JTA's Strategic Vision for the Future

[thelakelander]

Is it possible to do all the things that are mentioned in the article with the limited funding that JTA is facing in the future?

One of the questions JTA should be asking themselves is are they trying to be too much to too many, and getting so spread out in the process that they are mediocre at best in delivering on any of them?

To say that they will provide service to our entire sprawling city (coverage based) while also attracting choice riders (frequency based) may be unrealistic.  Any significant amout of money spent toward one goal will detract from the other.  There is only a small amount of overlap between the two.

My preference would be to see JTA provide high frequency service between our higher density nodes.  Connecting the urban neighborhoods to the downtown core would be a start.

Then look to the neighborhoods to assist with the funding of the local collection systems.  Everyone will say that they want such as system, but when faced with the prospect of paying extra, we will find out which areas really mean it.  There are creative financing solutions out there involving TIFs and BIDs that we have largely overlooked in Jacksonville.  Doing so would return local neighborhood control to a consolidated city that has arguably been poor at managing competing interests.

An overwhelming majority of people who live in the lower density areas have chosen an automobile lifestyle.  Money spent trying to connect them with transit service is largely wasted.  For those who need (or are choosing) a transit-dependent lifestyle, options should be provided for them to live and work near the transit service areas.  TODs should focus on providing affordable housing and attracting large employers.

+1000.  Put me in the camp of believing we're currently too over-extended when it comes to transit.  I believe focusing in on providing the best service in the urban core and spreading out from there, is a good method to explore.  Since the urban core includes the majority of the Northside and the denser chunks of the Westside, you'll still hit the lion's share of our transit dependent communities.

[thelakelander]

I think you can have both.  I don't think anyone is arguing that we should discontinue service to the transit dependent.  I think it should be improved (and there are many ways to improve the current system to make it more efficient that wouldn't cost a ton).  But we also need to move into servicing choice riders as well- giving people more options. 

As it stands now JTA spreads itself too to do anything well.  They operate the transit system, they also want to build roads, and now, they want to become some regional entity as well- so they can build "regional" roads.

+1.  They didn't need tons of money to implement BRT on the Northside(a service that is largely serving transit dependent riders).  They could have easily implemented better frequency service for far less money that didn't include fancy things like signal jumps, real time traffic updates at traffic stations (they have been offered a cell phone based platform for free by a local software developer) and the like.  You could just as easily 're-brand' busses that doesn't need rely on things like federal money, instead opting to apply for federal money for proven community builders and economic drivers like fixed transit.  That also has the effect of creating affordable housing options in the historical core neighborhoods, incidentally.

This is also a position I endorse.  We can make no-frills BRT style improvements overnight without breaking the bank.  Charlotte's Sprinter is a great example:



http://charmeck.org/city/charlotte/cats/bus/ridingcats/pages/sprinter.aspx

[Ocklawaha]

If they really want to 'conserve energy' and help our energy independence, then it's time to dump the pump at JTA, electric rail and buses are available off the shelf TODAY!

We can actually EXPAND service throughout the county using community bus services, at the same time we could build up the primary corridors with fixed transit.

[mtraininjax]

Brad is quite an intelligent guy. 

Yes he is, and he was the former Planning Director for the City of Jacksonville as well as operating under the staffs of Tillie Fowler and Mayor John Delaney. Brad is very intelligent and knows the workings of the City and State agencies, he also worked under the Florida Department of Transportation for a stint. Say what you want about the article, you will be hard pressed to find a person who has more knowledge about how the city works and the politics of getting things done. Mayor Brown could use more people like Brad on his staff.

[cline]

Brad is quite an intelligent guy. 

Yes he is, and he was the former Planning Director for the City of Jacksonville as well as operating under the staffs of Tillie Fowler and Mayor John Delaney. Brad is very intelligent and knows the workings of the City and State agencies, he also worked under the Florida Department of Transportation for a stint. Say what you want about the article, you will be hard pressed to find a person who has more knowledge about how the city works and the politics of getting things done. Mayor Brown could use more people like Brad on his staff.

Doesn't matter how much intelligence the staff at JTA has, leadership gets the final call.  That's the problem.

[mtraininjax]

Doesn't matter how much intelligence the staff at JTA has, leadership gets the final call.  That's the problem.

Agreed, there are some exceptionally smart and gifted people at JTA, but they don't get to call the shots. As with the City, we are led by our "leaders" or not. So the void at the top is striking, both at the city and JTA.   

[JaxArchitect]

I have to agree with a lot of what I'm reading, especially the comments about needing to plan our cities and neighborhoods so that our necessary services are more readily close at-hand.  Our sprawl development mentality has made our lives much more difficult than they need to be.
Also, the building concept represented in the article is atrocious.  Typical for Jacksonville, it is a completely thoughtless group of buildings that look like they were designed by an engineer (no offense to engineers) rather than an architect.  And to try to make it fit the scale of the neighborhood a little better, they stuck a few strip malls in front of it.....and put some cute hip roofs on the towers (because that's the only way to make something attractive you know).  It's all just lipstick on a pig or whatever the saying is.
Assuming this project moves forward (I doubt it in Jax), I hope this gets a lot of scrutiny by the DDRB, although I don't have a lot of faith that they really have the (will)power to do anything but rubber stamp their approval.  Their typical approach to a bad design seems to be to get a few token concessions and then give in.

[mtraininjax]

Does Brad Thoburn of JTA look like Karl Rove? Separated at birth?