengers as well. I think that's a great boost to the market.

[thelakelander]

How much more will it take to extend it to Margaret Street or Memorial Park?

[hightowerlover]

i think if they could expand this to also include a stop in memorial park that this is a much more viable solution than running the skyway all the way into riverside.  that way bcbs/fidelity/st joe etc has an option for getting to lunch at the landing or five points.  but i agree that these docks should be setup for anyone to use not just the water taxis.

[fieldafm]

i think if they could expand this to also include a stop in memorial park that this is a much more viable solution than running the skyway all the way into riverside.  that way bcbs/fidelity/st joe etc has an option for getting to lunch at the landing or five points.  but i agree that these docks should be setup for anyone to use not just the water taxis.

Currently the PCT 'trolly' system serves the lunchtime community in Brooklyn, DT, and 5 pts.

[Dog Walker]

The trolleys have ten minute intervals and only cost fifty cents.  It is my understanding that the docks will be available for other uses as long as it does not interfere with the water taxis.

[fieldafm]

I'm in favor of a dock built at RAM. 

That being said, the trolley system is far more efficient and cheaper to use at lunch time.  It's $3($4 on special event days) to go one way on the river taxi.

While riding on the trolly earlier this year, a real nice young woman was conducting a survey for JTA regarding expansion of the trolley service(extending service on Saturday for RAM, and extending the route to include the Shoppes of Avondale).  Does anyone know the outcome of this rider survey?  I actually enjoy the Riverside route service and use the beach trolley during the summer quite a bit as well.