Altered Downtown BRT moving forward

[Lunican]

Downtown transit project
by Joe Wilhelm Jr.

A vision for the future of Downtown transit including city buses feeding trolley routes to reduce congestion on city streets has moved another step closer to reality.

The Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) and Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) are planning improvements to the local public system and Phase One of the Jacksonville Rapid Transit System has received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. JTA will soon be requesting bids for the design of the improvements.

Full article:
http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=51207

[alta]

Awesome!!!  Jacksonville has finally shed it's inferiority complex and is going ahead with a world class transit system.  I'm sure the light rail riders in Charlotte, Austin and Salt Lake City are so envious of us!!! lmao

[Keith-N-Jax]

Its Jacksonville what would one expect.

[TheProfessor]

I think it is unfair to be so pessimistic about phase one of the BRT plan. It consists of construction of the intermodel (bus,train,sky-way) depot which will allow for a smoother transfer for different forms of public transportation.  I think phase one is a step in the right direction.  Now for phase 2, I hope that light rail is considered before buses take over the city, especially if they are considering elevated buses, that would be a horrid sight.  It is up to the public, that is you and I, to voice our concerns to JTA.

[alta]

The $15.5 million Phase One project will include dedicated bus lanes along Broad and Jefferson streets, installation of transit signal priority equipment on bus routes and real-time bus schedule information supplied through GPS systems.

Quote from article listed above.

[Keith-N-Jax]

Why vote this city just does what ever they think is right, they dont listen, dont know how. They must be, JTA included the worst collection of leaders on earth.. BRT what a joke.

[thelakelander]

As the design phase on the Downtown project begins, a public hearing will be held to discuss the North Corridor project. An environmental assessment is being conducted by JTA to determine the type of transportation improvements needed north of Downtown.

The 10.5-mile corridor stretches from Downtown along Boulevard Street to Gateway Mall and continues north along Norwood Avenue/Lem Turner Road, ending south of Armsdale Road near I-295.

This sounds like it may be different from the original proposal which was supposed to run parallel to I-95.  This description seems as if they are considering using existing streets with wide right-of-ways that go through areas where transit dependent residents live.  It also does not parallel rail.  I don't have a map in front of me, but it may be something that might be a complement to rail.

[Jason]

Broad turns into Boulevard and runs right next to Shands and on up past the 20th street expsy.   IMO, not a bad route.

[JeffreyS]

Looks like a good route I would prefer streetcar.

[Jason]

Definitely!!

[ProjectMaximus]

I think it is unfair to be so pessimistic about phase one of the BRT plan. It consists of construction of the intermodel (bus,train,sky-way) depot which will allow for a smoother transfer for different forms of public transportation.  I think phase one is a step in the right direction.  Now for phase 2, I hope that light rail is considered before buses take over the city, especially if they are considering elevated buses, that would be a horrid sight.  It is up to the public, that is you and I, to voice our concerns to JTA.

Right on, professor. At first glance, this is actually a perfectly acceptable plan for rail proponents.