Will a futuristic $57 million transportation center revolutionize Jacksonville?

[thelakelander]

At first glance, the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center looks like it would fit in at Disney World, where monorails run through hotels.


A curving, glass-walled five-story building wraps around an existing Skyway station near the Prime Osborn Convention Center. There's an opening for Skyway trains to enter and exit on their elevated tracks. Down at street level, buses roll under the building through another opening.

If it doesn't look like a typical bus station, that's the point, Jacksonville Transportation Authority officials say.

The transportation center is part of JTA's strategy to get people to think again — or maybe for the first time — about catching a bus and leaving the car at home.

"When we look at this facility, you think of Union Station in Denver and Grand Central Station in New York," JTA Chief Executive Officer Nat Ford said after a Tueday ground-breaking ceremony. "Those are iconic facilities that transcend generations. That's what we're doing here. We want something that's attractive. We want something that's a destination in and of itself."

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2017-06-19/will-futuristic-57-million-transportation-center-revolutionize-jacksonville

[RatTownRyan]

"I don't want to get too far ahead of us, but we are already planning on Phase III, which is the relocation of Amtrak from its current location right to the other side of this building here, the Prime Osbourne, back to its original planned facility and location in this area,"JTA CEO Nathaniel  Ford said.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/jta-breaks-ground-on-57-million-transportation-hub/450602735

[thelakelander]

Here's a few 2004 renderings of the proposed Amtrak/commuter rail/intercity rail phase:

[FlaBoy]

Hopefully this also gets the infrastructure in place for what will be needed by Brightline.

[Captain Zissou]

The Brooklyn Skyway station is so needed.  As development picks up on the southbank and FSCJ adds housing downtown, a link to Brooklyn would greatly increase the QOL of future residents.  I hope that in the future the skyway can push farther west toward 5 points, but the Brooklyn station is such an easy win that I don't know why we haven't already done it.

[thelakelander]

Hopefully this also gets the infrastructure in place for what will be needed by Brightline.

If Brightline comes to Jax, they won't be stopped by whatever JTA does not accomplish with Amtrak.  They already co-own the railroad that runs right next to the Prime Osborn.  If and when they expand, they'll most likely follow their Phase 1 model of building their own platforms and station.

[ProjectMaximus]

The Brooklyn Skyway station is so needed.  As development picks up on the southbank and FSCJ adds housing downtown, a link to Brooklyn would greatly increase the QOL of future residents.  I hope that in the future the skyway can push farther west toward 5 points, but the Brooklyn station is such an easy win that I don't know why we haven't already done it.

Totally agree. It's so frustrating how obvious this is. But it seems now that they are going the autonomous vehicle route, any skyway expansion is off the table until those system modification plans are set.

[Tacachale]

Hopefully this also gets the infrastructure in place for what will be needed by Brightline.

If Brightline comes to Jax, they won't be stopped by whatever JTA does not accomplish with Amtrak.  They already co-own the railroad that runs right next to the Prime Osborn.  If and when they expand, they'll most likely follow their Phase 1 model of building their own platforms and station.

Brightline building their own station is what I'm afraid of with them. There's no guarantee it would be at or near this new proposed station, and if it's not, it won't have as much of an impact for the area. JTA has given little indication they're even talking to Brightline.

[thelakelander]

^I'm less fearful of that and there has been some dialogue in the past between the parties.  They built their own station in Miami, right next to Metrorail's hub. Intercity rail doesn't work as well if it's not seamlessly connected to local transit options. They seem to get how connectivity between different modes and TOD work. JTA is also taking a big step forward with finally creating a hub to bring various transit modes together.  In a sense, they're ahead of Tampa and St. Pete when it comes to this. However, I do believe that Brightline is the best chance of seeing any active passenger rail service within the downtown proper, within the next few years.  JTA successfully pulling off a single commuter rail is light years away and Amtrak's existence is up in the air, at the moment.

[FlaBoy]

^I'm less fearful of that and there has been some dialogue in the past between the parties.  They built their own station in Miami, right next to Metrorail's hub. Intercity rail doesn't work as well if it's not seamlessly connected to local transit options. They seem to get how connectivity between different modes and TOD work. JTA is also taking a big step forward with finally creating a hub to bring various transit modes together.  In a sense, they're ahead of Tampa and St. Pete when it comes to this. However, I do believe that Brightline is the best chance of seeing any active passenger rail service within the downtown proper, within the next few years.  JTA successfully pulling off a single commuter rail is light years away and Amtrak's existence is up in the air, at the moment.

There will never be commuter rail here in our lifetime. Brightline is the only chance of it and that is at least a decade out. It would only benefit in a commuter fashion if there is a St. A stop.

You are right about Tampa Bay, they are still squabbling over the location. This is their greatest weakness...a lack of unity in the community.

[thelakelander]

I believe for commuter rail to be more feasible in Jax, we'll need an entity like Brightline to hit the region first.  Since it's privately funded, they'd make their own track capacity improvements for passenger rail and if there was a stop in St. Augustine, we'd get a potential commuter experience similar to the segment between WPB and Miami.  With them upgrading track infrastructure, it would allow for commuter rail to piggyback off the enhancements, similar to what Tri-Rail is doing along the Brightline corridor.

[FlaBoy]

I believe for commuter rail to be more feasible in Jax, we'll need an entity like Brightline to hit the region first.  Since it's privately funded, they'd make their own track capacity improvements for passenger rail and if there was a stop in St. Augustine, we'd get a potential commuter experience similar to the segment between WPB and Miami.  With them upgrading track infrastructure, it would allow for commuter rail to piggyback off the enhancements, similar to what Tri-Rail is doing along the Brightline corridor.

For sure. I could see Brightline doing:

Jax-->ST A.-->Daytona--->Orlando-->West Palm-->Lauderdale--->Miami

Or they could cut out a St. Augustine or Daytona stop. Those would be the two biggest tourist destinations on the east coast of Florida north of Orlando.

[thelakelander]

Depends. Once infrastructure is in place you could do something like a Jax/Orlando, Jax/Miami and a Miami/Orlando on the existing tracks. Between Cocoa Beach, you'll likely end up with only a stop or two, with one of them definitely being Daytona.

[RattlerGator]

The sooner we can get that Amtrak station back downtown, the better. The current facility is a COMPLETE embarrassment.

And now that I've watched the JTA U2C presentation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkxa5jqxT20

well . . . jump-starting some transportation infrastructure initiatives looks even more intriguing.

[exnewsman]

The Brooklyn Skyway station is so needed.  As development picks up on the southbank and FSCJ adds housing downtown, a link to Brooklyn would greatly increase the QOL of future residents.  I hope that in the future the skyway can push farther west toward 5 points, but the Brooklyn station is such an easy win that I don't know why we haven't already done it.

Totally agree. It's so frustrating how obvious this is. But it seems now that they are going the autonomous vehicle route, any skyway expansion is off the table until those system modification plans are set.

The expansion to Brooklyn is part of phase one and will be done with the Skyway conversion. JTA has been working on expanding to Brooking for years now, but lost out of two TIGER grants to make it happen.