Trolley to One Spark

[5pointy]

Was happy to see that JTA expanded Skyway and Riverside Trolley hours for One Spark. But they cut the trolley route so severely due to street closings in the downtown during the event that it is useless. I walked the distance from the new courthouse to Hemming along Adams, but I was the only one that did on my two trips Thurs-Friday. Ridership would be greater if they had altered the route to at least some of the east-west streets in the event zone. Having the trolley circulate from the Creator Zone through the entertainment zone would be great. With crowds of 10K and more every day, it would be a good way to generate income for JTA with advertising on the trolleys too. Or turn the trolley into a venue space with art and music.

The Skyway has been packed with riders Thurs and Friday. Nice.

[tufsu1]

from what I hear, the Skyway logged more than 9,000 trips each day on Wednesday and Thursday....and best guess is they topped 10,000 on Friday

shows what you can do with transit when there is density/activity AND limited parking!

[Dog Walker]

Agree about the trolley route.  The closest it comes to the event is about three blocks to the west of Hemming Plaza at the corner of Church and Pearl Streets.  It also stops at 7:00PM which is a bit early.

Typical JTA planning and now they will complain that nobody much rode the trolley to the event which is true, but not the fault of the absent ridership.

[thelakelander]

from what I hear, the Skyway logged more than 9,000 trips each day on Wednesday and Thursday....and best guess is they topped 10,000 on Friday

shows what you can do with transit when there is density/activity AND limited parking!

Yeah, Skyway crowds were pretty good.  It helps that free parking is being allowed all week at the convention center.

[tufsu1]

Agree about the trolley route.  The closest it comes to the event is about three blocks to the west of Hemming Plaza at the corner of Church and Pearl Streets.  It also stops at 7:00PM which is a bit early.

Typical JTA planning and now they will complain that nobody much rode the trolley to the event which is true, but not the fault of the absent ridership.

some folks at JTA know full well that the latest trolley route is less than ideal.....but they, like many transit agencies, have always had a tough deicion in whether to design routes for transit dependents or potential choice riders.

[thelakelander]

Both, choice and dependents like fast, efficient, timely and reliable service. Perhaps the answer is to design to accommodate both. Ultimately, that calls for modifying the way the entire system currently operates.

[tufsu1]

^ the difference is many transit dependents have limited physical mobility...which is my buses often take circuitous routes (vs. the straight line approach)

[thelakelander]

You don't necessarily have to run circuitous routes (at one time, Jax didn't).  You can also run a network of straight lines down specific corridors with certain lines serving as high frequency spines.  Instead of a hub and spoke style system, you end up with a grid, feeding spines while eliminating route duplicity.  Such a system still serves the dependent while being easier to understand and more reliable to access attract more choice riders.