FTU Staff Editorial: Jax Can't Afford Mobility Plan's Streetcar

[Ocklawaha]

Fucking assholes.

and another reason that this is one of the best blogsites on the interweb.

http://www.youtube.com/v/gURUMv7qZW0?version=3&hl=en_US

The Great American streetcar scandal (also known as the General Motors streetcar conspiracy and the National City Lines conspiracy) refers to allegations and convictions in relation to a program by General Motors (GM) and a number of other companies to purchase and dismantle streetcars (trams/trolleys) and electric trains in many cities across the United States and replace them with bus services; a program which has been blamed by some for the virtual elimination of effective public transport in nearly all American cities by the 1970s. The lack of hard information about what occurred has led to intrigue, uncertainty, inaccuracy and conspiracy theories. The story has been explored many times in print, film and other media, notably in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Taken for a Ride and The End of Suburbia.

During the period from 1936 to 1950, National City Lines and Pacific City Lines were involved in the conversion of over 100 electric surface-traction systems into bus systems in 45 cities including Baltimore, Newark, Los Angeles (mainly the "Yellow Cars"), New York City, Oakland and San Diego. In 1946, Edwin J. Quinby, a retired naval lieutenant commander alerted transportation officials across the country to what he called "a careful, deliberately planned campaign to swindle you out of your most important and valuable public utilitiesâ€"your Electric Railway System". GM and other companies were subsequently convicted in 1949 of conspiring to monopolize the sale of buses and related products via a complex network of linked holding companies including National City Lines and Pacific City Lines. They were also indicted, but acquitted of conspiring to monopolize the ownership of these companies.

By the time of the 1973 oil crisis, controversial new testimony was presented to a United States Senate inquiry into the causes of the decline of transit car systems in the US. This alleged that there was a wider conspiracyâ€"by GM in particularâ€"to destroy effective public transport systems in order to increase sales of automobiles and that this was implemented with great effect to the detriment of many cities.

Only a few US cities have surviving effective rail-based urban transport systems based on tram, metro, or elevated train; notable survivors include New York City, Newark, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C. and Chicago. There is now general agreement that GM and other companies were indeed actively involved in a largely unpublicized program to purchase many streetcar systems and convert them to buses, which they often supplied. There is also acknowledgment that the Great Depression, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, labor unrest, market forces, rapidly increasing traffic congestion, taxation policies that favored private vehicle ownership, urban sprawl, and general enthusiasm for the automobile played a major or possibly more significant role. One author recently summed the situation up as follows: "Clearly, GM waged a war on electric traction. It was indeed an all out assault, but by no means the single reason for the failure of rapid transit. Also, it is just as clear that actions and inactions by government contributed significantly to the elimination of electric traction.

OCKLAWAHA

[ChriswUfGator]

This editorial in the TU is further evidence I need to get a bird cage just to have an appropriate use for this newspaper.

[Dog Walker]

Chris,  I'm afraid you would have to get a bird, too.

[thelakelander]

Here is a good editorial about the 2030 Mobility Plan streetcar project in today's FTU:

STREETCARS

Jacksonville falling behind
Too many false rumors about Jacksonville streetcars are being promulgated.

First, the development will cost $50 million -$36 million for phase one between downtown and Five Points and $14 million for an extension to the Park and King District - not $71 million.

The money comes from concurrency payments generated by new development in Riverside, not residential property or sales taxes.

This project was detailed in the 2030 Mobility Plan developed two years ago, not by Mayor Alvin Brown.

Next, the streetcar line is intended for residents of the core neighborhoods rather than tourists.

At its peak in 1930, over 100,000 residents rode the 65 miles of streetcar track weekly. Remnants can be found near downtown and in Avondale.

The total weekly ridership of the entire JTA system was approximately 179,000 in 2009.

Streetcars have been proven to improve property values, bring in customers to support retail and increase public safety and improving the overall business climate.

Jacksonville is being left behind by much smaller cities with streetcars, including Memphis, Little Rock, Savannah, Tucson and Kenosha, Wis.

Tampa has seen an over $1 billion increase in development value since implementation. Portland has seen almost $3 billion in increased investment.

In short, streetcars would stimulate the type of downtown development that the JEDC and Downtown Vision have dreamed about for years but have been unable to deliver.

Erik Mueller,

Jacksonville

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/letters-readers/2011-08-29/story/letters-readers-casino-jacksonville-landing#comment-462938

[BridgeTroll]

I read that today... Good job Erik!  Do we know who Erik is? 

[Tacachale]

That's a good opinions submission. We need to see more of this if we want people to get behind it.

[thelakelander]

To tell the truth, I've come to the conclusion that a public campaign to get the average suburbanite behind mass transit is a waste of time, if you're not going to ask them for money to support that specific project.  In the case of the Mobility Plan, who cares what the guy in Mandarin or lady in Argyle thinks?   Their tax dollars and approval aren't needed for it or "no-frills" urban core revitalization and investment strategies. 

Instead, why not appeal to the audience most likely to support and use these things instead?  For every die hard suburbanite, there is another person interested in urban living (assuming there is an actual urban environment worth that person's money).  My view is if we can get a start of something off the ground (the mobility plan should greatly help this cause) and its highly successful, that will be the best form of marketing a larger plan to a wider audience that anyone can cook up.

[Tacachale]

The paper doesn't just go out to suburbanites, and even in the suburbs there are people interested in downtown development. Things like this make the issue more visible to the people who would get behind it. Obviously it will also draw the attention of people who hate the idea, but putting correct information out there to be consumed by thinking people is better than just having the paper print whatever uninformed nonsense it wants to stir up the haters.

[Noone]

I read that today... Good job Erik!  Do we know who Erik is? 

Good points. I liked the article. BT I was thinking the same thing. I'm wondering if that was Erik who participated with us at the March 19th cleanup at Hogans Creek.

[thelakelander]

The paper doesn't just go out to suburbanites, and even in the suburbs there are people interested in downtown development. Things like this make the issue more visible to the people who would get behind it. Obviously it will also draw the attention of people who hate the idea, but putting correct information out there to be consumed by thinking people is better than just having the paper print whatever uninformed nonsense it wants to stir up the haters.

I agree.  That's why I sent my response to the FTU after Larry Hannan's article a couple of weeks ago.  By all means, the facts should be laid on the table for all to see.

[BridgeTroll]

The paper doesn't just go out to suburbanites, and even in the suburbs there are people interested in downtown development. Things like this make the issue more visible to the people who would get behind it.

I am one of those... we DO exist.  There are also plenty of folks on the fence who need convincing.  IMHO...  Writing off those who would not directly benefit from this type of project is simply preaching to the choir.  The hard part is preaching to the unconverted...

[thelakelander]

When I mentioned the public campaign thing, I wasn't meaning don't write to the paper or any other media outlet to put the facts out there.  To clarify what was specifically in my mind, I don't believe there needs to be a "coalition" of city wide support in order to get a starter underway.  For example, there is certainly not a "coalition" of support for the Outer Beltway in Jacksonville, but FDOT is plowing forward anyway. 

So going back to the streetcar, a critical mass of support is already in place and the path to get something built should not be delayed in favor of "marketing" for broad support, as if there were a public referendum coming up.  The day we start thinking we have to "build consensus" amongst the average Jacksonvillian before actually doing something, is the day we'll cement the foundation of never really doing anything.

[Mueller]

I read that today... Good job Erik!  Do we know who Erik is? 

Good points. I liked the article. BT I was thinking the same thing. I'm wondering if that was Erik who participated with us at the March 19th cleanup at Hogans Creek.

Yeah guys that was me.  Big props to Ock for checking it over to make sure my facts were completely right.  The hard part was getting everything down to 200 words, because me original "just type" version was well over 500!   Guess that's what I get for being an engineer too long.   

I think it's real important that we make sure, especially in the FTU, that the correct information is out there.  But it has to be done without the Sean Hannity-esque style of logical fallacies, misleading figures, and emotional frightening. 

[Mueller]

Also, the comments I got online cracked me up, especially since I never mentioned the Skyway and then they start criticizing the streetcar because of the Skyway! 

And the "I wanna casino" OpEd gets top billing over mine!? 

<Apologies if anyone on here wrote that>