Extending the Skyway and Bike Share in Jax's Future?

[thelakelander]

Yes, the TIGER grant will not be bringing it's talents to Jax this year. No ring chasing vets will be following either.

[Anti redneck]

Why not rally to build a bike trail that goes all over the city? You know, like a highway for bicyclists. Then, if the city is on board, we all pitch in to help raise funds. I'll be more than happy to donate for something like this.

[IrvAdams]

The article on another thread mentions connecting any good sections of bike and pedestrian pathways for complete transit. In other words, a bike path is no good unless it makes it all the way to somewhere. Also, it should be relatively safe. Just painting stripes on the side of a road isn't enough to make some people feel comfortable with exposing their bodies to traffic.

Furthermore, and this is the best thought, who says bike paths have to follow roads all the way, or run beside a road all the way, or near any roads at all? As long as it reaches one or more significant destination(s) and is clearly marked.

[ProjectMaximus]

Yes, the TIGER grant will not be bringing it's talents to Jax this year. No ring chasing vets will be following either.

Well, what's next for JTA? They're keeping fares free for another year!

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/09/12/skyway-extends-free-fare-through-next-year.html

[exnewsman]

I wholeheartedly agree with the bike share plan but why was it thrown on the end almost as an afterthought? 

I wouldn't characterize it that way. JTA is interested in bike share and has met with many community partners regarding bike share.

I'm far from a JTA apologist, so I'll give some authentic credence here to the notion that JTA is geniunely serious about bike share. It all (always) comes down to realisitic funidng options. After looking at this for a few years, I just don't see some white knight in shining armor willing to write a check to start a bike share system in Jax... and working with JTA has the added benefit of integrating bike share into a functional transit system (successful implementation must include cooperation, not friction) and having shovel-ready (so to speak) ROW access. Success (with anything) is always contingent when the variables of timing and opportunity line up in harmony.

At least one member of the JTA leadership is an avid cyclist and rides regularly from his Springfield residence. That's really a first. So to have somebody inside the JTA building who understands is a big plus.

[exnewsman]

It's confirmed from multiple insider sauces..

767 applications totaling $9.5B for just $600M in actual funding. Lots of disappointed cities - not just Jax.

[thelakelander]

^Very true. The results are not surprising given the amount of money available verses the amount requested in the applications.

[I-10east]

What's the future of Jacksonville's Skyway?

The Jacksonville Skyway, also known as the People Mover, could undergo change in 2015. The Skyway System Plan and Technology Assessment is a study taking place that will have its results released in the spring, and it could determine the fate of the people mover in Downtown Jacksonville. At the Business Journal's Downtown Development breakfast earlier this week, Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford revealed the study will take a complete look at the usefulness of the Skyway.

"The Skyway is the pink elephant in the room," he said. "By the spring of 2015 we will be completing a study that will examine the Skyway from top to bottom, look at it's useful life, the future of the Skyway." Ford said the study will help determine whether or not the Skyway, which is 25 years old, should be extended or not. Opened in 1989, the monorail cost around $200 million to build, and has never come close to reaching the original ridership projections.

"The Skyway is major infrastructure, a major part of downtown," Ford said. He added that the Skyway is actually gaining in ridership, and the recent changes to the bus routes will connect to it in a much more productive manner. Still he said, there are concerns, which the study will address when completed. "This is going to be a very objective look," he said, "at the future of the Skyway." In May, 2013, JTA officials asked for federal funding to expand the Skyway line one stop so it could serve Brooklyn, where new retail and the 220 Riverside project have been built. That funding was turned down.

http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2014/12/05/study-will-assess-how-to-use-jtas-downtown-people.html

[Coolyfett]

Stop running all the buses downtown, extend down to sport complex via Bay Street, extend to 8th Street n 5 Points, charge a dollar to enter Skyway gate/system.....then let it be. Nothing has chaged on it since 2000. Hemming Plaza and San Marco are the only good stations with things near them. Jefferson Station has nothing.

[Ocklawaha]

We will have an article on pedestrians and (to a lesser extent) bikes in the near future. About how new laws, and a new bank account allow you to fully participate or donate...

I PROMISE!

[spuwho]

My 19 year old daughter, who knows nothing about transit saw the Skyway last night while in the city and made the following remark......"more people would use it if it went to the beach, I know I would....."

Spoken by the next generation.

[jaxjaguar]

Stop running all the buses downtown, extend down to sport complex via Bay Street, extend to 8th Street n 5 Points, charge a dollar to enter Skyway gate/system.....then let it be. Nothing has chaged on it since 2000. Hemming Plaza and San Marco are the only good stations with things near them. Jefferson Station has nothing.

Aside from One Spark, I don't know that I've ever seen Convention Station or Jefferson Station operating... Do those lines ever run? I 100% agree though we need to be aggressive in order to get the TIGER grant. Extending to the Stadium with 1 or 2 stops along the way and over to 5 Points, with stops at the fresh market and arts market, would be huge additions that would massively increase ridership. I would love to be able to ride from Riverplace Station to the bars on Bay Street, the Fresh Market and into riverside on the weekends....

[ProjectMaximus]

My skyway extension priority list would be:

1) Brooklyn
2) East San Marco
3) Closer to Five Points (unless streetcar is being developed)
4) Stadium/Shipyards (unless streetcar is being developed)
5) Springfield (unless streetcar is being developed)

[Coolyfett]

My skyway extension priority list would be:

1) Brooklyn
2) East San Marco
3) Closer to Five Points (unless streetcar is being developed)
4) Stadium/Shipyards (unless streetcar is being developed)
5) Springfield (unless streetcar is being developed)

Id put Springfield 8th Street Shands as number 1 for Hospital access, but I like your list.

[neptune]

Aside from One Spark, I don't know that I've ever seen Convention Station or Jefferson Station operating... Do those lines ever run? I 100% agree though we need to be aggressive in order to get the TIGER grant. Extending to the Stadium with 1 or 2 stops along the way and over to 5 Points, with stops at the fresh market and arts market, would be huge additions that would massively increase ridership. I would love to be able to ride from Riverplace Station to the bars on Bay Street, the Fresh Market and into riverside on the weekends....

All of the Skyway stations and routes including Convention Center and Jefferson operate weekdays from 6am to 9pm at 6 min headways. While the routes and station placement don't seem to make a lot of sense today, they were planned in anticipation and support of massive redevelopment in the areas surrounding those two stations. Their role as only park-n-ride servers is a residual of the failure of the redevelopment effort (subject of many other past threads).