Transit in Jacksonville, Let's Get Started!

[Metro Jacksonville]

Transit in Jacksonville, Let's Get Started!



The following video was presented by Metro Jacksonville for the 2008 Environmental Symposium held on August 26th by the City of Jacksonville's Environmental Quality Division.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/content/view/884

[gatorback]

Good job MetroJacksonville!  Very informative.

[Charles Hunter]

Well done.
How was it received by the Environmental Quality folks?

[lindab]

Very impressive. I am so glad you included the "myths" section. Keep pouring it on.

[Jason]

Very well done!

What would it take to get this aired on WJXT?

[thelakelander]

Well done.
How was it received by the Environmental Quality folks?

It was taken well.  The only significant question that came up, was one concerning population density.  A gentleman thought we were too spread out for rail and that we needed to build up density around our rail corridors first, before moving forward.

My response was that I agreed that we needed to continue to build up density around our rail corridors, but depending on the specific corridor chosen, the density was already there or not as much of a concern for a commuter rail vs. heavy rail based system.  I then offered up Charlotte and Nashville as examples of spread out sprawling sunbelt cities with densities lower than the First Coast already operating rail based mass transit systems.  My underlying point was we should move forward with implementing a starter line, in the short term, along with continuing to encourage higher densities along our rail corridors.

JTA also had a pretty good video.  I'm hoping we can get it uploaded here within the next week or so.

[Lunican]

For those interested in embedding the video in their own site, here is the code:

Code Select Expand

<object width="522" height="288"><embed src="http://www.metrojacksonville.com/videos/flvplayer.swf?file=http://media.metrojacksonville.com/videos/environmental_symposium_rail.flv&amp;autoStart=false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="522" height="288"></embed></object>

[Ocklawaha]

I think I came out better then planned! Managed to hit every high point and avoided the sucker punches... (leave those to me! hee hee)

OCKLAWAHA

[KenFSU]

Extremely nice work to all those involved.

[exnewsman]

The JTA commuter rail video is on their website - in the RTS - commuter rail announcements section for anyone who wants to view it.

[Lunican]

Here is the JTA video:

http://www.youtube.com/v/dHWHAWF_xKo

[Midway ®]

This looks like the Metrojacksonville plan. (But they are not committing to anything).

[GatorDone]

Great job, I am sold .. it is time sleepy little Jax grows up. I hope to see this realized one day.

One comment was about density around the rail, my understanding is that the density will come once the rail is built, is this accurate?

[thelakelander]

Its a little mix of both.  We have enough density right now in certain neighborhoods closer to downtown.  Density does drop off big time once we get into the sprawling burbs.  Imo, its always best to start small and expand.  It worked for Salt Lake City and now its working for Charlotte.

Applying this concept to Jacksonville, I'd start by linking dense pockets (ex. Riverside, Springfield, Metro North, Durkeeville, San Marco, etc.) with downtown and major employment centers along these lines (NAS Jax, Shands Jacksonville, Swisher, Gateway, etc.), while at the same time working to increase density around the rail corridors throughout the region (ex. areas like Yulee, Green Cove Springs, etc.).  Then as time goes on and the opportunity presents itself, we expand.

[TD*]

Nice presentation, now it would be nice if Tallahassee could get some rail lovin' as well!