"ALL ABOARD JACKSONVILLE," THE CALL OF THE TRANSIT CONDUCTOR

Top Photo: Streetcar Conductor, Bottom Photo: Commuter Rail Conductor

Same job, Same Uniform, Different Address

Among weary commuters, conductor keeps smiling

Originally published July 10, 2008

By Adam Behsusi News-Post Staff

Conductor Russell M. Bly checks tickets as passengers board the train for Frederick in Rockville, Maryland.

If you choose to doze off on Russell M. Bly's train, let him know and he'll come wake you when you arrive at your stop.

The long-time conductor's enthusiasm and care for passengers may seem misplaced on a train full of bleary-eyed commuters making the daily haul between Frederick and Washington's Union Station.

But that's the way Bly likes it, and he's not ashamed to admit he can turn the grind of the daily commute into a pleasant experience for most of his passengers, making even the most stone-faced crack a smile.

"If somebody sees me coming, they're glad to see me," he said.

A third-generation railroad man and the third to carry his grandfather's name, Bly has been working the rails for 40 years in freight and passenger service.

He started his career at NASA repairing computers but got laid off the night astronauts landed on the moon. The loss of his job made him eligible for the draft.

After a stint in the Navy, which included five tours in Vietnam, a cruise of the world on a nuclear warship, exotic ports of call throughout Asia, the retrieval of two astronauts from capsules that landed in the ocean, and afternoon tea and crumpets with the Queen of England during a stop in Australia, Bly decided to return home to Mount Airy and take a job with the railroad.

He married during his second tour in Vietnam. Regrets were few when he came back and began a career with the B&O Railroad, hauling freight.

"There wasn't anything better out there that I already didn't have," he said.

Four decades later and Bly seems to have never lost any of his youthful bounce.

On a recent ride from Washington to Frederick, the 60-year-old conductor exchanged conversation with his regular passengers, asking about their grandchildren or what local fishing hole yielded the most bites.

"Most of them have my cell phone," he said.

Sometimes he'll get a call to hold the train for a minute as a late passenger pulls up to the station. If they're ahead of schedule he'll do it but said it doesn't always happen.

What makes Bly even more of a fixture during the morning and afternoon commute is his unique "all aboard" call he bellows at each stop.

The end, an adamant "yeehaw!", makes the call his own. Giggles grew louder from a group of children riding the train Tuesday afternoon with each call and stop.

"When I came out here on passenger service, nobody did it," Bly said.

Riding his grandfather's train to Virginia gave Bly the inspiration to revive the ear-piercing yell.
Radios, intercoms and other technology have eliminated the call from a bygone era, he said. Surely a wake-up call for drowsy commuters in the morning, Bly said he is the only MARC conductor to holler out a final boarding notice.

"My wife doesn't even know him and she loves him," said a suit-and-tie clad passenger boarding in Washington.

Having worked MARC trains for 15 years, including the first one to leave from Frederick eight years ago, Bly said he's seen changes and his share of danger.

He earned a nickname, The Bouncing Ball, when he fell from a train moving 55 mph. He was spotted as he bounced to the level of the train car windows.

Despite a bruised lung, Bly showed up to work the next day to save a $5,000 bonus promised for the crews having gone so long without an accident. Reporting the injury would have eliminated the reward, he said.

In the next few years, Bly said he plans to retire and spend more time with his nine grandchildren. For now, he said he will continue working the line and trying to make passengers smile at the end of a long day.

"I can't tell you how generous they are to me," he said.

BLOGGER COMMENT:

This is a program who's time has come again. Jacksonville, JTA, Buses, Skyway and future Streetcars need to seriously consider the quality's of the old style Conductor. Understand if you will, that the Conductor NEVER operates the train, bus, monorail, or streetcar, but in a transportation world he can move mountains. He is the absolute authority on his vehicle, even to the point of having Federal, and State Law authority. It is he, and he alone, that says when the vehicle moves, or when it stops. He decides who rides and who doesn't. He or she receives the orders from on high and passes them down to the train engineer or streetcar motorman.

But he or she is much, much, more then some stoic authority figure, the Conductor is the friend to the vehicle, and it's passengers. A friendly face, a helping hand. Never too busy to see to a passengers comfort or convenience. He spends his days split between doing many transportation chores and making sure that everyone who steps off his grand conveyance will yearn to come back. To engage him or her in conversation, he is pastor, confident, day labor, friend, authority, tour guide, helping hand, and most of all, family, to all who know him. A program of roving REAL Conductorson Jacksonville's growing Transportation System, married to the City Ambassador program, and the Jacksonville Historical Society, would provide dozens, perhaps hundreds of volunteers to add a touch of Victorian era service, to a 21St century transit network. Add to that an apprentice program for youth - (always under the guidance of adult operators), and we create an entire generation that respect their fellow man, cherish their city's roots, and will never have to be asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up..." You see, handled properly, such a program could qualify and licence them in time for High School graduation. What greater gift could we give our youth, and our transit riding community?

THE STATE OF JACKSONVILLE BUS RAPID TRANSIT

Miami-Dade South Busway BRT system

For 30 years, I have played the attack dog for lame transit schemes that have rolled out of city hall in Jacksonville. The latest of these attacks have been directed at JTA's BRT system. Perhaps it's time to explain my stand on BUS RAPID TRANSIT and how it would and wouldn't work in Jacksonville.

First understand, no one can quite explain what Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, really is. To make it elementary, let's just say it is a cafe or smorgasbord of bus transit toys, laid out to pick and choose from. Depending on the extent of investment and the number of additions and betterment's, a regular bus provider can become a magic BRT magnet.

BRT comes in two forms, the very expensive, first proposed for Jacksonville, rivals Light Rail in Costs, with few extra benefits and at least an equal number of faults. This system is known as "QUICKWAY". Usually it involves completely grade separated bus ways, without a single cross street, pedestrian cross walk, or railroad crossing. In effect a freeway for buses. Stations are grand affairs, some with shopping and other services built in. Buses run fast and frequent. Other features might include railroad like signals for traffic control, real time digital information signs, ground level boarding, GPS bus locating service. In short, it's a great concept for a medium to high density route with very frequent "headways" (times between buses). A decent example of the QUICKWAY system is the Miami-Dade Kendall Busway, where a perfectly good railroad was torn out, graded flat and paved over.

The second form of BRT is what JTA claims, it is now pursuing. Known as LIGHT-RAIL-LITE-BRT, It would include only some of the above. In fact the buses might operate in an HOV or commuter lane in the local freeway or arterial road. There might be a few pull-offs, some digital signs, traffic light priority, even que jumping bus lanes, for the ever long lines at the traffic signals. In short it is a discount way to still build a system of BRT without the hundreds of Millions involved in building bus only freeways or "Quickways." Los Angeles, is chock full of examples of the LIGHT-RAIL-LITE-BRT model.

Your JACKSONVILLE TRANSIT BLOGGER is neither for nor against either type of system. As they would apply to a City with few other options, South Florida for example, BRT often makes the most sense. However, whenever highway lobbyist push for replacement of existing railways for a two or three lane quickway, my hair stands on end.

Why scrap a perfectly good railroad for a new concept, that even in it's most expensive form is still being sold as "Like rail only cheaper."

Facts are facts and frankly, while select rail projects, Light Rail and Modern or Heritage Streetcars can be found that cost $30 - $50 Million a mile, this in and of itself shouldn't qualify BRT as superior.

BRT doesn't have a track record in this country of attracting developers, the reasons stated by Mr. Mike Miller of JTA, in the BRT meetings. "If a route turns out that it doesn't work, we can just move it..." THAT is EXACTLY why nobody is going to plunk down $200 Million dollars on a new downtown high rise, because it's close to a BRT line. Here today, gone tomorrow.

A few other reasons why BRT in Quickway form is useless in most of Jacksonville. It will cost more then a simple Light Rail System. Starting with Heritage vehicles, streetcar lines have been recently built for as low as $3 Million dollars a mile, with many deluxe projects coming in at $10 or $15 Million a mile. Streetcars are not oil dependent, electric current, a simple 600 volt DC system can be provided by tidal action in the river, by wave action at the beach, by wind generators at the jetties, by any form of fuel, including solar power. The entire system in Edmonton, Canada, is wind powered in a branded marketing campaign called "RIDE THE WIND..."

So rail doesn't pollute, or at least doesn't need to. Rail can be placed in the street, curb, sidewalk, on private land, down an old unused freight branchline, up a Greenway, in a median, on a bridge or some combination of all of the above.

But it's not the end of the world for BRT advocates in Jacksonville. We citizens deserve the best of the best in Transit, and the World is our shopping mart. BRT in a semi-Quickway to the beaches could even be designed for someday conversion to Light Rail. The new Matthews Bridge could share BRT and SKYWAY or LRT as it brings mass transit into Arlington.

A properly laid out core of rail trunk lines could replace the current BRT plans for Southwest Jacksonville, (commuter trains), Southbank and Southeast Jacksonville, (commuter trains - Skyway - Streetcars) , North Jacksonville is a natural for an easy combo of Commuter Rail (The old "S" line-Greenway, Rapid Streetcars Gateway Mall - Downtown) . Note that we didn't wipe out the BRT plans for Arlington, nor did we take them out of the other areas. We just move them to the ends of the rail lines. For example, step off the train at Airport Station and a BRT bus meets you across the platform to whisk you to the Airport or River City Marketplace. Step off in Yukon, and the NAS bus takes you to work on the base. At Union Station other Light-Rail-Lite-BRT systems take you west to US 90 or I-10, Normandy.

I don't see the future of JTA as a ONE SIZE FITS ALL transit system. It won't work and never has. By layering non-competitive-complimentary layers over the city, we offer Choice, Speed, Comfort and Safety.

Now don't get me started on Comfort, do a blog search for the "SILVER EAGLE MODEL 15 Coach" Add bathroom and Starbucks bar and we'd have to beat the passengers off the longer run s. Let's work together to built our broken stepchild JTA system into a World Leader. Mr. Mayor? Mr. Blaylock? Pick up the phone.

JACKSONVILLE DEVELOPERS POLITICIANS GET 920% RETURN ON INVESTMENT!

WHAT IS IT ABOUT HERITAGE STREETCARS THAT MAKE DEVELOPERS AND POLITICIANS WANT TO DANCE?

COULD HAVE BEEN

WOULD HAVE BEEN

SHOULD HAVE BEEN

READ IT AND WEEP JACKSONVILLE

Augusta Trolley Study is Mostly Praised

By Sylvia Cooper, staff writer
The Augusta Chronicle

The Downtown Development Authority's plan to spend $37,000 in special-purpose sales-tax money for a trolley study received mostly positive reviews from Augusta commissioners Monday.

"I think if we do something like this it will put us on the cutting edge," said Mayor Pro Tem Betty Beard. "This would be a tremendous beginning."

Commissioner Calvin Holland said it is what he calls "thinking outside the box."

But Commissioner Jerry Brigham had questions about long-term costs.

"We know the city of Atlanta has the MARTA tax to underwrite public transit," he said. "Augusta doesn't have a MARTA tax. How are we going to fund the long-term costs of operations? That's the real question."

The Augusta transit system already loses about $4 million a year, and that loss is covered by transfers from the general fund that come mainly from property taxes.

The authority's executive director, Margaret Woodard, said a trolley could help revitalize downtown Augusta by promoting economic development on its route.

"Twenty to 30 times what you invest in a trolley is going to come back in re-development," she said. "Little Rock's return on investment was 920 percent. Developers want to develop along the line for two reasons. No. 1, it shows a real commitment by the city to invest in some type of transportation that's energy-efficient, and No. 2, they don't have to build parking as much as they would."

The 4.5-mile light rail track would run on Broad Street, along part of the Augusta Canal and up 15Th Street to the Medical College of Georgia complex, with the expectation that people would ride it downtown for lunch.

Commissioner Don Grantham proposed a 60- to 90-day trial of that concept using a bus, but transit planner Uriah Lewis said that had been tried before and didn't work due to traffic in the area around Harper Street.

Fifty percent of the money to build the track, estimated to cost between $50 million and $175 million, could be paid for with money from the federal Small Starts programs and the private sector, Ms. Woodard said.

In addition, it could possibly be powered by the Augusta Canal, making it the first such trolley system in the country, she said.

BLOGGER COMMENTS:
Shame on Jacksonville, for backwoods thinking, small town planning, and good old boy transit deals. We created the TPC and took the home of the PGA TOUR and yet Augusta still wows the international golf community with the "Masters" and those stupid green jackets.

For 30 years, since the days of Jake Godbold, I have been pounding the bricks with these development numbers, often in a friendless one man war to shake some sense into our city.
When I started this, San Diego was the first City in 40 years to construct (then under construction on an old rail line) a new Streetcar or LRT line. Portland, Oregon was "Talking about it but nothing looked promising..." I presented Jacksonville Downtown Development Authority with a plan to use some of our old and original streetcars, REBUILT. Oddly enough about 4.5 miles to the inch in length. To revive the dead, to bring back something of a specter, to the streets of Jacksonville. Unique to our city. Once the greatest Traction system in Florida, I reasoned it would be as big an East Coast attraction as San Francisco's cable cars are out west. Well, sadly I was wrong. Jacksonville quietly asked me to shut up and go away, and we never built the first HERITAGE TROLLEY SYSTEM. We ignored it even as one or two other towns and Cities tried it. We cut up 5 perfectly good Jacksonville Trolleys during the next 30 years. Today, 68+ Cities have this concept. The amazing thing is even the newest ones are still bringing in returns of 30 - *920% on every dollar invested. You'd think some Jacksonville developers, hotels or the Landing would call me, you'd think the politicians would want me as their best friend, you'd think I'd be leading a think tank over at JTA... You'd be wrong. This is Jacksonville, a place where our own streetcars once wore a jacket of Augusta green.

Amazing.

*(Little Rock, Arkansas has a similar length line, and has hit a 920% return on investment)

RASPUTIN ROCKS BRT IN EAST BAY

Amazing JTA-Like photos of Telegraph Avenue in the East Bay. The top photo is the real avenue, and the bottom photo is computer enhanced to show the same road with BRT. Note that parking is gone, and as if by magic, so is the traffic.

Opponents Hope Bus Rapid Transit Plan Will Come to Stop on Berkeley Ballot

Carolyn Jones, staff writer
The San Francisco Chronicle


Berkeley may be among the greenest cities in the nation, but it's also home to a budding backlash against public transit.

Opponents of AC Transit's plan for dedicated bus lanes on busy Telegraph Avenue south of the UC campus have gathered enough signatures to qualify the issue for the Nov. 4 ballot. The initiative, if approved by voters, would require voter approval to create any high-occupancy-vehicle lanes in the city, except on Interstate 80.


On Tuesday, the City Council could decide to adopt the measure outright but probably will put it before voters. Meanwhile, supporters and opponents of bus rapid transit are gearing up for a fight.


"Spending all this money to save one or two minutes on a bus trip is completely insane," said Ken Sarachan, owner of Rasputin's record shop on Telegraph. "It'll be the final nail in the coffin for Telegraph Avenue."


Merchants and residents along the famed avenue say dedicated bus lanes would force traffic onto side streets and make parking even more scarce. They say the $400 million AC Transit plans to spend on bus rapid transit would be better spent on cleaner buses, express buses that don't use dedicated lanes, or a bus rapid transit route that is not so close to BART.


AC Transit's plan calls for an 18-mile bus rapid transit route from San Leandro through downtown Oakland and on Telegraph Avenue to Berkeley.



The route would feature dedicated bus lanes and elevated passenger stops in the middle of the street. Buses would run every few minutes and have the technology to turn traffic signals green, creating a system the transit agency describes as light rail without tracks. (*1)


Proponents of bus rapid transit say it would encourage bus ridership and therefore improve parking and traffic along Telegraph.


"Berkeley was just proclaimed the second-greenest city in the state, and it would be ridiculous if we turned down a public transit project in favor of the automobile," said Alan Tobey, a member of Friends of BRT. A UCLA study recently named Berkeley as the second-greenest city in California, behind Albany, based on voting records, number of hybrid cars and other data.


Proponents add that taking every decision on high-occupancy-vehicle lanes to voters is an expensive, time-consuming process, Tobey said. "In a representative form of government, it's sabotage," he said. "Second-guessing the city council on ordinary land-use issues is simply bad government. In Berkeley, everything already gets talked about to death."(*2)



But merchants on Telegraph say eliminating parking would be a death knell for their businesses.


"If customers can't park, it's yet another incentive for them to buy online or at a big-box store," said Bruce Kaplan, former owner of Looking Glass Photo on Telegraph. "We're not against bus ridership, but we think they should look at alternatives. This whole thing is a bad piece of land use."


Bus rapid transit has been successful in Europe, South America and Australia and is gaining support in the United States, AC Transit spokesman Clarence Johnson said. "It's clearly the wave of the future," he said. "It's faster and much less expensive to build than light rail (*3), and the most practical way to move large groups of people in an urban setting."


The bus rapid transit plan for the East Bay is still being studied, but it could face serious hurdles if Berkeley's initiative passes.


"It's clearly their right to put this on the ballot. It's democracy at work," Johnson said. "Although we obviously want people to weigh the issue carefully when they vote."

BLOGGER COMMENTS:

(*1) At $20 Million a mile BRT is reaching the cost of Modern Streetcars, Heritage Trolleys which operate much the same way, with at least equal benefits, have been built for as little as $3 Million a mile. So depending on the source, who says BRT is Just like rail only cheaper? Locally only JTA believes a bus is a train.



(*2.) Studied to death? Just like Jacksonville. The difference here is the people care enough to put a stop to BRT's multi-million dollar - 2 minute time savings. For that they are as much as called "Bad citizens". PLEASE label me as Jacksonville's Number ONE BAD CITIZEN!



(*3) Faster and more practical? Hardly. What they leave out is BRT comes in two forms, "QUICKWAY" and "LIGHT RAIL LITE". In QW form, it is built just as high speed rail or subway. No crossings, no pedestrians, no crosswalks, overpasses and massive station centers. This is the international model, and has results similar to Light Rail in costs, but in practice, would cost even more in the USA then the Light Rail. The LRL form, which is what JTA has shifted to, is a "cheap" copy with a minute saved here and there with Que jumping, signal priority and a bit of private lane usage. The end result is Millions spent, a couple of minutes saved, and when all is said and done, we have a few more miles of road, and a few more buses.



As a postscript, you blogger must point out that either model to really operate up to expectations, must be a mature transit corridor, with bus services headway's of every 5-10 minutes. Can you think of a single place in Jacksonville's system where JTA offers that type of service? They haven't even tested the usage with express buses on 10 minute headway's on routes such as Gateway, Regency, 103Rd, or Baymeadows. Let's take it to the ballot. "50,000 passengers a day will ride the Skyway," they told us. Same JTA, different day.



Yeah, bad citizen, NUMBER ONE.

DEVELOPMENT ORIENTED TRANSIT

'Christian Science Monitor" Touts Streetcars as "Development-Oriented Transit"




Urged by mayors and advocacy groups, US cities and towns are examining the possibility of returning the forgotten vehicles to their streets.



By Cristian Lupsa


Correspondent of "The Christian Science Monitor"


POSTED ONLINE at http://www.csmonitor.com on February 5, 2007



FEBRUARY 5, 2007 -- Columbus, Ohio, might not be your image of booming America, but Mayor Michael Coleman says an explosion of jobs and immigration have made it the second-fastest-growing city in the Midwest from 2000 to 2005 (after Indianapolis). Now in his second term, Mayor Coleman is determined to shape Ohio's largest urban area – once No. 3 behind Cleveland and Cincinnati – into a 21st-century city.



His plan includes a streetcar system that would connect Columbus's spread-out downtown attractions, and bring an estimated 6 to 1 return on the initial investment, according to a city-commissioned study. They are riding streetcars into the 21st century? Is this "Back to the Future"? Well, yes.



After Portland, Ore., launched the first modern streetcar system in 2001, cities and towns from coast to coast – impressed by the financial success of Portland's venture – have followed suit or examined the possibility of returning the forgotten vehicles to their streets. While not a solution to traffic congestion or pollution, streetcars have proved to be an attractive amenity to revitalized downtowns, encouraging street life and community, boosting development, and promoting energy-efficient transportation.



"Streetcars aren't going to change the world, but they'll do their part," says Jim Graebner, a Denver-based consultant and chairman of the streetcar subcommittee for the American Public Transportation Association in Washington.



Mr. Graebner was involved in plans for more than 30 streetcar systems in the past couple of decades – half a dozen of which came to be. He says the vehicles are sure to return as cities themselves come back. Streetcars, he adds, don't need dedicated tracks – the tracks are integrated into street traffic. And they're pedestrian friendly.



But this is not a retro-transit fashion fad; it's nostalgia with a grass-roots twist. Most projects are championed not by transit authorities, but by mayors and advocacy groups. They are paid for by public/private partnerships, with little money from the Federal Transit Administration. The FTA continues to fund mostly larger people-moving enterprises, such as commuter rails. Streetcars, advocates say, are for people in growing downtowns, not commuters.



"The streetcar is not a toy or a gimmick," says Charles Hales, a senior vice president of HDR Engineering, a consulting firm in Omaha, Neb. "It's a necessary response to people's return to the cities."



Mr. Hales, who was instrumental in developing Portland's system, says the city wanted to create "development-oriented transit" as opposed to the traditional "transit-oriented development." The former aims to encourage developers to build high-density areas, where driving a car becomes an inconvenience. Couldn't buses, which are cheaper, do the same? They might, advocates say, but "have you seen developers write checks for buses?" Tracks, Hales says, show the city's commitment.



Streetcars fueled urban growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but as cars took over after World War II and fueled urban sprawl, most cities uprooted tracks.



Columbus is not a mass-transit city – it's car territory, but Coleman says he is persuaded a streetcar will make a difference to jobs, connectivity, and development. Still, he'll take it one step at a time – having most recently appointed a committee to examine how to pay for an initial two-mile route without raising taxes.



The average price for a mile of track ranges from $8 million to $25 million, one-third to one-fifth the cost of commuter rails and subways, Graebner says. The reason more than 40 cities are exploring streetcars today, he says, is that all systems opened recently have produced handsome returns. According to figures from local officials and data advocacy groups:



Tampa, Fla., spent more than $55 million on its system and attracted more than $1 billion in investments.



More than 100 projects, worth around $2.5 billion, were built along the $100-million Portland line.



The $20-million line in Little Rock, Ark., attracted about $200 million in development.



Kenosha, Wis., with a population just shy of 100,000, built the cheapest system ($5.2 million for two miles of track). It brought in about $150 million in development.



Advocates don't argue that streetcars are synonymous with development, but that's missing the point, according to "Street Smart," a recent report by Reconnecting America, a nonprofit that promotes urban development that integrates public transportation. "You want development to happen next to a streetcar so people won't get into a car and drive," says Gloria Ohland, a vice president of communications for Reconnecting America.



In other words, the streetcar helps build denser urban areas. Michael English, vice president of the board running the Tampa system, says the city planned its routes not to take cars off the Interstate, but to provide alternatives to driving short routes. The lines connect Tampa's historic district to a burgeoning downtown.



"We need to rethink sprawl," says Len Brandrup, director of transportation in Kenosha. "We believe in capitalism, but we have few tools to get people out of cars and into public transportation."



And that's the big question: Can streetcars be efficient means of transit? Robert Dunphy, an expert on transportation and infrastructure at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, is not entirely convinced. Mr. Dunphy likes streetcars, but views them as amenities. Most of those operating today – with the exception of those in larger cities such as Portland or San Francisco – fall into that category.



Lisa Gray, director of the nonprofit Charlotte Trolley, calls the local streetcar (currently closed while the city connects it to a new light rail line) an "attraction." It's not transit, she says, but a "moving museum" that happens to serve as transit. Ms. Gray says the vehicles are a great gathering point, and a way for local citizens to connect with the past. "When the trolley was the only mode of transportation, people met their neighbors on it, she says. "This notion of traveling is connected to community."



Streetcar advocates often talk about the trolley's power to create "place." That's exactly why they'll work in downtowns, Hales says. Graebner adds that they are more intimate transportation than buses.



Dunphy says streetcars have a hipper appeal. "People who are users of public transport are fine with buses," he says. "Streetcars are for people who don't use public transportation." Dunphy isn't arguing that streetcars should remain museum pieces, but wonders whether their resurgence can address the American transportation conundrum: "it's a lot easier to get people to support public transit than to get them on it."

ANTI-RAIL CAMPAIGN IN BUSH ADMINISTRATION?

Passenger rail? "Oh, we just deleted it"

Railway Age, Feb, 2008 by William C. Vantuono

In my line of work, what you ultimately, decide to leave out of a story, whether it's a full-length feature or a one-paragraph news brief, is often dependent on the amount of available space.

In the federal government's case, that's never a problem. The government printing office seems to have an endless supply of paper and ink and binding materials. Those of you in this industry who must regularly digest those enormous government-issued documents (STB decisions, NTSB accident reports, FRA rulemakings, etc.) know what I'm talking about. So, it would seem that when a special commission of experts is assembled to produce a study and make recommendations--let's say, on transportation--and that document is vetted and approved (even voted upon) before public release, chopping out pieces of it won't happen.

That's what Paul Weyrich assumed. Weyrich, for those of you who don't know him, is a staunch conservative, a principal of the Free Congress Foundation, a conservative Washington, D.C. think tank. He's also a former Amtrak board member, and a strong advocate of all forms of passenger rail. He and colleague Bill Lind have published several excellent position papers supporting investment in rail transit for APTA. Rail transit, Weyrich believes, is good for the nation, for reasons ranging from economic and social and environmental to national defense and security.

Weyrich served on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission and contributed to its "Transportation for Tomorrow" report (p. 12) with a section titled "The Case for Public Transportation."

Weyrich's section included the following: "It is the view of the Commission that public transportation, especially in the form of electric railways, must and will play a significantly larger role in Americans' mobility. Federal transportation policy should not only accommodate but encourage this development." And, "Federal policy should include a clear and unambiguous endorsement of a shift away from the private automobile to public transportation for travel in urban areas."

When the report was issued, Weyrich's section was missing, apparently deleted by someone in the Bush Administration.

"It is disappointing that after [the section I contributed] was passed by a nine to three vote that someone without ever asking me would see to it to do away with these important policy considerations," Weyrich said to the National Corridors Initiative. "It is the kind of gutter politics that make people hate their government, and Washington in general."

So this "editing," if you can call it that, was no word processing glitch. It was no "Oops, we overlooked it--sorry!"

Why does that not surprise me?

"Gutter politics"? Look at this way: Highways--not railroads--have gutters.

NEW INTERNATIONAL PORT TENNANT BRINGS EARLY BUSINESS OPENING

MOL Line Volta, Similar to the Vision, which is due in port
Artists rendering of new JaxPort MOL Terminal, West of Dames Point


MOL arrives early in Jacksonville

With the arrival of the MOL Vision on July 7, 2008, MOL (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.) delivers world class service to Jacksonville’s burgeoning South Atlantic port six months ahead of schedule.

In preparation for the opening of TraPac, Inc.’s new 158-acre terminal at the Jacksonville Port Authority (JAXPORT), the MOL Vision (voyage 008E) will begin calling on Jacksonville’s Blount Island Terminal as part of its East Coast – South China Express service (ESX). In addition to Jacksonville, the ESX will add east and westbound calls at Balboa, Panama.


Linking Central / South China and the US East Coast via the Panama Canal, the ESX service is jointly operated by TNWA Partners and CMA-CGM. As the future base of MOL’s U.S. South Atlantic port activities, TraPac will offer state-of-the-art post-Panamax container handling systems with a yearly capacity of 800,000 TEUs.


Rapidly increasing development in South Georgia and North Florida is quickly making Jacksonville one of North America’s rising stars of international trade. With nearly fifty major distribution centers within miles of JAXPORT, and 17,000 acres of available building and expansion capacity, JAXPORT is fast becoming the premier South Atlantic port for shippers looking to take advantage of its strategic location. In addition to shortening the distance between the U.S. and Panama, JAXPORT is serviced by three major interstate highways and more than 100 truck terminals, allowing shippers to reach more than 60% of the U.S. population within 24 hours.


With the completion of TraPac Jacksonville, MOL will solidify its commitment to enhancing its already robust East Coast global service, while continuing to strengthen its presence in Latin America and the Caribbean.


New ESX Port Rotation
Ningbo -- Shanghai -- Chiwan -- Hong Kong -- Balboa -- Manzanillo, Panama -- Jacksonville -- Savannah -- New York -- Norfolk -- Balboa -- Ningbo


About MOL
MOL operates one of the largest and most diverse networks of liner and logistics services around the globe, including weekly Transpacific, Transatlantic, Americas and Asia-Europe services. MOL (America) Inc. and TraPac, Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of MOL (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.) one of the world’s largest multi-modal shipping companies. Please visit the company’s website at www.MOLpower.com.

Thanks to JAXPORT news

JACKSONVILLE-GAINESVILLE / JACKSONVILLE-TALLAHASSEE / JACKSONVILLE-DAYTONA-MIAMI... The "Official Word" new train corridors from Florida DOT. ZZZZzzz

Cal Train photo or a "what if shot" taken near Gainesville or Tallahassee?


It all started in a car crazy society that was tired of seeing the air they breathed. Why not use the new Federal Passenger Train network, "AMTRAK" to try and relieve the congestion. Believe me, I was there, your blogger remembers the jokes. "It will only work if they figure out how to seat the passengers AND their sports cars in coach". Well they did it anyway and something amazing happened. People started abandoning their cars by the hundreds. New development sprung to life alongside the revived passenger stations and a whole new urbanism took root. Yes, I remember "The San Joaquin" in those days. A single little train, one locomotive and maybe 3 cars that trundled down the valley each day from Oakland to Stockton, Fresno and ended it's run 2 feet from hell, in Bakersfield. The equipment was second hand, the Air Conditioning worked - sometimes, and schedule keeping was hap-hazard at best. But on and on it rolled, slowly the numbers of riders creeping ever upward.

Move on to Florida. A state much more dense then the San Joaquin Valley of California. Crowned by Jacksonville, the railroad gateway to America's playground.
Just 60, 120 and 300 miles from Gainesville, Tallahassee and Miami (via Daytona Beach) respectively. Racetrack fast railroad track connecting all points, downtown to downtown possibilities, but not to worry, we're planning extra lanes on the roads to Hades. Fuel prices are soaring, and America's number one beaches are not access able by train. University of Florida, Florida State University and Florida A&M all sit poised to send hordes of commuters into Jacksonville on a daily basis...but you better call Greyhound. A single little train on each of these routes would give us a measure of the future, something we could watch, something we could promote. Schedules could be fixed so the trains to and from the Northeast would offer easy connections or even through cars from Jacksonville. If it seems impossible, just think of what the worlds most auto centric society did. One wonders how we could get to Gainesville, Daytona, or Tallahassee if they were all in California?

The official word from Tallahassee on an AMTRAK-FLORIDA SYSTEM? "ZZZZZzzzzzz..."

California passenger rail success story
Railway Age, by Julian Wolinsky

A billion dollar investment is paying off in steadily rising ridership. Who says Californians are car-crazy?

If there are any doubts that an intercity passenger rail revival is truly under way in California, a few significant statistics will put those uncertainties to rest. There are three state supported corridors: the Pacific Surfliner, the Capitol, and the San Joaquin. They carry 2.9 million passengers annually--nearly 15% of Amtrak's national total. The number of daily trains, now totaling 23, has been steadily increasing, and with each service expansion comes a surge of new riders. More than $1.2 billion has been invested by the state to upgrade right-of-way and rolling stock, and hundreds of millions of additional dollars are in the pipeline. As service has improved, so has ridership, confirming that a long suppressed market for train travel existed in California. If schedules are convenient and frequent, people will leave their cars at home.


New routes and more trains have been added. The Pacific Surfliner (formerly the San Diegan) has been expanded to 11 daily roundtrips between San Diego and Los Angeles. The line was also pushed farther north, to San Luis Obispo. Since 1990, more than $500 million has been invested in the Pacific Surfiner route.

The San Joaquins now operate five times a day, with one train running from Bakersfield to Sacramento using a newly upgraded segment between Stockton and Sacramento. There are seven daily Capitols from Sacramento to Oakland, with four continuing south to San Jose and two north from Sacramento to Roseville. Caltrans won the right to run up to 20 trains between Oakland and Sacramento in exchange for contributing $56 million in state funds to improve capacity of the UP-owned line (the railroad contributed an additional $10 million and did all the work). However, the link south of Oakland will remain capped at four trains until track and signal expansion takes place.

Besides bond money raised through taxes, a significant source of capital funds is the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which supports intercity rail, transit, and highway construction. It allocates about $1 billion annually, but 75% is awarded to local agencies that submit packages of favorite transit projects. Some communities have used their share to enhance the intercity rail system. They've renovated stations or built new ones and have added such passenger amenities as parking lots.

Although capital financing is relatively straightforward, obtaining operating subsidies is more complex. Each year Caltrans must request money from the legislature, which controls the Public Transportation Account. That program is funded by the sales tax on diesel fuel and a portion of the sales tax on gasoline. Half is earmarked for intercity rail, including Amtrak Thruway bus routes, and the remainder is allocated on a formula basis to local transit operators. Lawmakers must authorize spending from the fund; the money is not just doled out automatically. "We have no authority to spend anything unless the legislature gives it to us," explains Caltrans Rail Program Manager Warren Weber. "That's true of any program."

The farebox return on the three corridors by law must be at least 30% but is currently equivalent to that of the average public transit system. The pacific Surfliner, with a ridership of 1.57 million during the fiscal year ending last June 30, is the leader at 48%. Next are the San Joaquins (671,000 riders) at 42%, followed by the Capitols (684,000 passengers) at 32%. Such costs as interest and depreciation on Amtrak-owned equipment are not included. The Pacific Surfliner is Amtrak's second busiest service nationally while the Capitols are the fourth and the San Joaquins the fifth.

Amtrak has always been the system operator and rolling stock provider under a sole-source contract that's renewed annually. "There is no viable option," says Weber. "They are the only agency that's able to access the private railroads' rights-of-way at avoidable costs. In theory you could put it out to bid, but Amtrak's got the liability, the lockdown with the railroads, and they have the avoidable costs definition. We negotiate the price based upon ridership and revenue estimates. I don't think there's anybody that can compete with Amtrak." To help hold down costs, Caltrans negotiates a fixed price for Amtrak's general and administrative costs and for the use of its reservation system. Occasionally a locomotive or a couple of coaches have to be borrowed from Amtrak if the state-owned equipment is down for maintenance or repair, and Caltrans pays a rental fee. Planning is under way for construction of a $53 million joint Caltrans/Amtrak maintenance facility in Oakland, with the state contributing $30 million . Weber says this will further tie the two agencies together since Caltrans could not go to competitive bidding for maintenance work and still use the new shop.

California's intercity rail program isn't standing still. Future plans call for a significant expansion of existing routes and the inauguration of new lines. Gov. Gray Davis, a vocal and effective proponent of passenger rail, has gotten the legislature to back his policy of expanding rail transportation with taxpayer money. In July, he signed the Traffic Congestion Relief Plan, a $5.3 billion program that should leverage an additional $10 billion in federal funds. Unlike previous funding measures, which handed over most of the cash to highway builders, some two-thirds of this five-year package will be used for transit and passenger rail. "Rail is a vital component of California's transportation system," said Davis. "Increasingly, it represents the most efficient and practical means of reducing congestion in our urban transportation corridors."

From the Archive:
Why Not A Train To Gainesville?
In a day and age when urban rail is becoming vogue, and Bus Rapid Transit or BRT is the new battle cry of the highway side, is it time to revist the short distance train? Take a look at the famous "Del Monte", a one time daily train from San Francisco to Monterey and Pacific Grove. The train was well patronized and ran for 100 years, until a quirk in the Amtrak laws left all trains under 150 route miles in a commuter category and unavailable for rescue. Trains operated by commuter agencys kept right on rolling through Amtrak day back in 1971, all longer distance trains that made the cut switched over to Amtrak on that same date. Yet everything in between fell through the cracks. Today, the stage is set to obtain Amtrak-Federal-State and Local grants to revive many of these runs. The people in Monterey, California are already in a campaign to restore the "Del Monte".

Here in Jacksonville, we have the CSX mainline West from the Union Terminal to Baldwin, and hence Southward to Starke. At Starke, a well maintained branchline swings off for Alachua and Gainesville. The right of way into downtown Gainesville is intact, the tracks stop about one mile from the Station. With the "Gator Bowl" at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, with Shands Hospital in downtown, and with a new Shands teaching campus planned for the Northside, this could become a vibrant and busy little 60+ mile train route. We need to revisit this route, revive some of our history and tie downtown Jacksonville to downtown Gainesville... Let's just not call it "The Seminole".

DALLAS RIDES DART TO GLOBAL CITY STATUS...CAN WE RIDE JTA TO THE SAME DESTINATION?

DART SYSTEM MAP
DART LRV TRAIN


DART: Helping Grow A Great Global City
By Gary Thomas
President/Executive Director
Dallas Area Rapid Transit

Tomorrow's great cities will have great transit systems, and a trip around today's 45-mile DART Rail System shows rail has the power to drive land use and urban development in exciting and environmentally friendly directions. Now, as we work to more than double the rail system, leading-edge transit-oriented projects are emerging up and down the lines. And it's clear we're making tracks toward a great future, not only for Dallas but the entire North Texas region.

The Greening of DART Rail

Between September 2009 and December 2010, DART's Red and Blue lines will be joined by the 20-station, 28-mile Green Line stretching from the South Dallas/Pleasant Grove neighborhoods, through the Dallas city center, then northwest to Farmers Branch and Carrollton.

When fully operational, the Green Line will link thriving Stemmons-area employment centers to the South Dallas/Pleasant Grove neighborhoods where residents will outnumber jobs 3 to 1 in 2025. Along the way, the line will serve Deep Ellum, Baylor University Medical Center, Fair Park, Victory Park, the Dallas Market Center, the UT Southwestern Medical District and Love Field Airport.

A 14-mile branch called the Orange Line will extend from the Green Line's Bachman Station in northwest Dallas to the Las Colinas Urban Center by 2011, and to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport by 2013.

Delivering A New Urban Lifestyle/Generating Economic Returns

While DART continues to attract new riders, it's winning the hearts of city and chamber of commerce leaders as one of the most powerful economic engines ever to come along.

"To say DART Rail's impact has been substantial for the Dallas region's economy would be an understatement," said Dr. Bernard Weinstein, director of the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development and Research. "It's a trend that's impossible to miss; the local business community certainly hasn't."

Beyond the jobs and direct economic benefits generated by construction of the system, DART Rail is dramatically changing the urban landscape with more than $7 billion in current, planned and projected transit-oriented developments (TODs) springing up around station areas.

In a November 2007 study, Weinstein and colleague Dr. Terry Clower project transit-oriented development near DART Rail eventually will generate more than $46 million each year to area schools, $23.5 million to member cities, millions more to other local taxing entities.


View an Adobe PDF version of the study, Assessment of the Potential Fiscal Impacts of Existing and Proposed Transit-Oriented Development in the
Dallas Area Rapid Transit Service Area (Nov. 2007). (Opens in a new window.)

Nowhere is that trend more impressive than at Victory Park on the northern edge of downtown Dallas. The $3 billion development by Hillwood Capital flanks American Airlines Center with a new W Hotel and Victory Plaza, the forthcoming Mandarin Oriental Hotel, designer residences, office towers and shops and restaurants. DART Rail and the Trinity Railway Express currently provide special event service to Victory Station.

"Pedestrian activity and access to the rail station have been part of our thinking from the beginning," said Howard Elkus of Elkus-Manfredi Architects, urban planners for the project. "There's no doubt that transit-oriented development is exactly what everybody wants these days - and, because the DART station was there, we were able to think in those terms."

Delivering the Transit Lifestyle

With DART Rail coming soon, communities with stations on the new Green and Orange rail lines are planning mixed-use projects to capitalize on the power of transit.

In Carrollton where there is no land left for large-scale subdivisions, city planners see TOD as the key to maintaining standards and services without raising taxes.

"Citizens have embraced the concept of redevelopment around the three stations, which will create a more urban lifestyle oriented towards the pedestrian with a mixture of high density residential, office and retail places," said Peter Braster, Carrollton's transit-oriented development manager.

In Dallas, First Worthing's Cityville at Southwestern Medical District has begun first-phase leasing of 263 apartments and 43,000 square feet of retail. Described as "an urban oasis - near the energy and excitement of Downtown Dallas," Cityville residents can easily tap that energy with the opening of the Southwestern Medical District/Parkland Station in 2010.

North Irving's Las Colinas Urban Center is seeing perhaps its biggest boom since the 1980s with much of that activity envisioned around the Lake Carolyn Station opening in 2011. The Lofts at Las Colinas have already opened with 341 units near the station site, and Water Street on Lake Carolyn promises a bustling urban mix of shops and restaurants, high-end condos and apartments, a boutique hotel and office space.

Rethinking the Inner City

Existing DART Rail stations continue to attract new development. Mockingbird Station, the region's first landmark transit village, is expanding with 23,000 square feet of new shopping and dining opening in January 2008. Matthews Southwest is bringing new life to downtown Dallas' South Side with The Beat, a 10-story, 75-unit condo project under construction next to the developer's successful South Side on Lamar community at Cedars Station.

Park Lane, a $500 million project under construction at the former NorthPark East complex at Park Lane and Central Expressway, will feature more than 330,000 square feet of office space, a hotel, more than 650 residential units and 750,000 square feet of retail - all with direct access to Park Lane Station.

In the heart of downtown at Akard Station, The Mosaic is pre-leasing at a steady rate while construction continues on 440 apartments in the former 31-story Union Tower complex.

"Quite a few people who come to look at our models say, 'Oh, the DART station is right here too,' " said leasing consultant Deborah Mock. "DART is one of the tools we use every time we show the property."

DART Rail has also attracted business to existing office space near the rail lines. After moving out of the CBD in 1992, the professional services firm KPMG returned a decade later, consolidating two groups in an office tower steps from St. Paul Station.

"In the past a number of companies elected to relocate outside of downtown because of the cost of parking," said Carl Ewert, executive vice president of The Staubach Company, which arranged the move. "Today, though, things are different. One of the key ingredients for the consolidation of KPMG back downtown is DART."

Connecting people to jobs, stimulating economic growth, creating opportunities in a growing global city - that's what DART is all about.

BERKLEY EXPERT ATTACKS BUS RAPID TRANSIT

photo: Thanks to MetroJacksonville.com

News:
Retired UC Berkeley Traffic Expert Casts Wary Eye on Bus Rapid Transit Plans
By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday April 01, 2008

Richard Brenneman
Wolfgang Homburger speaks about Bus Rapid Transit to members of the Berkeley City Commons Club.For Wolfgang Homburger, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) provides the wrong solution to East Bay traffic and environmental concerns.

A traffic engineer who served on the faculty of UC Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies for 35 years, Homburger said projects that involve construction and lead to ceremonial ribbon-cuttings lure political figures far more than do projects that involve upkeep and maintenance.

“When’s the last time you saw a ribbon-cutting for maintaining a building?” he asked members of the Berkeley City Commons Club, who had invited him to speak on East Bay transportation issues Friday.

“AC Transit wants to spend capital funds,” he said, “which is money with a ribbon-cutting at the end.”

Homburger said BRT makes sense in cities like Sacramento, Los Angeles and Pittsburg, where rights of way either follow abandoned rail lines or occupy new lanes built for the purpose.

Taking away existing traffic lanes can only lead to political backlash, he said, citing the case of an experiment on the Santa Monica freeway where an existing lane was taken away for carpools and buses. “It lasted about 12 weeks,” he said.

The BRT proposal now under consideration by AC Transit includes a proposal for creating a bus-only lane along Telegraph Avenue, a notion which has drawn the anger of neighbors and businesses along the thoroughfare.

“I am very skeptical of the existing proposal,” he said, “though I am in favor of parts of it, including controlled traffic signals” and a new ticketing system that would speed up the entry of passengers onto the buses.

Berkeley hasn’t grown since 1950, he said, nor has El Cerrito, while the populations of Richmond and Albany have declined, leaving Oakland the only city with some growth in the last half of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st.

Bay Area transportation is complex, he said, with 30 agencies involved in running public transit systems, and only one, the privately owned Tiburon Ferry, operating independently of public financing.

“I once advocated a birth control program for public agencies,” he said, smiling. “But our brightest graduate students are doing very well in them because there’s plenty of jobs.”

And while traffic engineers and systems designers think in terms of creating works that last for decades, the public is far more fickle. “Pity a poor engineer who has built a facility for 50 years and after five years the public has changed its mind.”

Another problem transportation system operators face is the thorny question of just who really does speak for the public.

He cited one project in San Francisco, where a group of self-proclaimed public leaders called for and won a project to widen sidewalks at the expense of on-street parking. The moment jackhammers set to work, neighbors started asking what was happening, and within 48 hours the project had been abandoned. “It turned out that the people who worked with the city weren’t representative of the neighborhood,” he said.

Successful transportation designs arise from working with neighbors, he said, citing the 1960s case of a 10 by 12 block business area of Richmond where owners wanted four-way stops at all the intersections. Instead, engineers worked with the neighborhood and came up with a system of street closure and forced turns that won wide support, ensuring the City Council’s approval.

Some plans are so outrageous that failure is a virtual certainty.

LIGHT RAIL - COMMUTER RAIL DEBATE RAGES IN EAST COAST'S 3RD LARGEST CITY

Amtrak at Jacksonville. Don't even mention that Amtrak could play a part in the debate, you'll be told to sit down and stay on the subject. The subject? Yes, the JTA way or "Trailways".


DOES JTA LACKS THE VISION OR THE $&!@#^* FOR RAIL
Originally created 060208
Train study to look at use of private tracks

JTA wants to know the feasibility as it considers adding light rail.
By LARRY HANNAN, The Times-Union

Bill Lewis knows the practical reasons for bringing a commuter rail system to Northeast Florida. He just prefers to focus on the fanciful. "A train would be wonderful because it's a romantic way of traveling," the 65-year-old Jacksonville resident said. "A bus just isn't the same."

Lewis does have practical reasons for hoping a passenger rail system is built in Jacksonville, though. Gas prices of $4 a gallon and traffic congestion make rail much more attractive, he said.

The question is whether the premise will be supported by the findings of a $400,000 study being done for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. The feasibility study by Gannett Fleming Inc. of Pennsylvania is expected to be completed early in 2009.

This study will look at where rail service could go by using some existing rail lines owned by private companies, CSX and Florida East Coast Railway. In addition to Jacksonville, service would go to St. Augustine, Green Cove Springs and Yulee.

JTA does not want to build new tracks and the study will look at using the existing rail lines, said James Boyle, regional transportation planner for JTA.

Still to be determined is how much such service would cost and what type of trains would be used.

While no decisions will be made until the study is completed, JTA officials have said they believe commuter rail is coming to Jacksonville.

JTA Chairman Cleve Warren said it's important to have all the details. He believes commuter trains are coming, but cautions it might not be in the immediate future.

Long-term, JTA needs to look at expanding bus routes and starting water and rail transportation to deal with growth, Warren said.

With the price of gas going up, the idea of commuter rail service is exciting to people in the Jacksonville area, Boyle said. People seem more open to the idea than they have in the past, he said.

Reader reaction would suggest just that. Jacksonville.com readers were asked Wednesday to e-mail comments about whether they thought commuter rail was a good idea. More than 90 people posted comments online and 30-40 people e-mailed the paper. Most expressed support for commuter rail.

Arlington resident Eric Johnson, 46, who works on University Boulevard, said light rail with parking is needed around exits to Interstate 95 and Interstate 10 near Jacksonville.

A rail system also should go to major shopping areas around town and congested parts of Interstate 295, Johnson said.

Mandarin resident Susan Jackson, 37, said if commuter rail came to Philips Highway and Butler Boulevard more people from Southside and Mandarin would use it to go downtown.

Orange Park resident Mike Forde, 52, said commuter trains would be great if used correctly. But he doesn't think there is a rail system now in place that would make commuter trains feasible.

No one will use commuter trains just because they exist. They will have to offer a balance of convenience and cost effectiveness greater than what is now available, he said.

Let's look between the lines here:

"JTA does not want to build new tracks and the study will look at using the existing rail lines, said James Boyle, regional transportation planner for JTA."

Now James seems to be a bright and fine young planner, however, let's get real here. How do you pull off rail without building some track? It IS possible to run commuter trains on freight railroad tracks, it is done all over the USA and world.

Even Light Rail CAN share tracks as long as there is a clear time for each mode to access the tracks so they don't mix. But James, how do we access the line to Northside, Airport and Yulee without rebuilding the old "S" line through Springfield?

How do we get on the busy FEC to St. Augustine without some extra passing tracks? And how does one come into the old Union Terminal when we have torn out EVERY SINGLE PASSENGER track? How indeed?

"The question is whether the premise will be supported by the findings of a $400,000 study being done for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority."

The first $75,000 dollars was blown just teaching these out-of-towners where "Beach Blvd goes"... This left us with a study of some $325,000 dollars. Very serious money to you and I, but did you know the recent work to study wood rot on the Southbank Riverwalk cost us just under $1 Million? How does a thing like that work? Does some guy pocket that check and then walk down the Riverwalk kicking boards and marking his clipboard..."Uh yeah, dat one looks rotten...ooh and dis one too!" Come on Jacksonville is JTA serious or are we being played for bus riding peasants again?

"JTA Chairman Cleve Warren said it's important to have all the details. He believes commuter trains are coming, but cautions it might not be in the immediate future."

"Long-term, JTA needs to look at expanding bus routes and starting water and rail transportation to deal with growth, Warren said."

READ IT! These guys are still thinking rail in the year 2525. Note the order of Warren's statement, Bus Routes... then Water (which has already been shown to be unfeasible on a large scale)... then rail. His words speak volumes. This whole study could be a crafted item to get the Light Rail and Commuter Rail Community to SHUT UP. JTA claims it needs friends, it wants OUR support. They want us to speak up and be heard, as long as we say what they want us to say... FAT CHANCE FROM THIS BLOG. But hey, if you disagree, post it.

How did that movie go? "STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES?"

Florida - JACKSONVILLE WARNED - Over Commuter Rail Fumbles

Photos: Rep. John Mica, R-Florida
CSX Trout River Bridge on Jacksonville Northside

FLORIDA WARNED OVER COMMUTER RAIL FAILURES

Mica Warns Florida Officials Over CSX DealPosted May 2, 2008 by Lindsay PetersonUpdated May 2, 2008 at 04:21 PM

U.S. Rep. John Mica, a long-time advocate of the deal to pay CSX more than half a billion dollars as part of a Central Florida commuter rail project, has sent Gov. Charlie Crist and state Senate leaders a letter warning of dire consequences to Florida federal transportation projects if deal doesn’t go through.

Earlier this afternoon, he called state Sen. Mike Fasano’s office with a message for Fasano’s aide. The aide noted:

“Congressman Mica called again. He asked me to send you the message that he is greatly concerned about the commuter rail issue. He said he is willing to close down all transportation projects down until this issue is dealt with. He mentioned the possibility of asking the governor for a special session if this issue is not dealt with.”

The deal is facing trouble in the final hours of the state legislative session, and its most prominent supporter, state Sen. Dan Webster, has declared it dead.
Mica also wrote a letter today on his office stationery to Gov. Charlie Crist, Senate President Ken Pruitt, Majority Leader Dan Webster and Minority Leader Steve Geller.

It read:
“Dear Gov. Crist and Members of the Florida Senate:
“As the Legislature concludes its business, it is absolutely imperative that the legislature grant final approval to proceed with the Central Florida Commuter Rail project. Failure to do so will have dire consequences affecting all transportation projects and federal transportation infrastructure revenues to the state, affecting all districts.

“Members of the Crist administration and the Legislature should know that in 2009, the Congress will be required to take up a new five-year transportation and infrastructure project authorization bill. Inaction by the Legislature on this project will significantly damage Florida’s credibility and standing on every future project that requires federal authorization. I have today consulted with Congresswoman Corinne Brown who chairs the Railroad Subcommittee, and who is my senior Democratic Transportation and Infrastructure Committee colleague in the House, and she joins me in expressing our concern at this critical juncture.
“We cannot stress enough the importance of improving this project prior to the conclusion of this session, or if necessary, a special session of the Legislature.

“Sincerely,
“John L. Mica”

A BOLD NEW TRANSIT LINK ON THE SOUTHBANK? POSSIBLE

IMAGINEER SOMETHING BOLD ON THE SOUTHBANK!

Imagine this as a Transit Idea. Since we seem to have trouble figuring out how to serve Atena, Baptist Medical, Wolfson or Nemouirs Hospitals on the City's curving Southbank, imagine an air conditioned Sky walk from the San Marco Skyway Station to Baptist Hospital. Over the Acosta Freeway, Over the FEC, Over the Parking lots and right to the front doors of the buildings. We could install moving sidewalks, lease out kiosks, food vendor carts and creature comforts, add security, and the city would have a fantastic viewing window on the Southbank. A window with a purpose. With 9,000 current employees ignored by the Skyway and most JTA bus routes, I have been working on a solution, this is just one idea to re-connect 1/2 of 1/4 of our downtown to our downtown. Keeping in mind there are current proposals for massive hospital expansion plus a new 56 floor tower on the drawing boards. This would take a fraction of the money for a busway or new Skyway link, and still tie it all together in seconds. Pull the buses South and East back to Kings Avenue Station and the entire area could be swept clean of street clutter, benches, signs, most buses etc... and the Kings Avenue Station would bloom into the mini-transit center it was designed to be. Skyway trains, Buses galore and future streetcars. IMAGINE.

THINK BOLD JACKSONVILLE!

STREETCARS RETURN AGAIN

Streetcar Line Opens on South Carrollton

NEW AMTRAK BILL - ALLOWS A DREAM

PHOTOS: Top-Last run of the Kansas City-Florida Special, Jacksonville-Birmingham-Memphis-Springfield-Kansas City

Middle: Map showing historic routes still viaable

Bottom: Typical Amtrak Medium-Short Distance Train



"Now leaving Jacksonville for St. Louis, Birmingham, New Orleans, Wilmington, Norfolk, Atlanta, Nashville, Louisville..." Just a dream? Not anymore. The age of bringing back the great trains and routes is upon us again. Will Jacksonville and her Southern sisters lead the Nation?

Now that Washington has finally gotten off of it's collective wallet and funded Amtrak, I thought it might be useful to take a look back across the years and select 20 star performers to return to Northeast Florida.

TO AND FROM THE EAST COAST - NORTH AND SOUTH :

THE CHAMPION - Ft. Myers-Tampa-Orlando-Jacksonville-Charleston-Richmond-Washington-New York-Boston

THE MIAMIAN - Miami-Ft Lauderdale-Daytona-Jacksonville-Charleston-Richmond-Washington-New York-Boston

THE PALMETTO - Venice-Sarasota-Tampa-Orlando-Jacksonville-Charleston-Richmond-Washington-New York (Connecting Section - Wilmington)

THE SILVER METEOR - Miami-Ft Lauderdale-Orlando-Jacksonville-Raleigh-Richmond-Washington-New York-Boston

THE SILVER STAR - Miami-Ft. Lauderdale - Orlando- -Raleigh-Richmond-Washington-New York

THE CAROLINA SPECIAL - Jacksonville-Columbia-Charlotte-Washington-New York

THE TIDEWATER - Jacksonville-Charleston-Portsmouth-Norfolk

TO AND FROM CHICAGO AND THE MIDWEST:

THE ROYAL PALM - Jacksonville-Macon-Atlanta-Chattanooga-Knoxville-Cincinnati-(Chicago) (Cleveland) (Detroit)

THE PONCE DE LEON - Jacksonville - Macon-Atlanta-Chattanooga-Knoxville-Cinninnati-

THE HUMMINGBIRD - Jacksonville - Atlanta - Nashville - St. Louis - Kansas City

THE CITY OF MIAMI - Miami-Ft.Lauderdale-Daytona-Jacksonville-Birmingham-Memphis-Chicago

THE DIXIE FLYER - Jacksonville - Waycross-Manchester-Atlanta

TO AND FROM THE WEST:

THE SUNSET LIMITED- Jacksonville-New Orleans-Houston-San Antonio-El Paso-Phoenix-Los Angeles

THE SUNBEAM - Jacksonville-New Orleans-Baton Rouge-Shreveport-Dallas-Ft.Worth

THE GULF WIND - Jacksonville - Tallahassee - Mobile - Gulfport - New Orleans

WHAT IS A POTATO CHIP TRUCK? OR PCT-"TROLLEY"

Those ridiculous looking Imitation Trolleys

They ride like cantaloupe trucks and the reason is they are not far removed, in fact most are not built on transit bus platforms at all. Welcome to Jacksonville's unique faux trolley world

Jacksonville Transportation Authority is a laughing stock among locals as they continue to buy, plan and market their "Trolley" gimmick. As IF the citizens of Jacksonville were fooled. EVERYONE knows these buses built on the frames of glorified Potato-Chip-Trucks are NOT TROLLEYS. They are not even Trolley Buses. They ARE an insult to the intelligence and image of our City. Instead of being the City with the States Largest Streetcar (real Trolley) system. We are becoming a mecca of the plastic and foam imitation on rubber tires, hold the rail and electric wires please. No one at JTA thinks we are worth spending a few extra coins for a real streetcar trolley. By the way, I have a firm quote that would give us two REAL and brand new streetcars for a bit under $1 million dollars. The FTA thinks they have a life span of between 35 and 100 years. Those little fake looking, amusement park rejects, are costing us over a quarter of a million a copy and they'll last only 12 years or 500,000 miles. Sad that City hall won't blow the whistle, sad that JTA has never seen a highway vehicle they didn't love, sad that our fleet of "Trolleys" will park if a REAL fuel crisis hits. Only Cities with electric shuttle buses and REAL streetcars will be mobile when the gas pump turns off. Those cities will be able to use the power from hydro-electric, natural gas, wind, solar, low sulfur coal or landfill methane to power their economy, Jacksonville will be in the dark. These are vehicles only Frito-Lay could love. I'm embarrassed every time I have an out of town visitor that notices one. PLEASE don't judge us by these stupid little trucks, Jacksonville is better then this, REALLY!

Photos:

1. The infamous JTA PCT-Thinks-It's-A-Trolley

2. It's kissing cousin, the Potato Chip Truck (note the wheels, tires and wheelbase)

3. Engine and chassis assembly for the PCT-Trolley, NO RAIL VEHICLE here.