30 Days of Plight. Stephen Dare goes JTA every day.

[Downtown Dweller]

Can't do it Stephen, those busstops in the core are reserved for sleeping and drinking, there is a waiting list, and if you go to 7th E there is the nightly crack line waiting to use the covered stops, not sure why crack smokers need a cover, but there you have it....gotta take the bus before midnight.

[Eazy E]

No system devised by man will be perfect, but if you want to see real incompetence and inefficiency let the government run it.

Anyway, I am sorry I interjected this.  I dont want to threadjack Stephen's JTA thread with a debate on government run health care.

No, if you want to see real incompetence and inefficiency try applying for health care in the U.S., or, if you have health insurance, seeing a doctor.  Then you'll see a poorly run health care system, plagued by inefficiency and incompetence.  But, I agree, I will leave your obviously invalid argument for another time, as the JTA issue is really interesting and important.

[Downtown Dweller]

Can't do it Stephen, those busstops in the core are reserved for sleeping and drinking, there is a waiting list, and if you go to 7th E there is the nightly crack line waiting to use the covered stops, not sure why crack smokers need a cover, but there you have it....gotta take the bus before midnight.

Lol.   Lets see those guys compete with drunk springfielders.

I cant see that having but one or two outcomes.

You have a very valid point there 

[RiversideGator]

Yeah, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule.

And you could prove the rule even more by citing more exceptions!

Just so you know, I am not responding to this post to avoid moving this thread off topic.

[Ocklawaha]

Stephen, your thread might be made more useful to lending a hand to JTA and the City with more detail on route, equipment, schedule, loads etc. Some short notation would do, IE:

Boarded at SW corner of Hendricks and Atlantic...
Bus XXXX
one of the new Gillig coaches *name usually on the front, or inside, otherwise the driver can give details.
4 other passengers
8:17 pm
Eastbound
Observed: No seat, no shelter, no map, no schdedule, considerable complaining from group.
In passing Observed: Exceptional busy stop in the mud at XXX and XXX again no shelter, 3rd time this stop has been packed.

Narration

Boarded Bus XX
Corner of 3rd and Atlantic in Neptune Beach
7:am
Westbound
very crowded condition, semi professional crowd
Older Flexible Coach, windows rattled badly, poor seating

Narration

Just an idea, but as a Transit guy, this info would be damn valuable. Short sweet and detailed as hell.

Keep up the great work.

Ocklawaha

[Coolyfett]

Gotta love those Unlimited cards!!!! Stephan the San Marco Station & Central Station has some cool points of interest. If want a LAME STATION go to Jefferson Station errrr Ghosttown Station!!! Man they can't even pave the lots. I agree and have been saying this for 6 months. THE SKYWAY NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED TO SAN MARCO SQUARE & Near 5 points.........

[Midway ®]

This is obviously a sham system that is specifically tailored to only attract poor people as customers. the JTA knows that their riders have zero political clout, so they can run as shabby a system as they want to, because the customers have no way to complain.

It's not really a transit system, it is just a cardboard front that appears to be a transit system. it's real purpose is to supply great paying jobs to the top executives at JTA and provide the Mayor an "Authority" structure to manipulate funds.

It's really not about transit at all, it's all about money. Unfortunately, turning the JTA into a real transit system would be at cross purposes with it's present actual mission. The transformation of The JTA into a "real" urban transit system would require hiring people who are actually qualified it that field, and spending money on real tangible improvements. Doing this would drain off all of that invisible money that now just falls into a black hole and disappears.

So, this transformation is unlikely to occur, because things are just too good for too many JTA execs right now.

I have raised this issue before, but apparently no one is able to understand: the people who run JTA have ZERO qualifications (except working for JTA) in the field of mass transit (I guess that's JTA OJT). That might be part of the problem.

Compare the JTA to ANY urban mass transit system, and it comes out as just plain silly.

[thebrokenforum]

What happened to Mike from JTA? I'd like to hear his take on Midway's good points and Stephen's latest experience over the holiday.

[Midway ®]

Blaylock only wants to speak to issues involving validity of July busspasses in June.

From the JTA website:

Blaylock's professional credentials include: Vice chairman of the Strategic Planning Advisory Committee for the Florida Department of Transportation; Member of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America; former president of the Florida Public Transportation Association (FPTA-'96) and graduate of Leadership Jacksonville and Leadership Florida. His community involvement includes: Jacksonville Super Bowl 2005 Host Committee Member; President of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO); Board member of the Regional Chamber of Commerce; Board member of the Jacksonville Urban League; Advisory Board member of the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) and Board of Trustee member for Bethel Baptist Institutional Church.

A native of Jacksonville, Michael and his wife, Patricia, have three sons and one daughter. He received his Bachelors Degree in Public Administration with a minor in business from the University of North Florida. He continued his graduate studies at the University of North Florida as well as professional development training at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

While no disrespect is intended, these are not the credentials of someone who should be leading a mass transit system in a major city.

Compare this to NYC, San Diego, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, Moscow, Tokyo, ANYWHERE. The only parity you will find is probably the payrate.  I'm sure he's a real good guy. Just like Brad Thoburn.

[thebrokenforum]

The whole system needs an overhaul or a buyout (worth 3 billion?) - will gas still on the rise ($4.13 last I looked) and mass transit looking better and better...who knows?

[Trilby]

In defense of JTA, this "Authority" is a product of our own making. Frankly, the old south lives on in transit throughout Dixie. It is only recently with MARTA (ATLANTA), DART (DALLAS), HART (TAMPA), etc... that this old model is being broken down. Charlotte, for example is making great strides, is is Houston, Norfolk, Little Rock, Memphis and New Orleans. But it all started with ATLANTA and MIAMI back in the 1960-70 era. We have been extremely slow to pick up on ANYTHING new, NOTHING! Don't tell us how it's done, go away with your ideas, and if your a Yuppie or Modernist/Urban dweller - BE DAMNED! Into this world JTA was born. Don't expect Puppies from a mated pair of Jackasses.

In defense of Blaylock, frankly, his resume and mine wouldn't look all that different. I would have a lead in jobs and companies/Cities/Country's worked for... He would lead in associations. This alone won't make or break a big city planner. Many of the most radical plans came from those with no formal education at all in the 1960-70's. A time when they worked their way up from Bus Porter, to driver, to supervisor, to front office. It was the very "HANDS ON" experience that made that generation of Transit Leadership so rich. It should be recalled that a MA or PHD proves that a man or woman can study. Leadership is often born in far away deserts, or rice Paddy's, where high school boys and young college men make split life and death decisions. Many times those very decisions are transportation related. The proof is in the bottle, lots of fizz and no kick = low performance.

Finally, the board of directors and our JTA planners are where the rubber meets the road. The directors are picked for political reasons, favors, and "title". Few if any are Transit people. We would do better to rule by committee, have citizen input and allow the planners to review and refine before a City Council rubber stamps it. Lead on Stephendare, Good luck... Take names, notes and we'll kick some butt!

Ocklawaha

[Ocklawaha]

Damn it! She did it to me again, that message above should be from Ocklawaha. My daughter logged in over my login.

Ocklawaha

[BridgeTroll]

Thanks Ock!

Was seriously put out by this 'sunday special'.

Its useless.  Ornamental.

Hopefully monday will be better.

Today is sunday and I will be checking out the southside routes some more.

Even ornaments are supposed to help something look better... this is worse than ornamental...

[Midway ®]

Ocklawaha, I don't think that PhD's matter here. And I also don't think association memberships matter here.

What matters is experience, creativity and a willingness to look at other innovative solutions. Also, some interest in urban transit to add a dash of enthusiasm might help.

Blaylock just looks like a garden variety beancounter/administrator based upon the materials on the JTA website.

Any transit specific skills look like they were picked up as an unavoidable liability of working at JTA and not as a result of any enthusiasm for the process or technology.

The essential difference between his resume and yours is that yours bespeaks exposure to types of solutions other than highway based transit.  JTA appears to be a road building enterprise.  Maybe they should be renamed the Jacksonville Expressway Authority, then JAX could start anew with an urban (mass) transit authority that would look at those issues?

[Coolyfett]

Unannounced, the entire damned Skyway System was shuttered and closed down.  No signs, no notice, no nothing.  You just walk up to the gates of the stations and surmise for yourself that they bloody operation is nixed for the day.

First off, this is bloody stupid.   The Skyway, if it does ANYTHING, at least services the river line on the Southbank of the St. Johns and commands a brilliant view of the River.   There were thousands and thousands of southbank people who would have found this service invaluable yesterday and last night.

Closing the skyway was such a stupid idea, I don't think there is a word in english that adequately explores the depths of stupid embodied by this one incredibly mindless prank.

Additionally,  the JTA chooses six holidays in order to run what they call "Sunday Service"  which means, "Public transit?....meh."  Routes run once every one or two hours and the whole clown show  takes off its oversized shoes and stinks up the place before 11pm.

Way to go, JTA.  Make yourself as useless as possible on one of the few days of the year that the public might give you a chance to show you arent completely without merit.


Why would it actually close down its skyway services in the ONE area of town GUARANTEED to need thousands of parking spaces and a little transit to the riverwalk?

Sheer, mindless, blistering stupidity.

So.  Skyway?  closed.  Trolleys?  off.   Buses? half service and geritol class closing hours.

No wonder the downtown is so bloody dead on Sundays.

GOSPEL!!! PREACH THAT SHIT MAN!!! STEPHAN I FEEL YOU ON THIS ONE!!! JTA NEEDS TO STOP DOING THAT SHIT!! OMG!!! THE 4TH WAS ON A FRIDAY!!! NOT SUNDAY!!! TURTLES WALK BACKWARDS!!!! WHY DOES METROPOLIS'S BODY HAVE SMALLVILLE'S BRAIN??? I HAD TO LEARN ABOUT THAT STUPID SUNDAY THING THE HARD WAY ON A SUNDAY...BUT YOU HAD TO LEARN THE SUNDAY SICKNESS ON A FRIDAY?? WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!