bobliocatt

^Unfortunately these Advisory Committees were held back in 2002, a full year before I moved to town. But I agree, the best thing to do is contact JTA officials and the city council, with sound reasons why commuter rail should become a priority over BRT.

JTA is already studing running a commuter rail line from St. Augustine to Fernandina Beach. Most of the discussion between forumers now is making that become the main goal and scaling back the proposed BRT lines that run parallel to the existing rail line.

The easiest way to get this thing built, is to pay for it (at least a scaled back phase 1) yourselves, such as what Houston did with its light rail line a couple of years ago, after being denied funding. The current Phase I is estimated to cost $196 million and it looks like lots of money could be saved by building smaller stations with at-grade pedestrian crossings, instead of building pedestrian bridges. So just put a good affordable and workable plan together, try to sell it to the public and put it up for a vote.

Hasn't enough local money been offered to build the initial phase? If so, why not proceed and use the Federal portion (whenever it comes, if it comes) for phase 2?

So how is the city's preparation for the super bowl coming along?

^Keep in mind, the owner of the Marlins is the same one who ruined the Expo's popularity in Montreal.

The Marlins have nobody to blame but themselves. Attendence was great until the first fire sale back in 1997. It started picking back up slowly after the recent World Series win (over 20k a game last season), but I'd expect it to go right down the tubes with this new AA team they'll put on the field next season. On top of this they want millions of hard earned public money to build them a private stadium. Although they need one (because they're getting kicked out of Dolphin Stadium), they ought to pony up some funds as well. Public money in FLorida would be better put to use building parks, fixing roads and adding mass transit.

Sounds good. Maybe this will encourage the need to relocate the homeless shelters and rezone the land to eliminate the possibility of incompatible land uses.

Glad to see this. I've always felt that private investment could fund this entire thing, if only given a chance.

Jacksonville, FL JTA is currently studying operating a commuter rail line connecting Jax, with St. Augustine, to the south, and Fernandina Beach, to the north. Funding would come from private companies and investors, interested in developing TODs. However, these plans are currently taking a backseat to JTA's plans for BRT. Hopefully, the current projects in Charlotte, Orlando and Nashville, will help push JTA to speed up the process. http://jacksonville.bizjournals.com/jackso...ry8.html?page=2

Actually several. The majority of Polk County's rapidly growing population works in either metro Orlando or Tampa and a good portion of Eastern Hillsborough residents work in the Lakeland area. The line would also attract tourist traveling between Orlando and Tampa, as well as offer a viable and affordable alternative method of transportation between the three growing metros, other than I-4 or US 92. As for getting dropped off at a station will no where to go, there would be express bus routes, taxis, other forms of local rail, etc. to get around. In reality, a rail station is no different from an airport. What do commuters do when a plan currently lands in Tampa or Orlando? The same line Orlando uses, runs through Lakeland/Plant City and terminates in downtown Tampa. There's also a N-S line that runs parallel to I-275 near USF and Busch Gardens, as well as another line that runs near the airport, through Pinellas County, terminating in downtown St. Pete.

Since Tri-Rail went operational in South Florida. Seriously though, Tri-Rail (from West Palm Beach to Miami) is about the same distance as downtown Tampa is from downtown Orlando.

I don't know what's up with JTA. JTA is planning for commuter rail, but its taking a backseat to the proposed BRT lines. Maybe the bad press on the Skyway has cooled their opinion on using trains as a form of mass transit any time soon. I'm sure the counties of Nassau, St. Johns, and Clay wouldn't mind sharing in the costs, considering a rail connection of any sort, would be a great help to them, their traffic problems and tourist oriented areas.

With our traffic problems and the fact that our existing rail lines run pretty close to most major local destinations (excluding the Beaches), its only a matter of time before the proposed commuter rail line comes to the forefront. My only concern is that JTA will build the proposed BRT lines running parallel to the tracks before commuter rail is seriously considered. Imo, the idea situation would be to build a starter commuter rail line (from the airport to the Avenues Mall) and use BRT to reach the beaches. While rail companies usually haggle over sharing their lines, I think Jax has an advantage because the rail companies (CSX & FEC) are headquartered here.

Wow, I never considered the old Holiday Inn, on the corner of Colonial and I-4, a part of Parramore. Let's not beat around the bush. The actually community we're discussing sits west of Division Ave. As far as saving parts of Parramore, instead of completely leveling it as you suggest, is indeed keep the fake Mickey Mouse label away from the inner city.