Attracting Choice Riders By Engaging Neighbors

[fieldafm]

as an opportunity to park at one cluster of restaurants/bars only to use the trolley to visit others before returning to their car at the end of the night, then nothing has been accomplished other than providing a bar hopping service.

Actually, I think that would be a big help.  There is not a parking 'supply' problem in the neighborhood, but there is a parking 'distribution' challenge.


What can anyone reading this actually DO about these problems?  Easy.... use this service tomorrow night!  It's a process, not a result.  The success of this program is a big step in that process.

[thelakelander]

I guess "choice riders" are people with money, not the average jta rider. I know that there are costs to get these buses, but why charge $5, and why are they only going to the rich part of Avondale? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that parts of Jax are trying to achieve the vibrancy that we all want, But why is it just catered to people that are blessed with an abundance of money. I'm on SSI so I can't afford to be a part of this vibrancy!

The problem I see with this is that without dedicated parking areas, this trolley service will only be benefiting those within walking distance of any of the stops. While plenty of the patronage for these places is from residents in the Riverside-Avondale area, I'm a little skeptical with how much they'll embrace walking to a pickup spot since so many prefer to drive short distances even to begin with. If someone from the RA area (or outside the neighborhood) just uses this as an opportunity to park at one cluster of restaurants/bars only to use the trolley to visit others before returning to their car at the end of the night, then nothing has been accomplished other than providing a bar hopping service.

My take is you can't build Rome in one day.  Ideally, something like this is most effective when directly connected to a high frequency transit line (ex. Skyway, BRT, LRT, Streetcar, etc.) that penetrates other areas of town.  However, it's been difficult to get the local transit agency to support such a concept in recent years.  Hopefully, with the change at JTA, we'll at least get a revamped, logical local bus system out of this that will allow for a neighborhood circulator to complement citywide operations.  In the meantime, if possible, the best thing we can do is to support what the neighborhood and its businesses are trying to do.  Perhaps, a successful project will result in a logical permanent solution being developed in the near future.

[BrooklynSouth]

We rode it and and so did our friends and we all brought our kids. We live in 5 points, they live in avondale, and we met on the bus and went to Lola's at Park and King. The bus was standing-room only on the way there and on the trip back. What a smashing success! People of all races, ages, and classes were on the bus, smiling, and excited. What a way to tie our neighborhoods together!

[Ocklawaha]

Look forward to seeing the ridership.  sounds like an opportunity.  Are there any restrictions preventing a private company from doing so?

Just one... B A N K R U P T C Y !!

Mass transit profitability is an oxymoron.

[fieldafm]

Thank you to everyone that supported this experiment Saturday.

I had over 560 riders on my trolley, and there were two additional trolleys in service Saturday.

During our trolley pub crawls two years ago, we averaged about 250 riders (which were all one way trips, not a circulator system like last Saturday's route).

Between these two experiments... and the Riverside/Downtown Art Walk trolleys that were PACKED with riders from two years ago.... is there now any doubt that choice riders will use transit if it is relevant and convenient???

[fieldafm]

Your trolley edged out the runner up trolley of the night.  A dude on that trolley said he worked for the circus and could guess anyone's age and weight... that was a pretty entertaining conversation.

[fieldafm]

You had the most entertaining trolley of the night.
2nd place was the circus worker.

[tufsu1]

let's look at it like JTA might

say 1500 people rode the trolleys....generally these would cost about $1500 to run for 5 hours...so if people would be willing to pay $1 and ridership could be maintained, than it is a financially viable concept.

[DaveBaldwinJax]

I'm what you'd call a choice rider... I commute via bus most days. If they'd make the GPS data available, I'd rely on JTA a lot more. The biggest problem is not knowing exactly when the bus will be there.

[BrooklynSouth]

I'm what you'd call a choice rider... I commute via bus most days. If they'd make the GPS data available, I'd rely on JTA a lot more. The biggest problem is not knowing exactly when the bus will be there.

The live GPS was impressive. We stood under an awning in the rain for 30 minutes waiting for the first trolley. We were wondering if the trolley had been cancelled for some reason, but the live GPS assured us that the trolley was getting closer.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

....So it would really only require 225 people at a dollar a peice.

But probably a better target number because it's highly doubtful that you'll have 1,000 + people every Friday & Saturday night. 

But 225 at a dollar a piece each way......

An evening pass for $3-$4 seems like a better play to me.

[fieldafm]

Merchants wanted to buy bulk discount passes and establish a merchant validation program two years ago for the Riverside Trolley.  It never happened.

JTA was approached about debuting an option to buy a month long ticket for the Riverside Trolley.  It never happened.

There have been ideas, succesful experiments (pub crawls, trolley night, free service day, art walk night, luminaria night, home tour aligning with trolley route, etc etc) and private citizens using their own time, money and expertise to find solutions themselves... all the while, JTA went their own way.

Maybe its time to listen to the neighborhood and be a partner instead of a transit dictator?