Riverside Avondale Night Trolley Launch This Weekend

[jaxjaguar]

Tried using the extra cards I bought a few months ago to take my buddies out tonight. Apparently they expire... That was embarrassing. Looks like we're driving   

They dont expire. Are you sure you didnt already use those cards once before?

Positive. I bought 8 in July and took 3 friends. They didn't give me their cards back, so there's no way the ones I tried to use the other night had already been used.

[Don Keedik]

I am the target market for this service.  I have never used it.

The problem I see is that you have to be far too intentional for the avg person to use the trial trolley.  I was out last weekend, and saw a trolley.  "Oh yeah! Trolleys this weekend.  We should definitely take that sometime."

Making it a regular route (actually trolley or otherwise) is absolutely critical.  People, in my experience, start off with plans by asking "what are we going to do?" 

"Go out in Riverside...we should take the trolley"  needs to be an auto-response.  Save a few metrojaxers no one is going to consistently build their night around their method of transportation.

Currently I love the idea, but I'm trying to remember when it runs, where it runs, etc.  If there was something running through the urban core on a regular basis it would start showing up on people's mental list of transport options.

A multi-month trial period w/ full, regular service during a period of nice weather is what is needed to ingrain it in people's minds.  Now, how you get that accomplished is obviously a little more difficult.

[Know Growth]

and helps to reduce drinking and driving.

What a hilarious stretch,if not in fact dangerous.

How many trolley users access the area via driving personal vehicle-utilize trolley- end up back at personal vehicle? 2 am

Does trolley deliver riders directly to final destination,and next morning bring 'em back to private vehicle? Great service!

Locals who might utilize trolley solely- no driving- might be inclined to drink more, a definite trolley utilization safety factor, promotion,on the order of Cab service.

Interesting "Experiment".

[Know Growth]

Was at Lola's last night, Carlos was packed on a Thursday. I know the trolley has brought customers to places that were not on the patron's "path" a few months ago. Silver Cow was packed Regina said, albeit for the bar glass gate issues. She sold out of most beers and wine, she said it was a lot more than she figured.

As the weather gets better too, look for higher numbers. Would be nice to see a major festival on the same date as the trolley, like the beerfest coming up at RAM/Riverside Rotary Club on the 22nd, to have the trolley extended for a day. Maybe JTA will see the value for the fall when there is the Riverside Wine Festival or Christmas in Avondale.

....so much for 'reduced drinking' hypothesis.......'Hic  eerrr,wuz that drinkin' & drivin' angle?  Gooot one for that too I bet Hic! Nobody allowed to drive,period. Just drank is all that happens.Nobody drives.

[Tacachale]

^Killer drop in. So now we know Metro Jax's own version of the Time Cube guy can't conceive of a world where Riverside residents walk a few blocks to a bus stop. Being 50 Feet Away From Car is EDUCATED STUPID. Not driving at all times reject FOUR SIMULTANEOUS DAYS EARTH ROTATION and is EVIL LIE. PiIZZA IS EVIL LIE.

[fieldafm]

and helps to reduce drinking and driving.

What a hilarious stretch,if not in fact dangerous.

How many trolley users access the area via driving personal vehicle-utilize trolley- end up back at personal vehicle? 2 am

Does trolley deliver riders directly to final destination,and next morning bring 'em back to private vehicle? Great service!

Locals who might utilize trolley solely- no driving- might be inclined to drink more, a definite trolley utilization safety factor, promotion,on the order of Cab service.

Interesting "Experiment".

The majority of riders are local to R/A. I operate from data (4 months of on board rider surveys) not wild assumptions like yourself.

[Ocklawaha]

Why not just schedule a frequent bus and kill the gimmick? If BRT is, as Lake says, lipstick on a pig, then the JTA 'trolley' is lipstick and a tutu on a pig. Nothing to see here folks, move along.

why be an assho provocateur about a pretty good attempt to marry transit to urban solutions to commecial and entertainment growth in residential areas?  Just because its not an actual fixed trolley system doesn't make transit less important to urban needs, ock.

And many of us who you consider friends have worked on, supported, or believed in this experiment.

LOL Stephen. You apparently missed the first 7 words in my reply? Without trying to go into transit 101, a basic electric bus can be had for about the same price as the silly faux 'trolleys,' a new clean-diesel even cheaper. The electric bus runs on new high tech batteries and recharges at each stop with an induction system. It can be a true low floor, multi-door bus for quick easy loading and unloading and you don't have to paint it to look like a 1. trolley, 2. plane, 3. train, 4. automobile or 5. leprechaun. You don't need a trick pony to make this service unique and it don't have to be on rails, or monorail beams.

Make use of those transit dollars for transit, not plywood and ginger bread.

No tracks under these babies:

http://www.youtube.com/v/dp3_zUgD6KE?version=3&hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/lrnpvGyAX8o?hl=en_US

http://www.youtube.com/v/p4L20yc4JxE?hl=en_US

Folks on this site are always telling us we should hit some singles instead of swinging for the fences every time (and often striking out). In this case, you seem to be decrying the incremental improvement because it's not a huge overhaul of the bus system. That's why it's hard your attitude is hard to understand.

I have no problem with the concept. No problem to expanding it... downtown, San Marco, Saint Nicholas... wherever the demand can meet JTA's criteria for the new shuttle services.

I believe my observations and comments may have been taken that it is my dislike of the vehicle and thus I'm against hitting a single. NOT AT ALL-IN FACT THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. My comments are from a former supervisor of Tamiami Trailways (part of Greyhound today under former Trailways management).

I don't merely hate the PCT's for being PCT's, it's the FACT that they are expensive gimmicks and prone to very short life-spans for the transit dollar. In other words, had a director at Trailways ordered a fleet of wood paneled, 'woody' plated Eagle-10 motor coaches, he would have been fired on the spot... and with good reason.

No my argument is not against any new or improved JTA services... As my name "Ocklawaha-The Transit Guy" indicates, I am coming at this strictly from a sustainability and cost prospective. A long-life electric bus with a standard interior can be and the elimination of engine and exhaust related costs can add up to $135,000 in savings over the lifetime of the bus. That's enough savings to institute a completely new and complimentary route making this service longer lived.

Axle models, current partial low floor


Axle-less low floor


Multi-Door, Docked, Low-Floor bus

The electrics can be ordered with 'docking,' and 'docking lights,' this means as they arrive at a stop, they can go into a auto-pilot mode and pull to within 2" of the curb. Buzzed patrons are not likely to find that nearly as intimidating as a set of steps. Not only can they 'dock,' they are of the new low floor technology meaning the floor is at curb height. You simply walk in and walk out, just like modern light-rail/streetcars.

On another point, anybody recall the recent 'downtown', 'south side' and 'Durkeeville' "PCT-trolleys?" They serve in the summer at the beaches, in the winter, except for special occasions, they sit on the bus lot. An electric could just shift to a regular route giving us a more transit friendly investment. 

Just as an aside from the great concept of this service or future services, we, the riding public should encourage (if not demand) JTA rethink it's expensive trick-pony and give us something truly transit. The moral of my post? Get rid of the damn PCT's by attrition whilst introducing transit buses.

TAMIAMI TRAILWAYS... Signing Out!

[Tacachale]

^I think you're letting your general dislike of "potato chip trucks" get in the way of seeing this particular project realistically.

[exnewsman]

^I think you're letting your general dislike of "potato chip trucks" get in the way of seeing this particular project realistically.

+1000

[Ocklawaha]

More like hoping for success of this project, and retirement of the PCT's through attrition, hence a sane fiscally responsive approach to expanding on it. What I really hate is the waste of money when it is so damn hard to get JTA to do this or anything else productive.

[Know Growth]

Avondale routine discussion:

Hey!....let's go Out Tonight!
Yea!
Maybe even King Street!?
.......naw,let's stay Local.
Yea!!!!!

How about Riverside/Avondale "Trolley" to Neptune Beach? ( I'm dying for a Ragtime "Brick",apparently carefully unavailable in the 'Hood.....how bad can it be??)

[Know Growth]

probably because no matter what they do, they will face criticism.  Even when they do things that the criticizing group is asking them to do.  Its a real disincentive to listen to anything when that happens.

Evil RAP? Did RAP "ask" for Trolley or rather,warmly and effectively embrace "Experiment"?

[jaxlore]

So I road the trolley this weekend. We left about 9p to catch a movie at Sunray. For my location its a bit of a pain I had to walk a mile from McDuff near Remington to get to it, just to ride another mile to my destination. The way back we had to wait about 30 minutes for the 1-2am slow down, we were tempted to go get a drink at a near by bar but didn't want to miss the last bus of the night. I am not sure how a feel about not having a set schedule, I appreciate the GPS but at least if I knew there was set bus I could plan better, not to mention the 10 minute bus break does not help the matter in our planning. Overall i want the bus to succeed and will continue to support but I hope it can get some tweaks.

[Josh]

Which stop did you get on the trolley at? From Remington to the pickup spot at Park on McDuff is less than half a mile. Even walking to St. Johns to catch the trolley headed the other way isn't that much further, and not really necessary since the trolley gets through the Fishweir/Shoppes area pretty quickly.

[Know Growth]

^Killer drop in. So now we know Metro Jax's own version of the Time Cube guy can't conceive of a world where Riverside residents walk a few blocks to a bus stop. Being 50 Feet Away From Car is EDUCATED STUPID. Not driving at all times reject FOUR SIMULTANEOUS DAYS EARTH ROTATION and is EVIL LIE. PiIZZA IS EVIL LIE.

Indeed, comments were not oriented "where Riverside residents walk"......more related to relatively far away outside Avondale Trolley reaches............hello?....hey can you hear this potential/assumed Trolley customer base....... helo?......sorry,weak or no signal

It's official.
No future RAP land use/rezone applications under curtain assumed "Parking" 'mitigation/alleviation' "Experiment "
should reasonably prevail during the relative future.

I love a certain Central Californian town Trolleys! So glad to have experienced!"Real"

Now we see certain Miami Fla moves to push for re-zone sans "Parking requirement".First ever for Miami, 20+ years ahead of us.
Don't ever forget the "Ahead" aspect.