JACKSONVILLE AND AMTRAK, A City Speaks Out On Passenger Rail Routes

AMTRAK? EVER WONDER WHERE YOUR MARKET IS IN FLORIDA? HERE ARE RESULTS OF A RANDOM SURVEY OF 47 NON-RAILROAD, OR RAILFAN, FLORIDIANS THAT MIGHT HELP...

We took a look at the classic trains of Florida Past, and Present, then listed them by route by route. This was a long survey and we are quite happy to have had 47 people to volunteer their time to read through it and answer it as truthfully as possible. There were a few surprises but most of the answers were as exciting as the memory and imagination of the old railroad guy.

Routes: The train routes were given an identification based on some historic train or where possible a current Amtrak name. We then listed only the major destinations of all of the trains to give a good feel for the routes themselves. Everyone understood that there would be smaller intermediate stops enroute. Frankly, I wondered if the names or the routes or even the fact that they would not be "NON-STOP FLIGHTS" would play in a 2009 world. Not only did it play, I think many of these old routes are still considered solid gold by our City. Routes to the Carolinas, New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, and New Orleans all made a very strong showing. The Florida East Coast Ry. Corridor, nearly blew the survey away.

We then asked where they would prefer to catch a train in Jacksonville, again Jacksonville Terminal downtown was a hands down run away winner. However Orange Park/Yukon and a South Jacksonville station (both were once suburban way stations with passenger service) made a strong showing. Perhaps the citizens living in the most sprawled city in North America (largest in land mass) are begging Amtrak, JTA and FDOT to give us the benefit of multipule stops such as the Orlando area enjoys.

Schedules were questioned based on the age old, "Florida Passenger Train Curse." All trains run Southbound in the early AM, and all trains run Northbound in the early PM... I, for one, have always thought a couple of very late PM departures South from Jacksonville, with early AM arrivals in Tampa/Sarasota/Ft. Myers or St. Petersburg, as well as West Palm/Fort Lauderdale/Miami, would serve a strong market. I really didn't know how it would play for others to rock 100 years of tradition. One can only imagine my response to the peoples validation of my theorys.

The questions on the JTC (Jacksonville Transportation Center) aka: Jacksonville Terminal, are loaded as it is currently a far too small Convention Center. The old Headhouse of the 1919 Railroad Terminal dwarfs any other station built South of Washington D.C., but it sits vacant, used as an occasional "ballroom" for Conventioniers. The exhibit halls are new and take up most of the former railroad platforms with buildings and/or parking. If we attempt to build JTC with the Convention Center in the middle, it will scatter our station all over the LaVilla neighborhood. If we move the Convention Center to larger and more desireable locations in the center of downtown's waterfront, then transportation can reclaim all of the land that was once in use.

The questions of "Interface" with the City have to do with multi-modal connections. Our Monorail, and Bus System, plus any future Streetcars, Light Rail, Commuter Rail, Bus Rapid Transit, and Water Taxis. Again we wanted to hear from those with zero background in this type of venture to see what the casual resident would say. I think many will be amazed at just how savvy these citizens really are.

The last set of questions put the JTC or Jacksonville Terminal back to something of it's original form. We asked how much, where, when, what, how, who and why and again, honors go to these intrepid residents that hung in and gave intelligent answers to the questions.

Finally something of a joke. Our question about "The Lakelander" as a certain Mr. Davis, urban planner is known. "Ocklawaha", as Mr. Mann, your blogger, and former railroad consultant, is known in various civic forums and events. We knew there was local name recognition and wondered if all of these 5,000 + storys in all forms of media had given anyone a sense of who we are and what we'd love to do?

It was never intended to sound like hollow bragging, but the public themselves spoke loud and clear much to our delighted surprise.

THE SOUTH WIND LIVING UP TO HER NAME

ROUTE / TRAIN NAME / ROUTE DESCRIPTION

Total votes out of a possible 47/(percent of all totals combined)/Percent out of a possible 100%.

ROUTE> The Tidewater Route: Jax-Savannah-Fayetteville-Suffolk-Portsmouth/Norfolk
13 (1.6%) 27%
ROUTE> The Carolina Special Route: Jax-Savannah-Columbia-Charlotte-Washington-New York
27 (3.3%) 57%
ROUTE> Silver Meteor Route: Jax-Savannah-Columbia-Raleigh-Richmond-Washington-New York
28 (3.5%) 59%
ROUTE> Champion Route: Jax-Savannah-Fayetteville-Richmond-Washington-New york
20 (2.5%) 42%
ROUTE> KCY-FL Special Route: Jax-Jessup-Hazelhurst-Macon-Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville-St. Louis-KCY
19 (2.3%) 40%
ROUTE> Dixie Route: Jax-Waycross-Fitzgerald-Macon-Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville-Louisville-Chicago
24 (3%) 51%
ROUTE> Royal Palm Route: Jax-Valdosta-Cordelle-Macon-Atlanta-Chattanooga-Knoxville-Cincinnati-Chicago/Detriot/Cleveland
21 (2.6%) 44%
ROUTE> City of Miami Route: Jax-Valdosta-Albany-Columbus-Birmingham-Memphis-St.Louis/Chicago
13 (1.6%)nb b 27%
ROUTE> South Wind Route: Jax-Waycross-Valdosta-Dothan-Montgomery-Birmingham-Nashville-Louisville-Chicago
12 (1.5%) 25%
ROUTE> Gulf Wind Route: Jax-Tallahassee-Pensacola-Mobile-Biloxi-New Orleans-(Los Angeles)
31 (3.8%) 65%
ROUTE> The Gulf Coast Special Route: Jax-Baldwin-Starke-Alachua-Gainesville
17 (2.1%) 36%
ROUTE> West Coast Champion Route: Jax-Palatka-Orlando-Lakeland-Tampa-Clearwater-St. Pete
22 (2.7%) 46%
ROUTE> The Meteor Route: Jax-Waldo-Wildwood-Auburndale-Winter Haven-Sebring-West Palm-Miami
16 (2%) 34%
ROUTE> The Sunniland Route> Jax-Waldo-Wildwood-Lakeland-Arcadia-Ft. Myers-Naples
9 (1.1%) 19%
ROUTE> The Palmland Route: Jax-Waldo-Wildwood-Lakeland-Tampa-Sarasota-Venice
11 (1.4%) 23%
ROUTE> East Coast Champion Route: Jax-Palatka-Orlando-Auburndale-Winter Haven-Sebring-West Palm-Miami
19 (2.3%) 40%
ROUTE> H. M. Flagler Route: Jax-St. Augustine-Daytona Beach-Melbourne-Ft. Pierce-West Palm-Miami
37 (4.6%) 78%

THE OBSERVATION CAR ROYAL STREET BRINGS UP THE MARKER LIGHTS ON THE ROYAL PALM

---------------------------------
I'd Prefer to catch the train at the current Amtrak Station
1 (0.1%) 2%
I'd prefer to catch the train at the Jacksonville Terminal Downtown
46 (5.7%) 97%
I'd prefer to catch the train in South Jacksonville
9 (1.1%) 19%
I'd prefer to catch the train in Baldwin
2 (0.2%) 4%
I'd prefer to catch the train in Orange Park/Yukon
10 (1.2%) 21%
---------------------------------

All schedules should be Southbound in the AM and Northbound in the PM
3 (0.4%) 6%
All schedules should run in both directions throughout the daylight hours
11 (1.4%) 23%
All schedules should run in both directions both daylight and overnight
33 (4.1%) 70%
--------------------------------
JTC>I like the JTA Jacksonville Transportation Center just like it is planned
6 (0.7%) 12%
JTC>I would like to see the Convention Center moved and a more condensed Transporation Center built
35 (4.3%) 74%
JTC>If the Convention Center can't be moved, we should redesign the Transportation Center for more compactness
15 (1.9%) 31%
--------------------------------

INTERFACE> JTA should hub city buses, BRT and Express Bus services to meet Amtrak trains
29 (3.6%) 61%
INTERFACE> JTA Should expand the Skyway Downtown to better distribute the passengers from the trains
29 (3.6%) 61%
INTERFACE> JTA should run much longer hours, even 24/7 on main trunk routes as soon as the trains start rolling
22 (2.7%) 46%
INTERFACE> I believe JTA's Commuter Rail and Streetcar lines will benefit from the groundwork provided by Amtrak and Regional Rail
43 (5.3%) 91%
INTERFACE> I don't think Amtrak will mean a thing to JTA ridership, even if we become a major hub again.
2 (0.2%) 4%

THE DIXIE FLYER ARRIVES IN NASHVILLE
-------------------------------
TERMINAL PLANS> JTA/FDOT plan 3 tracks at our downtown station, I think that's more then enough
3 (0.4%) 6%
TERMINAL PLANS> JTA and FDOT plan 3 tracks at our station, I feel it is wholly inadequate
12 (1.5%) 25%
TERMINAL PLANS> JTA and FDOT plan 3 tracks at our station and I fear they foolishly plan to give the hub to Orlando or Sanford
22 (2.7%) 46%
TERMINAL PLANS> I believe a complete Railroad Terminal with all of the sundry support is a requirement in Jacksonville
28 (3.5%) 59%
TERMINAL PLANS> I think Jacksonville and JTA should be at the forefront of the efforts to improve rail services in NE Florida and South Georgia
41 (5.1%) 87%
TERMINAL PLANS> I would support the idea of a multi-city/multi-state coalition led by Jacksonville to push rail passenger service
35 (4.3%) 74%
TERMINAL PLANS> Should The Lakelander and Ocklawaha be appointed to lead the Jacksonville Rail Task Force?
33 (4.1%) 70%

SEABOARD PAUSES AT BAY PINES, FLORIDA IN BETTER DAYS

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JTA'S BRT TRUNK LINE NIGHTMARE COMES TRUE IN MIAMI

So Jacksonville, has bought the Bus Rapid Transit sales pitch, hook, line, and sinker. For over a year I have been raving on about BRT being nothing more then a cafe of advanced "bus think". The parade of supposed success story's keeps changing:

Pittsburgh
Cleveland
Boston
Santiago De Chile
Curitiba Brasil
Los Angeles El Monte busway
Bogota...etc...

Who are these people? Gentle Reader, these are the same highway boys that scrapped the nations streetcars and interurban's in favor of buses. Go figure, the rail industry has 7 large companies and dozens of small shortline businesses, but most private passenger traffic died in 1971 as Amtrak took over. The industry has ZERO real interest in running our government trains on their tracks unless there is a huge incentive in plant expansion.

Otherwise there are some 70 odd cities with at least a mile or two of streetcar or interurban tracks in North America. Most of these operations are less the 20 years old. While thousands of communities cashiered the streetcars in favor of supposedly "flexible bus transit."

States including Florida, once had laws on the book that every able bodied male MUST serve a week or so each year working on roads. Those same roads were largely paid for with railroad tax money. Once the roadways reached the point of saturation, most Americans shifted their loyalty to automobiles. So when the evil streetcar holocaust snatched the big trolleys from nearly every town on the continent, nobody seemed to care. So how loaded are the dice for the rail proponents such as this blog? Glad you asked:

State and Federal Highways, aka: roads and bridges, are in endless expansion within finite space. Tax Payers that support highways should look for the same return on investment that Airlines, buses or Amtrak gets. But we all know THAT won't happen.

In Jacksonville the same highway boys rolled out a 26 mile "Bus Rapid Transit" plan that in reality was a BILLION DOLLAR road project. The mantra went up from JTA that "highway=cheap", "rail=bad". So this blog, along with metrojacksonville.com, jaxoutloud.com, urbanjacksonville.com, started exposing this true boondoggle for what it's really worth. "Just like rail only cheaper..." Only someone forgot to look up the word CHEAPER in the dictionary:

CHEAPER
brassy: tastelessly showy; "a flash car"; "a flashy ring"; "garish colors"; "a gaudy costume"; "loud sport shirts"; "a meretricious yet stylish book"; "tawdry ornaments"
bum: of very poor quality; flimsy; embarrassingly stingy
The term derives from the Latin miser, meaning "poor" or "wretched," comparable to the modern word "miserable"Low and/or reduced in price; Of poor quality; Of little worth

So what are the folks at JTA and Miami-Dade REALLY selling us? Let's try that slogan again and insert the meaning of the word into our sentence:

"BRT - Just like rail only wretched, of poor quality and little worth."
"BRT - Just like rail only flimsy, gaudy and embarrassingly stingy."

Ever wonder where the billions of development promised by BRT really happen. Everyone knows the meaning of "cheaper" and none of them are going to plunk down $100 million on a new office tower without fixed, permanent transit.

So are we surprised that Miami-Dade is taking a "perfect example" of BRT built on a former railroad from Miami to Kendall and a converting it to toll road? No! A BRT system that was to show all of Florida just how much better BRT is then rail. So now with the railroad long gone, and the busway empty of either buses or passengers we see our State going even farther backwards.

So our lessons for the day:

BRT should NEVER be built where rail is already in place.
BRT does not live up to its claim to be "As good as rail."
BRT does tend to live down to the word cheap.
Commuter Rail or Light Rail would have been more attractive in the first place
Once the rail is gone, we may never see it again in any given corridor.
Once the BRT is gone, all we have to show for our $ Billions are a few more highway lane miles and a collection of newer buses.

Those example BRT models? Let's see if this is just a Florida ghost or a true fleecing of the flock.

• Cleveland - The Euclid corridor claims millions in development and nearly every cent is socialized federal, state and local offices and the BRT has fallen short in every survey, Light Rail may soon replace the mega bucks spent on this "system."
  
• 1978 – Pittsburgh's South Busway, projected to carry 35,000 weekday rider-trips, actually attracted only 20,000 rider-trips initially, and that level has now dropped to about 14,500, less than pre-busway ridership in the affected corridor. Meanwhile, a parallel LRT upgrade has attracted approximately fifty percent more passengers.[Source: Port Authority Transit data]
  
• Boston - The highly vaunted "Silver Line BRT" will not be expanded in fact it's roadway was the most expensive piece of highway work in history, rail will take it from here on.
  
• Santiago De Chile - IF you manage to get on a bus, be ready to duck flying bricks (you can feel the hate for this BRT in the air) and of course they're now building a Subway.
  
• Curitiba Brasil - These folks claimed the worlds most successful BRT operation, they even got the bus traffic to move at 12 mph. Now they are quickly building a rail system.
  
• 1973 – The El Monte Busway in suburban Los Angeles, installed on a former interurban railway alignment in the median of I-10, has been moderately successful, peaking with a ridership of about 30,000 per day. However, influential planners, highway engineers, and political leaders, perceiving unused capacity between the buses, in the 1980s opened the facility up to use by car pools. With the buses now delayed by "HOV" automobile traffic, ridership has dropped to about 20,000, a reduction of 33 percent. Meanwhile, a commuter rail line constructed by California down the middle of the "BRT" alignment, implemented to speed person-movement in the corridor, has been quite successful - consistently gaining ridership. [Source: LACMTA data]
  
• Bogota - Ever imagine 350 North Americans packed into a single bus? Bogota with 5 rail lines going to waste, is holding tight to BRT in the hopes they can still sell it to stupid Americans. Just imagine what they could do with a series of 8 car push-pull commuter trains, but if your not into riots, military police or sardines, better steer clear of this system. It's so good in fact that it's ILLEGAL for a US/EEUU citizen to ride it!

"BRT" - You Can Build it ... But Will They Come?
Light Rail Progress – Updated December 2002

Proponents of "BRT" (so-called "Bus Rapid Transit"), including the US Federal Transit Administration, assume that, service characteristics (like access time, total travel time, and cost) being equal, the ability of "BRT" service to attract riders is equivalent to that of LRT (light rail transit). Accordingly, the FTA mandates that in ridership forecasting models – such as those commonly used in Major investment Studies for federally funded new starts – bus and rail modes must be treated as virtually indistinguishable to passengers. in fact, speculative ridership models sometimes assign higher trip projections to a "BRT" system alternative, on the basis of input assumptions of supposed bus "flexibility", such as neighborhood access, "seamless", transfer-free trips, express services leapfrogging around local services, etc.

But do these theoretical projections jibe with reality? The empirical evidence would appear to suggest otherwise.

Altogether, analysis has shown that, for new starts installed in corridors serving the core areas of US cities, "BRT" busways have attracted only one-third of the rider-trips estimated for them by FTA-approved modelling. LRT has attracted 122 percent. The palpable effect of this is that, on most new LRT systems, parking lots are jammed, and riders are crowding on trains; in contrast, typical new "BRT" systems may experience modest increases in ridership, but certainly not the avalanche of passengers seen on LRT.

Denver's new LRT extension was overwhelmed with passengers, a Denver Business Journal reporter assured readers that "Packed light-rail cars, overflowing parking lots and passengers left behind on station platforms aren't unique to the Regional Transportation District's new Southwest light-rail line." On the contrary, "They are scenes repeated around the country as people flock to new rail transit lines in numbers far beyond initial projections."[Source: Denver Business Journal 26 January 2001]

Now this from the Miami Herald, "Oh the Humanity," looks like someone figured out how to build another turnpike with FTA mass transit funds.

South Miami-Dade Busway may give way to cars

Officials plan to vote on a controversial plan to convert South Miami-Dade's Busway into a highway with toll express lanes.

A proposed plan would convert the South Miami-Dade Busway into -- among other alternatives -- a four-lane highway with express toll lanes where private vehicles would share the road with buses.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
For years, motorists in South Miami-Dade have longed to drive on the two-lane bus road on the west side of the chronically congested South Dixie Highway.
Now they might get their wish if county commissioners and other local elected officials approve a proposed plan to convert the Busway into -- among other alternatives -- a four-lane highway with express toll lanes where private vehicles would share the road with buses. The revenue would then be used to fund the cash-strapped county transit agency.
The July 23 vote by commissioners and mayors who are members of the Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization would enable the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority to obtain a detailed study on ways to convert the Busway.
It would bring dramatic change to the Dadeland-to-Florida City roadway, which was built to encourage motorists to take buses that travel more quickly because they benefit from green-light priority at intersections.
But the strategy didn't work out well because Miami-Dade Transit was never able to operate many buses on the roadway. Currently, between 10 to 27 buses per hour during rush periods serving some 20,000 passengers per day use the Busway. At times the north-south roadway is practically empty.
Transit advocates now fear that modifying the Busway to allow private vehicles would further discourage commuters from using public transportation and reward solo drivers.
DIFFERING VIEWS
Katy Sorenson, a county commissioner and MPO member, provided a hint of the looming controversy when at last month's MPO meeting she urged fellow board members not to take actions that would steer people away from public transit.
''When the issue was brought up a year ago, I had some reservations, because undermining transit is the last thing I would want to do,'' she said. ``This would not necessarily undermine transit and it could provide a funding mechanism for transit. But I want to make sure that in this effort, transit is priority one and secondarily congestion relief.''
Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, also an MPO member, suggested he was more interested in relieving congestion even if that means allowing private vehicles on a bus-exclusive roadway.
''I would support moving forward,'' Gimenez said, alluding to the coming vote on the conversion study. ``If it competes with Miami-Dade Transit, so be it.''
The majority of members at the May 28 meeting seemed to support the conversion study, but not all 22 members were present.
OPTIONS
Three possible conversion alternatives were outlined to MPO members in May by an MPO staffer who said the options would be analyzed more in-depth in the Busway study.
Alternatives described by Larry Foutz, the MPO's transportation systems manager, included:
• Leaving the Busway as is, but allowing private vehicles to use it by paying a toll that would be deducted electronically via SunPass accounts.
• Adding one or two lanes, plus flyover bridges at certain or all intersections to ensure faster travel times for buses and toll-paying private vehicles.
• Building a four-lane elevated highway, moving traffic at expressway speeds along a totally rebuilt Busway from Mowry Drive in Homestead to the Dadeland South Metrorail station in Kendall.
Making no changes to the roadway and adding toll-paying traffic would cost almost nothing, Foutz said, but the option would only allow no more than 5,000 vehicles per day to use the facility and would likely slow the buses.
The other alternatives would add more vehicles to the roadway and range in cost from $228 million to $1.8 billion.
The most expensive, what Foutz called the ''Taj Mahal'' of the options, would be the elevated expressway-style alternative.
Under any option, Foutz said, toll rates would be relatively high because officials want to keep demand as low as possible to maintain fast travel times.
TOLL RATES
Tolls, in anticipated 2030 dollars, would range from $11.25 to $12.75 for travel from one end of the Busway to the other.
Depending on the toll rate and number of toll-paying vehicles, revenue would range between $11 million and $37 million per year.
The Busway was built along an old Florida East Coast railroad corridor that the Florida Department of Transportation acquired in 1988. Subsequently, the right-of-way ownership was transferred to Miami-Dade County.

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HOW TO: Kill your parking meters, employ Parking Enforcment, and pay for TRANSIT

Many Sunbelt cities share the same plague. We have gone from dense compact streetcar communities, to sprawled auto scale suburbia. This disease has eaten away the historic fabric of our downtown's, collapsed real estate values, and relegated transit to a poor persons accommodation. To fight the early compact parking famine, meters were installed to give the city some control over parking abuse and to raise much needed income for city improvement projects. This phenomenon almost without fail killed the downtown retail, restaurant and club trades. It sent the shoppers scurrying for the suburbs where they had acres of free parking and well lit, heated or air conditioned shopping comforts.

To fight this trend, some cities, Jacksonville, one of the leaders among them, started a program to raze old buildings and install new multi-level parking garages. The meters stayed at the curbs, and the income kept rolling in, but the ratios of expense to income grew worse with each multimillion dollar garage. The garages had another effect on downtown, they stole away the office workers that previously had walked to and from their posh work stations by making the auto-office connection seamless. Transit agencies, most all centered around the central city were no match
for what now seemed an automotive slam dunk play.

Something funny happened on the way to autotopia, holes Begin to appear in downtown's all across the nation. Big holes, whole blocks swallowed by vacant lots, cheap parking, and pay by the hour vendors. While some Cities retained their close in streetcar business districts, the core was rotting from the inside out. The dearth of people and falling prices, plus the homeless that moved in on the vacant land now caused even more low or zero income people to flood the formerly prosperous meccas.

Jacksonville is VERY luck to have held fast to it's close in streetcar developments such as San Marco, San Jose, Springfield, Riverside, Avondale, 5-Points, St. Nicholas, A. Phillip Randolph, Fairfax, Murray Hill, Durkeeville (Historic home of the American Negro League Baseball Teams), Moncrief as well as Park and King. But as the City core became more and more a bland cement wall or glass towered giants, the doors along the street became fewer and fewer. Sprawl looking to escape the homelessness, poverty, and illusion of unsafe conditions, leapfrogged the old Streetcar neighborhoods and dove into suburban sprawl.

How does Jacksonville stack up to other cities? How do we look compared to your town? Imagine a booming Sunbelt City with the above core conditions sprawling over 860 square miles. That my friends is our City, and I wouldn't try walking to your corner grocer or hardware store unless your down for some brutal miles.



I'd like to offer a solution that might at first take, seem over simplistic. Trust me, in application it is simple, but the results will be invigorating.

To set the stage for this conversion we must first get an audit of all available parking in the core of the central city, at least everything covered by metered parking. On the one hand we want to know EVERY garage space, or surface parking space in the city, their count, occupancy rates, and any available space. Next we need an audit of the meters on a block by block, street by street, and east side, west side, north and south side, total average monthly income per block per side.
Step three is to take the garages and surface lots, and assign each of them a territory, naturally the 900 car garage is going to have a larger territory then a 230 car surface lot. The Territory's should be balanced so that each covers a percentage of the metered spaces.

The parking meters are then and forever removed and replaced by hourly, parking restrictions. These parking restrictions can flex according to local need. The average income per metered space is directly transferred as a fee to the surrounding garage or surface lot, again according to usage and revenue. Meters that average $3 dollars per day will obviously transfer more fees within their district then an area where meters average .25 cents per day.



So far we've explored how to retain both the income and hourly parking enforcement as well as remove the meters, making downtown more people friendly.

This opens a door to add a small percentage to all of these fees, depending on the total amounts transferred, anywhere from a few percent, to a solid 33%, could be tacked onto the former METER income. To prevent a tax revolt, it wouldn't be fair to arbitrarily zap the former parking spaces with a fee increase based on the spaces former income. This revenue which could amount to several thousands of dollars daily over and above the money needed to keep parking enforcement intact, would go directly into the construction or reconstruction of Streetcars, LRT, Trolley Bus, and any other fixed guideway transit.

The final incentive for this is beyond even the recovery of our downtown retail marketplaces, it's all of the above, urban cores that beg work, play, and live.
The personal incentive is as easy, anyone not wanting to see their monthly parking space rental go from $35.00 a month (yes, over building has cause very low prices in the Sunbelt - but these numbers are examples only) to perhaps $50.00 a month, will be offered a month long transit pass as a new choice rider, at a discounted $40.00 a month. This is an incentive that could continue as long as they use transit or if it proves extremely popular, it could have a time limit on it.

So what did this plan do?

Got rid of the meters
Retained all of the income
Added a fee for transit to build fixed route transit
Retained all parking enforcement employees
Slight garage parking fee increase
Gives the city more oversight into parking construction
Builds incentives to return retail, work, play, live, downtown

Invites new Choice Riders to try Mass Transit

It's way past due, lets do something today.

Robert Mann: Jacksonville Transit Blog

FLORIDA HIGH SPEED RAIL - Brain Dead In Florida

Last week I had the fortune to attend the FRA/Amtrak and High Speed Rail dog and pony show.

The event was held at (of all places) the Orlando International Airport Marriott. They billed this as part show, part workshop, and explained it would take the whole afternoon. The only two from Northeast Florida, were a metrojacksonville.com writer and your intrepid Jacksonville blogger. Since the Orlando Airport is nearly impossible to get at from Orlando, we rode together, via automobile, over interstates suffering from a solid week of pouring tropical rain.



The room designed for perhaps 150 persons must have had all of 300 packed into it. It was a Who's Who of Florida Transportation, with just about anybody and everybody from law makers, FRA and Amtrak officials to county planners, TOD developers and city transit agencies.



We heard all about some $8 Billion dollars that was up for grabs and that we alone were near the top of the list. Window dressing, I bet every City on the tour hears the same line. They explained some pretty basic stuff like "What is a Train", "How Florida HSR in the middle of I-4 will help stop sprawl", and enlightened us with news such as "We already have 4 distinct Amtrak Routes in Florida." (Guess that must mean the demand is now there for 3400 trains a day). Oh the 4 distinct Amtrak Routes? Hold on to your chair, I'm not kidding here; the Silver Meteor, Silver Star, Auto Train and the SUNSET LIMITED! Say what? Apparently no one in Tallahassee realizes that the Sunset Limited no longer runs into Florida, and probably never will again. Oh it will come back someday but it will be a Florida - New Orleans service likely under the old "Gulf Wind" name. Frankly when I stopped laughing, I wondered why they hadn't named the Champion, Miamian, Palmetto, Silver Palm, South Wind or Floridian.



The gist of the whole show is this is what we have in our hands (money), and here are a few of our ideas. After that it was we'd like to hear your ideas. Amtrak made a presentation that they'd love to give Florida a California Corridor type service but the State would have to help pay for it, or at least beg for it. Fat Chance.



The "our ideas," part was just as "government lame" as the first part. We sat at tables and answered vague questions such as. "If you had billions to build HSR what should it look like in 2 years, 10 years, 30 years, and how would you measure success..." Uh, sorry y'all but if I had Billions of dollars I'd be in Cartagena.



One interesting thing did come about at my table, where I became the "Table Captain". Doc Dockery was in my group. For those who don't know Doc, he is the man almost single handily responsible for the Florida Overland Express (FOX) HSR project. He even financed the issue to get it on the ballot a few years back, only to have JEB Bush find a way to kill it.



I told Doc I don't like the idea of using I-4 as it will encourage more sprawl, nobody lives on I-4. When that thing was built FDOT bought up the countryside and managed to build it between Orlando and Tampa with not a thing in between but MICKEY MOUSE. So towns building North from the old railroad mainlines, current Amtrak routes, will have to build several miles out to meet the new train. When I explained my second problem with the route of choice, running from Orlando Airport to Tampa's Airport, and how far anyone in Orlando would have to drive to just get to the train, Doc told me, "That's where a major Light Rail Project will have to fill in..."



I started humming the M I C K E Y M O U S E song and everyone had a good laugh.



At first it looked like Doc wasn't going to agree with the rest of the table that Amtrak Corridor service MUST come first so we can build toward HSR ridership. It was more of a "Just build it and they will come," mindset. I can't see success in that plan, in a state built by the passenger train, and one that has completely turned it's back on rail, to the point of hostility, it just won't happen. The Cascade Corridor, California Corridors, North East Corridor all started off with frequent fast Amtrak services, then up graded into faster and faster , and even more and more services.



With the problems of the whole state solved, I really only have one huge complaint. Where the hell was Jacksonville? JTA had it's planners showing people around downtown, while the upper brass was hearing the mayor talk about fountains, and park space downtown. While all of that might have been important, was it $8 Billion dollars worth of important? Does Jacksonville realize why they are not on the Florida Corridor map? The Secretary of Transportation, warmly greeted me and said, Bob, all Jacksonville has to do is ask to be included. Images of thousands of travelers coming down the Southeast Corridor, arriving in Jacksonville, and then taking a bicycle to Orlando, in order to board FOX. Then it dawned on me, we're still Brain Dead in Florida.

amtrak
florida high speed rail
southeastern high speed rail corridors
fdot

BIRTH OF A NEW LIVABLE CITY!

A BLUEPRINT FOR JACKSONVILLE

"America's Most Wanted"

Joint feature story on jacksonvilletransit.blogspot.com

and Metro Jacksonville, metrojacksonville.com

http://jacksonvilletransit.blogspot.com/search/label/Jacksonville%20Terminal

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/

Could This Be, "America's Most Wanted?"

REMAKING THE CITY WITH RAIL - IN ONE SIMPLE PLAN
MANY COMPLEX PROBLEMS AND ONE SIMPLE SOLUTION

PORT AUTHORITY
Imagine the fastest growing port in the world, surrounded by 3 major railroads, 4 shortline's and 45 railroad headquarters, being captive to ONE carrier. Certainly one rail carrier is a deal killer for many major shipping companies who may be interested in getting in on the action. Imagine directors of the booming port, non railroaders all, thinking the solution is another time killing railroad yard. With a finite amount of money in the city, state and federal pot, how does one fix it?

AIRPORT AUTHORITY
Imagine a solid middle tier International Airport, with highway only access, and captive to regular transit buses which run on hourly headway's only during certain hours. At the other end of these bus routes sits the third largest city on America's East coast. How do one increase not only the air traffic but make the ground transportation more frequent and much more attractive?

TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
Finally, imagine one of America's largest cities, a bus fleet that ranks third in a most popular state, and an expressway system through the central city that is going into major construction until 2017. How do the white and blue collar hordes make their daily trek through this morass of endless construction, when the rush hour within the various parts of the metro is already ranked as number 1, 5 and 8 in the state. Imagine this place where drivers tolerate approximately 66 Million hours a year, sitting in traffic. So after the crash of the Orlando Commuter Rail deal(Sunrail), how does one fix this?



INTERCITY RAIL PASSENGER SERVICE
Imagine a one time worlds busiest railroad station, stripped of it's trains, former glory and converted into a Convention Center, albeit with with railroad tracks that pass through within a few feet of it. Another factor for consideration is the current Amtrak Station which is wholly inadequate for the currently planned passenger train services. Poorly located, at the end of an alley in the far Northwest edge of the City and hardly in a welcoming setting, between a truck line yard, a junk yard, and almost under a highway overpass. Jacksonville will never regain it's position as the rail passenger hub of the Southeast without coming home to downtown.

CONVENTION CENTER
A major City, a big, huge, national trade city, chock full of industries, highways, rail terminals, warehouses, docks, port terminals, airports and even mega cargo airports, and they build a convention center more suited to Greenville, South Carolina; Mobile, Alabama; or Savannah, Georgia. Size must not have been a consideration because with well under 90,000 square feet, the Convention Center is only good for local party's and home, gun and antique shows. Know anyone that needs a new lawn mower? lawn chair? BBQ grill? Have we got the facility for you to show your products, just don't bring all of them.

Of course this article is about Jacksonville, Florida, which bills itself correctly as "America's Logistics Center." Yet through all of this dysfunction, the city marches on, looking for, and perhaps finding, a one - size - fits - all solution to every sarcasm I just wrote.

You must understand, with one foot in South Georgia, or Mayberry RFD, and the other planted firmly in the finance and industrial might of Florida, NASA, and the remarkable beaches, we often move at a slower pace. Our location alone seems to propel us forward at times when our politics seem a little too "Dukes of Hazard," to join the modern world. As a Sunbelt City with a world class port, home of the PGA, unspoiled beaches, cutting edge medical facilities, and a Skyline split by a navigable river arguably one of the most beautiful in the world. Add to that a City that constantly scores at the top of business, transportation, and livability articles and surveys. I have faith that we are starting to see the light. Our destiny, to become a first tier international city, sometimes in spite of ourselves.

LET'S LOOK AT 5 STEPS TO A SOLUTION:

I. The Port
A. In transportation 101 everyone learns that in order for a port to compete, it simply can't afford to become captive to a single trunk line railroad.

B. Also in the same class, we should have learned that railroad yards are old technology, time killing wastelands where cars go to sit idle, losing money for their owners. Granted a small facility simply for the pick up and consolidation of outbound traffic may make perfect sense, but anyone with a vision of another "Rice Yard," the massive Waycross, Georgia facility, get it out of your heads.

C. So the City, State and/or Federal Government is going to have to purchase the railroad tracks all along our waterfront. This would include the entire former Seaboard, Fernandina and Jacksonville, Subdivision, from Export Yard near downtown, through Springfield Yard, over the Trout River. All trackage as far as Yulee, or even beyond Kingsland, where the old Seaboard Mainline was cut in South Georgia. This should also include both CSX and NS lines from Grand Crossing, Moncrief and Simpson Yards on the city's far west side.

D. The lease back option would seem to be the answer here. The entire municipally owned railroad would then be leased to one of America's many shortline operators. Shortline's shine in freight service and would be much more customer driven. Light, quick, clean, frequent, and efficient operations that would still deliver the cars to the CSX, JTA and NS interchanges and probably shave the days it currently takes for a car to get across town, down to a few hours.

Rails everywhere but the Airport and Free Trade Zone

2. The Airport:
A. Freight to the JTA interchanges? Yes, in this plan the JTA would own two railroad lines with it's own (not a lessee) operations. One of these would be a new branch line railroad that would follow the Airport Road, from the tracks near North Main, through the international trade zone and right into the airport facility. Depending on the layout of the airport terminal, it could serve any form of rail passenger equipment with a possibility of turning it on a circus or balloon track.
B. The fact that it would punch through the free trade zone, already home to many large companies would be just another opportunity to pay the construction bonds.

3. The Transportation Authority
A. Certainly with the death of the Sunrail project in Orlando, and the impending crash of Tri-Rail in Miami, which has not been funded anywhere close to it's needs, this would need to be a carefully laid out plan. Our transportation authority would construct the line into the International Airport (JAX) on the North, and rebuild the entire former "S" line from Jacksonville Terminal to a connection with the freshly purchased Norfolk Southern track into Springfield Yard. Here it would join the former Seaboard Airline for a straight shot over the trout river and into our port, airport, Nassau County, Yulee or even South Georgia.
B. A extra benefit of buying and upgrading these lines is security for our future, Amtrak, soon enough, and when the time comes for some serious High Speed Rail. This will likely be the route chosen, as historically it was considerably shorter between Savannah, and Jacksonville, then the former Atlantic Coast Line which is the current CSX.

C. Between the Jacksonville Terminal and Springfield yard JTA would have the benefit of a short passenger rail route from the station, to Shand's, Swisher, 21ST street, Panama Park, Dunn Av., Airport Road, Airport. The shortline lessee would be able to access these tracks to reach an interchange with the Florida East Coast Ry, at the Jacksonville Terminal.

D. The entire JTA North Commuter Rail line could then be placed in operation without the need for special or expensive deals with CSX or any other railroad. A fleet of RDC cars or Flexliner Trains would go into service as quick as stations and park and ride lots could be completed. This would be as close to a turn key deal as any city - railroad has ever had. Simple, own the track, draw lease income from the same track, pay for the Commuter Rail with freight, 100% in house.

*********************************************************

A usless section of the old track or roadbed is strung between Maxwell House and Gateway Mall

The Electric 7 - A sidebar on a side track.
"The Electric 7" would be an operation independent of the above railroads would still make use of old railroad track and/or right-of-way, as a light streetcar transit line. While it would cross the "S" it would not have any operation on the new terminal trackage.

There would also be reconstruction of the "S" line northward into Gateway Shopping District and south toward A. Phillip Randolph or Beaver Streets. However these lines would be reserved for rapid streetcar using vintage or replica equipment. A single crossing of the JTA freight-commuter trackage would be required just south of the MLK Expressway.

From a usless old railroad blight through East Jax., Springfield, Brentwood to Gateway Mall, to a beautiful historic Electric Parkway shaped roughly like the number "7". Thus the new moniker: "THE ELECTRIC 7"

********************************************************

Since a "cave" expedition into the old pedestrian tunnels under the stations old rail yard everyone wants to find the entry. This was it back when it was in it's final hours. Since then a wall of glass doors runs horizontally across this scene about where the two gentlemen are walking. Sadly this area was filled with debris and from the wall to where the photographer is standing is paved over.

4. Intercity Rail Passenger Service
A. Amtrak has several plans, including a 5 train system on each of Florida's intra-state lines. This fast regional service would apparently include the CSX "S" line South, The CSX "A" line South, and the Florida East Coast Mainline South. There are also designs to return the Sunset limited/Gulf Wind route with promised better service, perhaps also a 5 train gulf coast shuttle. North of Jacksonville we have several lines each toward Atlanta, Charlotte, Norfolk, Montgomery, Birmingham, Memphis, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and many more attractive locations or route combinations. So we are going to get the trains, the question is what are we going to do with them. Meanwhile, we should be at the vortex of every Amtrak service summit meeting in the South, and boy, do we have a place to host them.

B. In order to capture the lions share of the servicing of these trains Jaxson's need to realize the economies of breaking down trains and forwarding them to both coasts of lower Florida. Cars bound for the West being switched out, or cars on originating or terminating trains being cleaned, fueled, iced, catered, laundered. So the bottom line? When 6,500 cups of coffee are loaded on a single dining car, would you like a piece of that action? We simply must return Amtrak to the City Core and move the convention center as soon as possible. Every day we wait the more attractive Sanford, or Orlando, or Tampa, become as THE terminal for Amtrak Florida.

C. In this proposal, we go back to the recommendation of the US DOT back in 1983-85 when a national study of "Transportation Centers" was completed. It clearly stated Jacksonville Terminal needs to be reopened as a railroad and multi-modal station, with no less then 12 tracks.

D. Florida's changing politics has shifted the balance of power to Central and South Florida and suddenly the state DOT is proposing a 3 track station below the flood plain of McCoys Creek. The reasoning behind this is the Park/Lee Street Viaduct was rebuilt about 25 years ago and a bridge that once cleared 10-15 tracks now only clears two. FDOT in their infinite wisdom has suggested the 300,000 Cubic Yards of fill be removed from the old yards, which will take out the remaining pedestrian tunnels and put the whole yard below the flood plain, even if it grows to be more then 3 tracks. Jacksonville needs to grab this bull by the horn and drag FDOT, JTA or any other agency kicking and screaming to force the rebuilding of the Lee/Park street viaduct to a level that provides for 23.5 feet of clearance on top of the historic tunnels and fill. Then force the issue of getting our full compliment of no less then 8 tracks and four platforms, plus a private car track that could hold and service office cars from any of our 45 headquartered railroads. Under no condition should anything be built in the old flood plain, and the FEC should be brought back up to grade, with the tunnel access restored below it.

5. The Convention Center
A. This building by the City's own accounting is woefully short on space and poorly located away from the downtown venues, hotels and clubs. As the main exhibit hall was build behind the great 1919 railroad depot, it covers all of the area once occupied by the stub tracks, and part of that once occupied by the through tracks. In fact all of the stations original 32 tracks are gone, with this building and it's parking lot to the west, covering about 20 of them. We could still squeeze in some 10/12 tracks for Amtrak and the Florida East Coast without moving the exhibit hall, but since the hall is a white elephant and something the city itself regrets, we should get it out of the way of the transportation business. If we could salvage the new east - west concourse area, and perhaps 1/4 - 1/3 of the northern end of the exhibit hall building, it could be easily recycled into facilities for intercity buses. This would put the JTA offices and bus station to the west in the former Railroad Post Office site. Amtrak, would have the restored yard south of the 1919 Head house Station, and the restored 1890's station would become a plaza/park area focused on preservation and history.

B. There has been some discussion on moving the Convention Center down to the waterfront near the Hyatt, Jacksonville Landing, or on the Southbank. Anywhere it goes, it should be larger, and if that requires it to be vertical, then lets do it. The station would be connected to any new convention center on the northbank by our Skyway Monorail System and the planned Vintage Streetcars of the Jacksonville Traction Company and JTA.

In summary, with a single solution, spun around the rails, our city would have:

A new Convention Center
A "new" Amtrak Terminal
Many more Amtrak trains then at the present time
Control the servicing of all Amtrak trains entering the State, catering, laundry, fuel, etc.
A new Bus/Skyway/Streetcar Terminal at Transportation Center
Transportation Center Parking Garage
New JTA Office Building
Commuter Rail Service through the heart of the historic City
Commuter Rail Rapid Transit into the Jacksonville International Airport
Streetcar lines from Gateway Plaza to Stadium to Jacksonville Terminal and beyond
A Port that has neutral access to 3 major rail carriers, including the FEC
Direct Rail freight access to our JIA International Trade Zone
A method to pay for the entire package via freight revenue and/or lease back

So there it is folks, we change the face and the future of our City with one simple rail project.

As Our Train Takes Off and Our Airplane Accelerates Down The Track...

F - T - S

Let me coin a new phrase here, "Flying Train Syndrome," or FTS for short. By now your probably wondering just what the heck the old blogger is up to, Flying Trains indeed. I would beg your attention to a relatively new phenomena. There is a knee jerk reaction to the new funding of Amtrak and the many State and Local governments that want to get in on the action.

Reading newspaper blogs, it seems that the long silent peasantry has scummed to FTS and their mad as hell. The trouble is we have one or two whole generations who have grown to adulthood with a skeletal rail passenger system that could hardly be called a network. Certainly one train a day, or even tri-weekly, on only one out of 4 or 5 possible mainlines is a far cry from what Arlo Guthrie experienced before the hit single "Riding on the City of New Orleans." I really want us as a Transportation Rich Community and America's Logistics Center, to end the confusion over what rail is and what it can do. Hurry along as we look at some of these FTS blog comments, our plane is leaving the station.

After a positive article on Jacksonville Commuter Rail, this comment:

"YAWN, that is the easy way out of saying the proof is in the site, somewhere, just because someone told me it was true....well it must be true. Nah, don't drink the Kool-aid, look around you and see if rail works ANYWHERE in the State of Florida and if it is successful, meaning profitable."

Response:

This little sarcastic treat comes from the same gentleman that described Amtrak Trains as just one step above bus travel.

Obviously, our friend has either done very little travel aboard Greyhound, Trailways, Jefferson or other intercity Bus Companies, or hasn't been aboard a train since 1932. The gist of his argument is profit, in fact the entire gauge of success in his mind is making cash money.

This ignores a primary fact in Transportation, a space - time - and public service continuum. In terms of space a rail passenger uses about 5' square feet of space to travel anywhere on the continent. The same person driving an automobile takes up some 85' square feet of space. There could be an argument made that because of the compactness of a train with 200 passengers aboard, it would quickly leapfrog the same 200 passengers in automobiles. This line of cars on the highway would stretch for 3.21 miles. The same load of passengers on the train could be condensed to 1,000' feet, or something just short of 1/5 of a mile. As the world population expands we are growing short on space that can be endlessly covered in asphalt and concrete.

The strongest argument is that rail travel is the most efficient and fuel wise system of transport known to man with the possible sole exception being Zeppelins! So the question becomes how much fuel do we save by train travel? How many acres are still green because of train travel? More pointedly, just how much money did our State Highway System "make" last year? I haven't seen anyone arguing that our airports should be abandoned due to a lack of profit, in fact they would be quick to tell you that the airport brings a city prestige and recognition.

Sorry folks then the measure being used is not a level field at best and at worst it is a type of Mass Transit Snobbery or as someone recently put it, Mass Transit Racism. Amtrak seems the easiest target and this nonsense has flown around the country for nearly 40 years. That trains don't fly is no excuse to abandon the technology. FTS?

From a news Blog Q and A:

"Are we (Jacksonville) ready for light rail, rail, etc.?" And if the answer is no (and in general I think it is), then we'd better put it on the back burner; and if the answer is an undeniable unmistakable strong yes, then build it! We can't just build something and hope that it's a success. I can't even tell (someone help me with this), whether there is a strong, sure public/commuter demand for rail in Jacksonville (is the public ready?).

Response:

When is a City, County or State "ready" for rail? Must we reach gridlock on our highways and air before we commit any silver to the rails? In this case Jacksonville is called out by name and that makes this an interesting comment. Jacksonville is the largest city in the nation without a rail transit system, either in population, MSA or land mass. We are told we are far to spread out for rail to work, yet rail works just fine in Los Angeles. Then we are told we don't have the density for rail, yet when we checked the US Census Bureau we discovered we land right in the middle of all cities that already have rail in terms of density. So are we ready? The East Coast Corridor web site just published a study that shows: Jacksonville, Miami and Tampa, drivers waste 200 Million hours a year in traffic. So how does the unknown Giant of Jacksonville rank with the well known cities of Florida, check out our MSA Counties. Oh the humanity:

JACKSONVILLE MSA COUNTIES:

Clay Commute: 33.4 min Statewide rank: 1
Putnam Commute: 30.6 min Statewide rank: 4
Nassau Commute: 28.2 min Statewide rank: 8
St. Johns Commute: 25 min Statewide rank: 19
Duval 23.1 min 25
Flagler 22.9 min 27
Source: Census Bureau 2006 American Community Survey

I think this answers our questions quite well, I'm waiting for that train, streetcar or zeppelin, but wouldn't that be sort of like Flying Amtrak?

From an Online Discussion:

"Anyone seen empty buses? When the buses are filled, demand is there for rail, till then, keep dreaming the dream!"

Response:

This is clearly a statement written in ignorance. Any thinking person could reason that a bus that is filled to capacity during the rush hours may be running light in off-peak hours. Even during the peak, bus passenger loadings may fill and empty at several points along the same route, thus not even this is an indicator of demand. Certainly the guy that wants profit in all things would pull out his hair if we were to buy big buses for rush hour and little buses for off-peak times. Frankly with the numbers posted on commute times, we are way behind the curve on getting rail up and running. This would then allow us to redeploy buses that must make the long traffic snarled trek from outlaying areas to the central or satellite city cores. Once this was done the buses would generally run at right angles to the most congested roads and transfer their inbound or outbound loads to strategically placed rail stations. Meanwhile new Heritage Streetcars and the Skyway, Jacksonville's tiny monorail system, completed just another 3 - 5 miles in several directions would serve as a complete distributor in the urban center.

From the Leading E-News:

"Does slower transportation really appeal to the masses? The only way for trains to get back in the mix is to get faster. It's easier to just hop in the car if it's a short trip, and it's faster to fly.Now, if you had a train that could get from here to WPB or ATL in 2 hours, THAT would shake things up and spark interest."

Response:

This is the ultimate case of Flying Train Syndrome. Airline style, point to point, non-stop jet set travel has caused the masses to ignore the booming markets of the smaller and medium size towns and cities. Today in California a trip from Fresno to Bishop is likely to be via Los Angeles. A trip from Wilmington, Deleware to Norfolk, Virginia, via New York City and likewise a trip from Jacksonville to Daytona Beach by way of Atlanta. What the train does is FLY THROUGH not over the country. If taking time to see what is in between isn't going to match your schedule so be it, but try and tell a resident of Ocala, St. Augustine, Macclenny or Palatka, that because you want to experience "fly over country," your needs are superior to theirs. Within the route of a single passenger train, there may be many micro-corridors hidden within the fabric of that single stretch of trackage. As a nation we can no longer afford the fuelish luxury of flying 500 miles to get 100 miles down the track, when this happens, it's train time. Flying Trains Indeed!

Hello Jacksonville This is London, France and Africa Calling...

THE PORT OF GOLD = JACKSONVILLE'S POT OF GOLD!

"Son Of A Sailor," Lyrics

"As the son of a son of a sailor
I went out on the sea for adventure
Expanding the view of the captain and crew
Like a man just released from indenture

As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin man
I have chalked up many a mile
Read dozens of books about heroes and crooks
And I learned much from both of their styles."

This just in from Clarksons International in London England, anyone with delusional thought that nobody is watching JAXPORT might want to read this:

Funding boost for Jacksonville port Authority
News - April 29, 2009

Jacksonville.com reports that a major dredging project that will deepen the St Johns River has secured up to US$14.8 million from the federal government’s stimulus package, giving the Jacksonville Port Authority a financial boost in its quest to attract ships with heavier cargo loads.

The report said that the US Army Corps of Engineers has also announced that stimulus money will go toward dredging the Intracoastal Waterway in the Palm Valley area of St Johns County and that it is doing a study of shoreline protection in St Johns County.

The projects will be funded through the US$787 billion package that President Obama signed into law on February 17th.

The Army Corps of Engineers received US$4.6 billion from that legislation and has been reviewing what projects would get funded.

Jacksonville.com said the money for the Port of Jacksonville’s will be used to deepen the channel along a 5.3 mile stretch up to the Talleyrand terminal. The depth will be 40ft after the project is completed.


"Now away in the near future
Southeast of disorder
You can shake the hand of the mango man
As he greats you at the border

And the lady she hails from Trinidad
Island of the spices
Salt for your meat, and cinnamon sweet
And the rum is for all your good vices

Haul the sheet in as we ride on the wind
That our forefathers harnessed before us
Hear the bells ring as the tight rigging sings
Its a son of a gun of a chorus"

"JUST ASK ANYONE IN CHARLOTTE THE WAY TO THE PORT...JACKSONVILLE!"

FROM THE QUEEN CITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, THE CHARLOTTE BUSINESS JOURNAL HAD THIS TO SAY:

The Port of Jacksonville’s newest shipping service provides the first dedicated container service to the Middle East and strengthens its existing service to West Africa.

Starting June 7, one of the world’s largest shipping lines, CMA-CGM, will begin calling on the port weekly before heading up the East Coast and then to Tangier, Morocco; and Jebel Ali, Dubai; said Roy Schleicher, senior director of trade development and global marketing for the Jacksonville Port Authority. It hasn’t been decided which terminal the French shipping line will use.

The nine ships, which can handle about 5,100 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent, a container measurement standard), will be the largest the port has received through a regular service. Schleicher estimated the largest ship that regularly calls on the port can handle about 4,500 TEUs.

CMA-CGM’s ‘Chateau Dif’ will make its last call on the TraPac Terminal April 27, ending its part in a shipping alliance involving the terminal operator’s parent company, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. The French carrier’s restructuring of its service is a “beefed up” commitment to the port, Schleicher said.

He said the Port of Jacksonville is a good for CMA-CGM because of the shipping company’s strong emphasis on refrigerated cargo and Jacksonville’s access to poultry and citrus markets. Plus, CMA-CGM’s car export business to West Africa mirrors the port’s own.

"Where it all ends I cant fathom my friends
If I knew I might toss out my anchor
So I cruise along always searchin for songs
Not a lawyer a thief or a banker

But a son of a son, son of a son
Son of a son of a sailor
Son of a gun, load the last ton
One step ahead of the jailer

Im just a son of a son, son of a son
Son of a son of a sailor
The seas in my veins, my tradition remains
Im just glad I dont live in a trailer"

Song and Lyrics By Jimmy Buffett, Thanx Jimmy - I'll see you at the dock.

Does High Speed Rail Meet "America's Logistics Center" in Jacksonville?

It really wouldn't take a Transportation Genius to look at the proposed High Speed Rail Projects in the Southern United States and decide where the hinge pin is on rail passenger transport. As tempting a target as Atlanta might seem, once one is beyond Atlanta, on any side, they will be dealing with hundreds and hundreds of miles of beautiful tobacco and cotton fields. Regardless of the beauty of the Deep South, cotton and tobacco, don't by train tickets. Just to the South in the Sunshine State there is an equal several hundred miles of semi-urbanized growth. Indeed one could walk from the Alabama State Line, East almost all the way to St. Marks, some 200+ miles and never leave the sight of coastal resorts. Beyond the Panhandle, is Tallahassee, State Capitol, University Center and rapidly growing urban center. From Tallahassee to Jacksonville is about as rural as Florida gets, and even this area is dotted with small cities or large towns bursting at the seams.



Jacksonville, as has been pointed out in several of these articles, holds the keys to the last great railroad Terminal in the Southeast. In fact so great is the opportunity in this hallowed Terminal, it dwarfs anything south of the Ohio River, Washington D.C. or East of Los Angeles. Once the busiest railroad station in the entire world (during the Great Florida Boom of the 1920's) today it slumbers oddly connected to a convention center of much more modest proportions. Plans have been floated to move the Convention Center to the East Side, of the Northbank, of Downtown Jacksonville. A Transportation Center of grand design may well take it's place, bringing with it a return of Amtrak to the heartbeat of the City. Government officials and CSX Railroad have already stated the Southeast High Speed Rail route will extend from the Northeast Corridor to Atlanta and Jacksonville Terminal. The other glaring difference? Atlanta no longer has any significant railway station forcing Georgia into the uncomfortable position of having to blow a hole right in the middle of that metropolis to replace what it once had.



Moving South from Jacksonville, Florida becomes the Florida of legend. The beaches just get whiter and the resorts more plentiful. In fact as the Florida High Speed Rail project continues to focus on the Orlando - Tampa - Miami triangle, hardly an acre of ground from the Jacksonville City Limits 100 miles South to Daytona Beach, isn't already on some mega development map. Names like Palm Coast, Bartram Lakes, Nocatee, Flagler Center and World Golf Village literally cover as much as 10,000 acres each. If Florida High Speed Rail isn't terminated on the Northeast end in Jacksonville, one can easily sense the gridlock that is right around the bend. Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville, combined waste 200 Million hours in traffic each year. Incredible.

So what about Jacksonville, AKA: "America's Logistics Center?" Let's play a little map magic here, and imagine what could be. Perhaps no where else in the entire United States is the opportunity greater to bring 3 distinct High Speed Rail projects into one grand interchange Terminal then right here on the banks of the mighty St. John's River. A station already linked to the core via "The Jacksonville Skyway." a modern monorail system. A station that soon may be linked to the rest of the urban area with Bus, Commuter Rail and vintage streetcars. This is the place where trains or cars from Houston, could meet the trains from New York, and all routes could meet the Florida High Speed Rail Lines.



So what needs to be done?

The Convention Center needs to move out as soon as possible, and reconstruction on the magnificent station's rail facilities started at once. The other Transportation Center components need to start their build out right in front of those 14 massive sandstone columns. Jacksonville and Florida need to get proactive, and create rail synergy. A summit of the 3 HSR planning agency's and every effected station on all 3 lines as well as standard Amtrak service.



So in my crystal ball how likely is this to happen? I'd say just a glance at the map says VERY likely. Will there be 300 MPH trains? Perhaps someday, but in the meanwhile, I expect the bump of new cash being poured into HSR will really end up equalling "HIGHER" speed rail. Read that as "Amtrak on Steroids." Already north of our city between the Folkston Funnel and our current Amshack Station, the trains of Amtrak have no problem on the CSX racetrack, hitting 90 MPH. Maybe that's not your idea of HSR, but it's light years away from what we've seen over the last 35 years. Jacksonville, time to pull our collective heads out, we have been handed this on a golden platter, let's "Get R Done".

Jacksonville Mayor's Back Door To BRT

Looks just like Jacksonville to me. NOT!

It just had to happen, Mayor John Peyton, of Jacksonville finally showed his hand at the poker table. The long term disinterest in Mass Transit, the canceled LRT studies of the 1990's, and the sudden embrace of BRT as the be - all - save - all for our city. Nobody it seems can get to the king for all the Emperor's standing in the door. He has refused to meet with any group with an idea of Rail or any other alternate transit. Isn't this the behavior we would expect from this Mayor who's family owns both Gate Petroleum and Gate Concrete.

Here's the news release:

The city of Jacksonville has a new sibling.

Mayor John Peyton and Mayor Beto Richa of Curitiba, Brazil, signed an agreement making that Latin American city Jacksonville's seventh sister city.

The time is ripe.

Curitiba, located on Brazil's southern coast, is a river city. It is also a business center, having been chosen three times by the Revista Exame, a local business publication, as the best place in Brazil to do business.

But Jacksonville stands to gain more than enriched business opportunities from its relationship with Curitiba. It stands to gain lessons in sustainable living too.

According to Yes! Magazine - a nonprofit publication that focuses on sustainable environments -Curitiba has one of the world's best mass transit systems. Aided by a series of express lanes, its buses transport people quickly through town, and around 85 percent of the people use it.
Its urban planning model has been lauded by UNESCO as one that could be emulated in rebuilding Afghanistan cities, and its efforts toward recycling and conservation have earned it accolades as the ecological capital of Brazil.

One goal of Jacksonville's Sister Cities program is to stimulate economic development.
This new sister has the potential to offer the city more insights on strategies to put that development on a greener path.

Yeah, "Greener path on Earth Day 2009," more buses, more fumes, more pavement, more heat, more waste... This is pretty darn transparent, you can read between the lines for yourself.

Alabama Uses the "F" Word

In the early 20th century, Birmingham was served by seven railroads. Six of these joined together to form the Birmingham Terminal Company. The company hired Atlanta architect P. Thornton Marye to design the station. Its construction took two years and cost $2 million. Although the station's Byzantine style created some controversy, its opening in April 1909 was a major event for the city. A balloon race and a parade, led by Grand Marshal E. J. McCrossin, were held to celebrate. The Birmingham Terminal Station was the primary passenger station for Birmingham from 1909 until rail travel sharply declined in the 1950s. It filled two blocks of 26th Street North (now Carraway Boulevard) above the 5th Avenue North underpass. Originally the main train stop for out-of-town visitors, as automobile and air travel came in to prominence the building was neglected, it was finally torn down in 1969.

Architect Frank Milburne designed this Spanish Mission style station soon after 1900. It stood on West Trade St. and the railroad tracks, about where the Bus Station presently sits. Milburne fashioned a series of stations in this style. Indeed, Salisbury still has and has restored its Spanish Mission style railroad station. Legend holds that President Woodrow Wilson once asked whether the Charlotte Station was fireproof. When told that it was, Wilson supposedly said, "What a pity." The building was demolished in 1962.

Union Station in Atlanta was the smaller of two principal train stations in downtown, Terminal Station being the other. Opening in 1930, Union Station served the Georgia Railroad, Atlantic Coast Line (previously the Atlanta, Birmingham and Coast Railroad), and Louisville and Nashville (previously the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway). It replaced earlier stations on the same site.
After the tenant railroads of Union Station had discontinued all their passenger trains -- the last such train operated the day before Amtrak came into existence -- the station was razed in 1972. Remnants of the platform may be seen behind the Atlanta Journal Constitution building although construction of Underground Atlanta and MARTA largely obliterated the site.

Terminal Station, designed by architect P. Thornton Marye was built in 1905. It stood at the northwest corner of Spring Street and Mitchell Street. After 65 years of service as a passenger railroad station, it closed in 1970 and was demolished in 1972.
The Richard B. Russell Federal Building, which opened in 1980, now stands on this spot.

Amtrak has offered Florida a pre-High Speed Rail plan of 5 trains each way per day, per route. Taken to the fullest possible extent, this would equate to 25 trains each way per day in Jacksonville's terminal, in other words 50 trains and that is without any Commuter Rail development.

It's time we held our own railroad summit meetings and pull every community from Norfolk, to Charlotte, Atlanta , Birmingham and New Orleans into a Jacksonville Hub promotion. Atlanta is making noise like they'd love to be the new rail center of the Southeast, but keep in mind Atlanta destroyed and complete buried any trace of both Union Station and Terminal Station. Birmingham wants in too but has the drawbacks that most of the current New York - Southeast traffic by passes them by as it moves up and down the East Coast. Charlotte and North Carolina have become leaders in their own regions by funding and then pulling Amtrak across the State to build a Carolina Corridor. Again, station and numbers still favor an East Coast city. So it all comes back to Jacksonville, the pin in the Southeastern hinge of rail transportation.

Even the planners on the side of other cities are savvy enough to know the "F Word" aka: FLORIDA must be included for them to have any chance of success. If we continue to fiddle in both Tallahassee and Jacksonville, they might just discover a way to cut us out of the majority of these new rail projects. We need a RAIL SUMMIT JACKSONVILLE, with confident city promotional figures to tour our great Jacksonville Terminal, and start planning how they can connect with this hub. Meanwhile over in Birmingham, planning for Atlanta, New Orleans and Houston, they still toss the bone to Jacksonville as every railroad line into the state passes through our Terminal.

From the Birmingham Business Journal:

The Birmingham City Council is getting behind efforts to bring high speed rail to Alabama.

Three weeks after the state reversed its position and released $120,000 to pay delinquent membership dues to the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission, Birmingham’s City Council will debate allocating matching funds for federal intercity passenger planning and construction programs. A resolution supporting the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission’s efforts to create a line between Atlanta and New Orleans is scheduled to be introduced at the April 14 council meeting. A Southeastern high-speed rail line could mean billions worth of construction projects with regional leaders negotiating with the federal government to provide as much as 80 percent of the funds.

The council’s Transportation and Communications Committee voted unanimously to send the resolution to the full committee. Councilor Carol Duncan chairs the committee and said the timing is right to back efforts to upgrade city, regional and national transportation infrastructure.

“We’re really moving and it is getting exciting,” Duncan said. “Funding should be put in place. We’re getting ourselves in place so it can happen in Alabama.”

Alabama’s Southern High-Speed Rail Commission chapter needs $1.3 million to complete feasibility studies, according to state commission representative Richard Finley. He said just the Atlanta-Birmingham line could be a $400 million project.

Duncan said the state and region are working to ensure the funds needed for Alabama to have a seat at the high-speed rail table are available.

Finley, chairman of the Southern High-Speed Rail Commission, will host the group composed of representatives from Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi in Birmingham on April 23. The commission will discuss a plan of action for seeking federal funding to transform Crescent Corridor into a high-speed rail line.

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford has called his own summit of 15 Mid-South mayors to unite behind a line that could link Atlanta and Houston. Langford mailed invitations for his April 30 summit on April 3. The mayors of Atlanta, Houston, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, Miss., Anniston, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Biloxi, Gulfport, Miss., Mobile are among those Langford invited.

He hopes to forge a partnership with his peers to broker a major regional economic development project. With the federal government allotting $8 billion for high speed rail projects, Langford said a united effort is needed.

“We must join forces and agree to cooperate if the mutual interests of our communities are to be met and that we are to receive our fair share of the funds devoted to what I am calling the ‘Mid-South High Speed Rail Corridor,” Langford’s invitation said.

Meridian, Miss. John Robert Smith applauded Langford’s vision and efforts to help the region speak with one voice as it seeks its slice of the federal high-speed rail pie.

“The corridors that link Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Alabama are critical for the future development of the Southeast,” Smith said. “Mayors are the strongest and best advocates for rail in this country.”

You see Mr. and Ms. Jacksonville politician, ours still stands and it just awaits your call to become the hub of the Southeast. Just remember when looking for railroads and funding, the "F" word is Florida, and Florida Railroad is spelled J-A-C-K-S-O-N-V-I-L-L-E.

BLUEPRINT FOR JAXPORT IS FOUND IN COMMUTER RAIL

Unlike other Florida cities, Jacksonville alone is a sea of railroad tracks. One time home to the Worlds Busiest Passenger Terminal (during the Great Florida Boom of the Roaring Twenty's), and certainly one of the largest Terminal Stations in the nation. 32 tracks, split roughly 60/40 stub and through, the great station served every passenger train entering or exiting the state (with few exceptions) until 1974.

Today freight trains of Norfolk Southern, CSX and Florida East Coast still rumble past the silent platforms and pedestrian tunnels. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has an eye on Commuter Rail, and has completed the first two studies which have laid out a 90 mile starter system on three distinct rail lines, North, Southeast, Southwest.


Meanwhile over at JaxPort, the talk is all about building a new rail yard that they suppose will whisk away 2 Million Containers a year. Currently ranked number 19 in North America in container volume and number 2 in automotive imports, the new terminals built around trade with the Orient promise to rocket us into the number 3 or 4 position in the Nation. Dredge the river channel for Post Panamax ships, build the new rail yard, and everything will be rosy... Well not quite.

So here is a recent headline article in the Jacksonville Business Journal, taken from the recent seminars, breakfasts and meetings on JaxPort. They elude to the unknown that dredging and another railroad yard will be the fix we need. Their going to be sorely disappointed.

Game on for Jacksonville
Jacksonville Business Journal

Jacksonville’s economic development marching orders came across loud and clear at the Global Trade and Transportation breakfast this week: Find $500 million from federal, state and local government to dredge the St. Johns River to handle larger ships, make sure the Hanjin shipping company joins Mitsui to cement the city’s Asian trade ties, and finish the road and rail improvements needed to maximize the port’s ability to move cargo.

Succeed at these tasks and cement Jacksonville’s future as a premier port on the East Coast, while broadening the city’s economic base considerably. Or fail, and watch the ports of Savannah, Charleston and Norfolk eat our lunch. Yes, the choice is that clear-cut.

The river dredging is the linchpin. Here’s why:

The reason the shippers Mitsui and Hanjin want terminals here is to develop a hub for direct trade from Asia to the East Coast. The Panama Canal is being improved to allow larger cargo ships through, which are more cost-efficient for the shippers. The canal improvements should be done by 2014.

So what is the fix?

Blue Lines = Florida East Coast

Green Lines = CSXT

Black Lines = Norfolk Southern

Red Lines = Shortlines

Pink and Purple Lines = Abandoned rail subject to rebuilding

YELLOW LINES = Subject of this article and JTA/JPA Future North Line Commuter Rail District

The fix for JAXPORT is Commuter Rail North, plain and simple, the City buying the entire former CSX Kingsland Subdivision, and perhaps the Norfolk Southern's St. Johns River Terminal rail lines. From the Export Yard near the Stadium, Grand Crossing in the Westside through the Springfield Yard, Talleyrand Terminals, over the Trout River, to Blount Island, TriPac and all the way to Yulee. Getting JTA and JPA to create The Jacksonville RAIL Authority, and getting said Authority to quickly rebuild the former "S Line" between Union Terminal, and Springfield Yard, establishing Commuter Rail, at least as far North as the International Airport.

So what does JaxPort have to do with Commuter Trains and railroads? Glad you asked. At this point over 1/2 of our port is locked into CSX. For all the railroad diversity we have downtown, the Florida East Coast and Norfolk Southern are effectively cut out of the game. Saying our port is served by 3 major railroads is misleading when more then half of the terminals are captive. What good is it to try and sell shippers on the 3 railroad package when CSX says it will take them 5 full days to move a box car from Blount Island on the City's Northside, the the FEC / NS interchanges near Jacksonville Terminal.

If the City of Jacksonville and FDOT bought the former Seaboard Air Line Mainline, replaced the missing link from Jacksonville Terminal to Springfield Yard (already in City hands), it would effectively open the door to ease traffic congestion. Moreover it could all be operated as the JaxPort Railroad, a terminal road with neutral switching access by all carriers. Who needs a new rail yard when we already have the largely empty Springfield Yard which could easily be rehabilitated into a first class container facility. Who needs a one railroad port, when we already have plans for Commuter Rail on those same tracks? Why not bust the port wide open and create a quick, responsive, shortline/terminal road.

Not only would CSX retain every carload that any customer currently requests via a CSX routing, The Florida East Coast and Norfolk Southern wouldn't have to bypass the Port and hustle everything to the new Titusville Intermodal facility in order the expedite shipments. Moreover by linking Port/ACE + Freight Railroad/FRA + Transit/FTA + Commuter Rail/FRA + Station Security/DHS, and beautification/FDOT, we open hundreds of more avenues by which to obtain those vital federal grants.

Then, and only then, will we be able to honestly claim we have 3 railroad service choices for our port shippers. Only then will we be able to control the destiny of our Commuter Rail and Passenger Terminal. The day that the first RDC car rumbles over the Trout River and the big diesels of FEC or NS freely mix with CSX out at Tri-Pac, JaxPort and JTA will have come of age.

TAMPA STREETCAR TO EXPAND

Large double truck Birney type car is leading Tampa's open car through Channelside.

Tampa Bay Online reports that the Hillsboro Area Regional Transit (HART) has received federal stimulus money to expand the TECO streetcar line.

About $1 million, will go toward extending the streetcar into downtown. The nearly $5 million project is poised to begin this summer. The board approved a contract with Kimmins Contracting Corp. this morning.

HART wants to extend the streetcar system about four blocks, from outside the Tampa Convention Center to Whiting Street, in the hope of boosting ridership between downtown, the Channelside District and Ybor City. Officials said the project will take about nine months.

KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN COMING TO JACKSONVILLE?

Is this a sign of the mega-railroad of the near future? Norfolk Southern + Kansas City Southern + Florida East Coast, would be one hell of a marriage. Such a merger would create a line from New England to Central Mexico, and from Kansas City to Miami. Of course there is no official word or even a good roumor that this might come about, but with the railroad industry continuing to be riding high, adding capacity and miles, anything could happen. Jacksonville's transportation watchers will enjoy seeing the occasional colorful Kansas City Southern Diesels rolling through our City. Someone at the Chamber of Commerce needs to remind KCS and NS where the nations fastest growth port is... Got wheat and corn? We have ships, lots and lots of ships.

Kansas City Southern Railway, Florida East Coast and Norfolk Southern Railway on March 30 began offering container and trailer service from Dallas to the Norfolk Southern - Florida East Coast, new Titusville, Fla., terminal. Traffic is routed over KCSR from Dallas to Meridian, Miss.; and over NS from Meridian to Jacksonville, and the Floridca East Coast from Jacksonville to Titusville. Previously, KCSR moved central Florida-destined intermodal shipments to Meridian, and NS moved the loads from Meridian to the Norfolk Southern's massive intermodal terminal in Jacksonville's Simpson Yard, where it was trucked to various distribution centers. The new routing provides intermodal marketing companies and asset providers a more cost-effective option, and enables KCSR to be more competitive with over-the-road carriers, the Class I said.

On The Grow In The Port of Jacksonville

Culled from the Jacksonville and the Charlotte NC Business Journal the following articles which give our readers an idea of things to come. With the second new Oriental Terminal moving into construction, it seems the sky is the limit. Even in these bad economic times, Jacksonville seems to have at least one guiding light. JaxPort.

Monday, April 6, 2009, 1:48pm EDT
Fascination embarks record number of passengers from Jacksonville
Jacksonville Business Journal

The Jacksonville Port Authority’s cruise terminal set a record last week when 2,623 passengers embarked on Carnival Cruise Lines’ Fascination cruise to Half Moon Cay and Nassau, Bahamas.

The previous record for a single cruise was 2,539 passengers, set earlier this year. The record-breaking cruise comes after the authority pulled back on its plans to build a $60 million terminal in Mayport Village to focus on its cargo business and see how the cruise industry weathers the recession.


Port of Jacksonville traffic edges up
Jacksonville Business Journal

The amount of traffic through the Port of Jacksonville in fiscal year 2008 increased by 1 percent to nearly 8.4 million tons, compared to 2007, according to its recently released annual report.

The port remains the nation’s second busiest vehicle handling port and 12th busiest container port.

The authority’s operating revenue increased by 6.2 percent to $42.4 million.

Its operating expenses increased by $5 million to $30 million, while its operating income fell from $14.5 million to $12 million.

Roll-on-roll-off traffic — mainly cars, trucks and heavy equipment — increased by 7 percent to its record level of about 567,000 units.

Bulk cargo, which includes crushed limestone and other aggregates, increased by nearly 10 percent to about $2.5 million tons.

Breakbulk cargo, which includes lumber, paper and steel, fell about 18 percent to 950,000 tons.

Container traffic remained steady at about 3.6 million tons.

GO TO THE BACK OF THE BUS - OVER THE TOP IN JACKSONVILLE

COULD JTA BE A PIONEER?

For many years the phrase "Go to the back of the bus," had a terrible and racist connotation to it. Images of Ms. Rosa Parks, refusing to surrender her seat, and the subsequent race riots of the 1960's. From that point on, the terms used to describe poor bus service came to be either, "The back of the bus," or "The short bus".

According to City records, The Jacksonville Traction Company, was successful in ousting the segregation laws by 1930. At that time most of the States of the Southeastern part of the country had strict racial segregation on all public transportation. A recent visit to the Texas Electric Railroad Museum in Plano (north of Dallas) allowed me to see first hand some small brass flag like devices mounted over the rear passenger seats in the coach. When one pulls the lever down a etched sign drops out of the wall that says simply "COLORED".

Commuters as far west as Dallas were apparently separated well into the 1940's, 50's or early 60's. Not so on the true deep south streetcars in Jacksonville. The fact growing up in Jacksonville in this same era, I recall the typical fuss on the bus was who was going to get to sit in the back of the bus! Somehow, perhaps starting with our streetcar routes, we were "Back of the Bus pioneers."







Once again we are toying with a back of the bus experience. As one of the most sprawled cities in the nation, largest in land mass in the lower 48 states, we have some pretty painful commutes. Among the leading congestion area's are service to our beach cities within Duval County, Orange Park in Clay County and Ponte Vedra in St. Johns County. There is simply no way to get to these bedroom communities via bus or car without spending an hour or so stuck in near gridlock.

12 years ago JTA took delivery on 3 MCI (Motor Coach Industries) over the road - Commuter Configured - Motor Coaches. No mere city bus these are the thoroughbred, air suspended, inter-city style rolling salons. People scoffed at the idea that the high rollers in places like Ponte Vedra or Sawgrass would ever ride the bus. Then they tried them out in a joint demonstration program between MCI and JTA.



So what did Jacksonville think about them? Here are the surveys...

WS50 Free Ride Survey Results:

9 Total completed Surveys.


Did you like your ride?

Responses: 9 Yes

0 No


Comparable to other JTA buses:

Responses: More comfortable, Quiet, Nice, Climate Controlled, Smooth Ride, Cleaner, Smells Nice.


Like Most?

Responses: Comfort, Reclining Seats, Cleanliness, Quite, Smoother Ride, More Room, Climate Controlled, Spacious.


Like Least?

Responses: No Stewardess, Intercom System, NOTHING, Smell.


Other Comments: It was great, thanks for the free week. We want this bus permanent on WS50! Better bus for 30 minute trip. Great job. Nice to have this bus all the time. Please add TV’s to bus. Would be more inclined to ride bus with a bus like this on route.


BH50 Free Ride Survey Results

37 Total Completed Surveys.


Did you like your ride?

Responses: 37 Yes

0 No


Comparable to other JTA buses:

Responses: Wonderful, Better, Great Smell, Ride, Step Above, Don’t Compare, Smoother, Less Noise, Personal Space, Clean, Enjoyable, Green to the Environment, The Bomb, No Comparison, Nice Seats, Convenient, Better, More Seats, Want to see it in Service Soon, Computer Compatible, Less Noise, Cozy, Love the Details, Seems like a faster ride.


Like Most?

Responses: Seats, See more Sites, Cleanliness, Individual Lights, Quiet, Comfort, The Driver, Smooth, Coach Style, Luggage Bins, Leg Room, Nice Seats, Reclining Chairs, Electrical Outlets, EVERYTHING, Look, Smell, Fun,


Like Least?

Responses: NOTHING, Overhead Lights, Knowing it Won’t Stick Around, Narrow Isles, Entrance Steps, Not Equipped for Handicapped, Narrower Seats.


Other Comments: Thank You! Awesome Bus. BH50 is GREAT! Just thanks a lot! Wish all buses were as nice as this. Keep providing better service. Do not change this bus. With increased taxes, this is what JTA should be like. Want this bus permanent. Get more like this. I like the ride. Please keep this bus on route. Let’s keep going JTA, Thank You! Thank You. We need this everyday. Get more buses like this. We need more of these buses, please!


X2 Free Ride Survey Results:

29 Total completed Surveys.


Did you like your ride?

Responses: 29 Yes

0 No


Comparable to other JTA buses:

Responses: Quite, Roomier, Better, Nicer, Smoother Ride, Clean, No Ads on Windows, New Seats, No Comparison, Quieter, Cleaner, Superior, Additional Accessories, Heater works, This is the best, Smell good.


Like Most?

Responses: Seats, Smooth Ride, Very Pleasant, Quieter, Smoother Ride, Seats, It was new and smelled great!, Quite, Heater Works, Reclining padded seats, Reclining Seats, No wind noise, Reading Lights, Comfortable, Blue Isle Lights, Roomier, Bright and Clean, Great suspension, Kudos, High Back Seats, Reading Lights, Adjustable Vents, Smells Good.



Other Comments: Good to have new bus. You’re doing a great job! Love it! Overhead storage is seldom used. Very nice. Please consider adding to X2 route! We want TV’s showing news, sports, etc. Please remove ads from windows.Buses like this would encourage riders. Keep this bus!



X4 Free Ride Survey Results:

8 Total completed Surveys.


Did you like your ride?

Responses: 8 Yes

0 No


Comparable to other JTA buses:

Responses: No comparison, Clean, Comfy seats, New, Nice, Smooth ride, Likes handles, and reclining seats, Delux.


Like Most?

Responses: Relaxing, Smell, Comfy, Good condition, Everything, Tall backs, Cushioned seats, Quite, Clean, Lighted interior, Nice Bell, No PSAs.


Like Least?

Responses: Hope lights and AC vents last longer, Driver could not operate the AC, Not enough leg room.


Other Comments: I will only ride this bus or one comparable!



That last comment, "I will only ride this bus or one comparable" says a volume about what is wrong with a City Bus on a long commute and what is right about a proper vehicle. As often happens on long commutes into suburbia the neighborhood end point may be higher income, white collar, executive type, choice riders. These are people who normally would never darken the door of a transit bus.

Many managers and executives see their automobile as a sort of cool down asylum. Though it might mean sitting in traffic for a hour, it's a chance to listen to music or catch up on the news in a familiar, non threatening environment. But what if we could do better? What if he or she could watch the TV news on the way home? What if they could catch up on their notes? Work an hour on the Laptop? Play a game? Use the restroom? Get a cup of coffee? Hold a meeting? Eat a pastry? Wash your hands? Sleep? What if all of this could be done while moving down the freeway in complete security?

While the brand name of the coach may vary from agency to agency, according to local preference, this could be done with MCI, Prevost-Volvo, Silver Eagle, Van Hool or any other line of fine motor coaches.

Until now the deluxe coach has been the exclusive world of the upper end charter and tour business. Maybe it's time for a change. Jacksonville is leading the way in this area, by considering a completely new type of coach.



Maybe it's time for a hybrid, part commuter and part railroad lounge car? Ever heard it said that more major business deals have been brokered in the lounge cars of the New York area commuter trains then any other place on earth? Then why has it taken the industry so long to catch that attraction and wrap it up in a coach? While the idea is still in the developmental stage, it's interesting to speculate on the merits of this concept. Indeed if it's ordered in Jacksonville, it won't be a ride but more like a destination. Imagine the possibilities. Go to the back of the Bus? I can't wait.

Photos courtesy of MCI, PREVOST CAR - Volvo, SILVER EAGLE