JTA's New Bus System Debuts Today

[Jumpinjack]

We rode around on our local Riverside buses out to the end of the line during the free ride period. Not much change there.
I have been investigating the Next Bus smart phone app. It seems pretty clunky at this point in time. You need to know the route number, the stop number, and the direction of travel before you can get the time of the next bus.

[Charles Hunter]

RE: bike racks - I think there are 2 per bus.

[David]

RE: bike racks - I think there are 2 per bus.

Thanks. Might be too risky to try it on a work day if all the bike racks are full. Could do the park n ride but I may just drive past it and keep going to work if i'm already in my car.

The only reason i'm considering it is the route is a straight shot up San Jose and 95 grates my nerves during rush hour...(and there's usually a wreck on there 2 or 3 days a week.) But time permitting, throwing some headphones on and doing some work on a laptop would be a better use of 1.5 hours a day.

[David]

Scoped out the stops yesterday, The bus bike racks were actually full at the Pearl & Water stop. And the website/app isn't exactly clear on the 200 route schedule(although I do like the simpler route numbers vs the old naming convention of A1, L7).  I'll probably try it out once just for the experience, but for the average commuter i don't think it'll be enough to get them out of their cars.

I just got on a mass transit kick with memories of taking the trains around NY and DC yesterday. Man that would be awesome if we didn't HAVE to rely on our cars to get around this city.

[ProjectMaximus]

Yeah the website wasn't very clear at all during the implementation week. I remember the 200 route was only peak hours though.
Interestingly, I was chatting with an attorney acquaintance who mentioned he rides the bus to work everyday from his home in Mandarin. Bus goes up San Jose and he gets off at Kings Ave then rides the skyway in. Really surprised me but seems like he's been doing that for a long time.

[johnny_simpatico]

JTA schedules have been loaded into the Transit Times + app, although real time bus positioning apparently is not available (yet).  I prefer this app to NextBus.

[thelakelander]

Bus ridership up after JTA revamps entire system

By Max Marbut, Staff Writer

Following the Dec. 1 implementation of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's Route Optimization Initiative, the number of passengers increased more than 9 percent compared to December 2013.
Brad Thoburn, JTA vice president of long-range planning and system development, reported Wednesday to the authority's board of directors that average weekday ridership increased by 6.6 percent, Saturday usage increased by 8.3 percent and the passenger count was up on Sundays by 17.3 percent.

He said even accounting for the spike in usage the first week of December when riding the bus was free, the passenger count for December was up 2.2 percent compared to 2013.

"It's nice to see stable ridership after a major change," Thoburn said.

He attributed the overall increase to the addition of late night and weekend service on many routes.

The new system involved changing the schedules for all routes and eliminating some routes and bus stops. One part of the redesign was intended to better utilize the Downtown Skyway system.

Thoburn said, excluding the first week of the new system, the number of Skyway users in December increased by 23.9 percent compared to December 2013. In January, Skyway riders increased by about 20 percent, from 80,111 in 2013 to 100,038 last month.

Full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=544876

[tufsu1]

that's actually quite impressive...it is pretty common in the industry to see a 5-10% short-term drop in ridership after making major system changes

[IrvAdams]

For what it's worth, based on my informal poll of friends and my observations locally, I can see that the system has greatly improved. Everything from route changes, frequencies, web-based tracking, number of buses and the hours they run. Just the look of the service, right down to the 'thank you' signs on the buses, etc., has visually improved. Good job.

[ProjectMaximus]

The changes affected me negatively*, but if the system as a whole is improved for most people, then I'm all for it!!

*I used to ride the CT3 between downtown and the airport, probably just once every 3-4 months. That transit time has increased from 25 minutes to 57 minutes, so I don't plan on using it anymore. So far there has only been one instance where I would have normally taken it, and I rode uber instead.

[urbanlibertarian]

Any word on how the changes in the way that buses interact with the Skyway have worked out?  The number of buses on northbank streets seems dramatically lower.

[tufsu1]

Any word on how the changes in the way that buses interact with the Skyway have worked out?  The number of buses on northbank streets seems dramatically lower.

the article notes that Skyway ridership has increased significantly, primarily because of route restructuring

[urbaknight]

The big problem with the skyway is that, its schedule never changed. It's still closed on weekends and closed at 9pm suring the week. And they still disrupt service with their "maintenance" during the day. JTA still has no concept or 3rd shift!

However, on a more positive note,

My bus was the ws7, my biggest complaint was that it needs to run later and more often. It does that now as route 15. So I'm glad for that. But I've heard mixed reviews as well.

But I guess it's not easy to please everyone.

[exnewsman]

But I guess it's not easy to please everyone.

No truer words have ever been spoken. No way any transit system is going to be perfect for everyone. You could pick people up at their house and somebody would still find reason to complain.

[tufsu1]

At a meeting this morning, JTA CEO Nat Ford said January 2015 ridership was up 10% from January 2014...and that's with much lower gas prices!