Jacksonville Transit Conference

[spuwho]

One concept that might have value for the community is for Jacksonville to host a transit conference.

Have education sessions for community leaders like DDA, DIA, JaxVision, COJ, JTA, FDOT, and a host of other where an agenda is set forth in advance.

Have large public sessions where the public can ask a panel of experts questions on what it can mean to have a transit plan and what value it may (or may not) have for them.

Host urban planners that panel how transit and community planning work together.

Invite the transit manufacturers to bring in examples of their products so the public can walk through, touch, feel what these approaches are like. Bombardier, Siemens, Nippon Sharyo, Kawasaki, Rotem, even heritage material, PCC's, etc.

Host focus groups to collect feedback from the public on what they saw or heard at the conference, (or through the press) what do they think JTA should embrace.

Let it run for at least 5 days going to a weekend so the public can see it all.

Advertise it as "the future of Jacksonville", so when JTA begins to start announcing their long range plans for the Skyway (and beyond) , the public will have more than a passing understanding of what it means.

And more importantly, when JTA has to finance it, the public has a clear view of what exactly they are being asked to pay for.

[ProjectMaximus]

but how will the conference pay for itself? 

Seriously, spuwho, that would be fantastic! But I can't even fathom how to make such a thing happen. Who can make the first step?