On Monday, April 2, 2007, the consultants for JTA's Bus Rapid Transit system presented their plans for the downtown busway routes to the CPAC.  During this presentation, planners had attempted to prove that despite eliminating parallel parking spaces, restricting vehicular accessibility to downtown retailers, and introducing a massive streamlined network of city buses to pedestrian friendly downtown streets, Bus Rapid Transit would enhance and stimulate economic activity, not destroy it.

To drive their point home, consultants mentioned a couple of "successful" transit malls across the country to reduce the fears of those not too keen on their plan of converting Adams Street and the Bay Street Town Center into diesel exhaust pits.

Here are a few reasons why the idea of BRT in the heart of downtown should be avoided at all costs, based off information about the transitways used in JTA's recent presentation.  Direct links are provided back to sources and cities websites that are discussed to allow Metro Jacksonville readers to digest the information for themselves.

Marion Street Transitway - Downtown Tampa... Where are the people and the street level retail?

Between the LYMMO, 16th Street Mall in Denver, and Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, two of the three JTA transit mall examples don't allow regular buses along their paths.  The third is under attack by local residents who are tired of bus fumes destroying the ambiance of the retail and dining district.  Hopefully, with public support, we'll avoid having to go through this scenario altogether.


LYMMO – Orlando, FL

Pretty landscaping in Mickey's playground, but no people or critical mass of retail along the busway.

In 1997 a new 3-mile busway loop known as the “LYMMO” was introduced to the streets of downtown Orlando.  The LYMMO serves as a free downtown people mover or shuttle service running on a continuous loop throughout the central business district.  For whatever reason, consultants continue to promote this system as what Adams could resemble if it became a transit mall.  If you’re into landscaping, it serves as a very good case study of how to properly maintain public right-of-way.  However, that’s something the land of Mickey Mouse is well known for. When it comes to Jacksonville and Adams Street, it’s Metro Jacksonville’s belief that downtown business owners and residents would rather see Adams filled with lofts, retail shops, sidewalk cafes and pedestrians, not pristine plant life. 

This line of thinking is also verified by the Downtown Master Plan.  If this belief is true, then building a system like the LYMMO is something we need to avoid.  Does it move shuttle buses around downtown, of course it does.  Is it a catalyst in developing retail along it’s path.  Apparently not, considering the majority of the route is lined with empty sidewalks, parking lots, and the back of buildings instead the retail scene starting to spring up on Adams Street and the Bay Street Town Center.

There is one major aspect JTA can apply downtown that the LYMMO does well.  That is: put the word "FREE" on the front of the LYMMO type service that we already have in the core called the “Downtown Trolley”.  Adding station shelters and route information, just as Orlando has done, would also be nice and shouldn't cost JTA or the taxpayers $15 to $20 million.

Need proof? Use this link to learn more about the LYMMO and why it's a completely different animal from what transportation planners and consultants are trying to force downtown:

http://www.cityoforlando.net/PLANNING/Transportation/transit.htm

http://www.golynx.com/?pid=1155678

16th Street Mall – Denver, Co

If you ever get the chance to visit the City of Denver, the 16th Street Mall is a must see destination.  It actually has buses and retail peacefully existing together, so it’s a natural case study for a transportation planner to push his or her agenda across.  However, when it comes to the concept of urbanism, most consultants and planners become just as useful as a bus with no passengers.  Believe it or not, there are several factors other than bus drivers and rubber tire trains that make these types of places successful. 

In Denver’s case, the 16th Street Mall has always been downtown’s premier commercial district.  It even had four major department stores already along the stretch when the transit mall concept was introduced in 1982.  As we continue to peel back the layers of the 16th Street onion, it is also revealed that the mall is served by not one, but FIVE light rail lines and the downtown core is home to over 110,000 office workers, 6,670 hotel rooms, and 10,000 residents in a dense urban environment.

To cement the idea that this environment has nothing to do with Bus Rapid Transit, the buses serving the mall (called MallRide) are slow moving FREE shuttle buses that stop at each block, not the stream of diesel fume blowing city wide buses that would be potentially forced down Adams Street and the Bay Street Town Center.  In other words, this system is comparable to our Downtown trolley buses, not bus rapid transit. 

Unlike others, we have nothing to hide, so feel free to use the link to verify the information provided here.

http://www.rtd-denver.com/SpecialRides/MallShuttles/

Nicollet Mall – Minneapolis, Mn

This popular shopping district in downtown Minneapolis was one of the examples JTA consultants used to support their claim that transit malls help revitalize the core.  While it’s easy to pluck pictures off the internet showing buses next to sidewalk cafes, you should at least learn the history of these urban shopping districts before making claims in public about urban development that can be easily shot down.  To make a long story short, like Denver’s 16th Street mall, this shopping district was already in place before bus and taxi only traffic was introduced into the area.  So to sum it up, buses aren’t the reason this district has remained a lively one. In fact, it has been in spite of the buses.

The casual observer would be amazed to learn that most Minneapolis residents despise the continuous stream of bus traffic flowing down the center of the district.  A June 2, 2006 Star Tribune article describes the transit mall as “Everyone’s favorite place to eat and inhale exhaust fumes.  A simple google search turns up many local blogs, such as Mnspeak.com (http://www.mnspeak.com/mnspeak/archive/post-1871.cfm ) and wowflutter.com (http://www.wowflutter.com/2006/11/05/is-nicollet-mall-overrated/) with posts demanding the nasty non-pedestrian buses be removed from the pedestrian mall. 

According to Mayor R.T. Rybak’s Access Minneapolis presentation in November 2006, he mentioned that challenges facing the continued success of Nicollet include congestion of buses, and the noise and diesel fumes created by them.  Suggested improvements include reducing bus traffic 40% during rush hour and every bus running down Nicollet to become a slow moving shuttle bus, as opposed to the bus highway that is being proposed locally.

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s power point presentation on downtown mass transit

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/mayor/docs/budget_2007_transportation_slides.pdf

OTHER ISSUES DISCUSSED

BRT vs. Rail

During the Urban CPAC meeting, planners kept pointing out that spending $15 to $20 million dollars on a downtown bus rapid transit system was much cheaper than building rail.  However, as everyone knows, we already have a rail transit system downtown.  The Skyway is 2.5 miles of one of the most expensive transit systems ever constructed in the United States per mile.  Instead of ignoring the Skyway, the planning of this downtown bus rapid transit system should respect the fact that it exists and work to feed additional riders into it, instead of paralleling the line and decreasing ridership.

State & Union or Beaver Street as Alternative BRT Routes

During the presentation, planners displayed a graphic showing why they abandoned the concept of using State and Union, in favor of Forsyth & Bay or Adams.  The graphic pointed out that most of the downtown destinations were not on State and Union and moving the buses closer to the Northbank office tower core put the buses directly adjacent to downtown's major destinations.  However, this graphic left the existing $184 million dollar skyway line and existing trolley routes off the map. 

A second reason that was mentioned for the abandonment of State and Union Streets for BRT was that JTA could not get permission from the Florida DOT to close a lane of traffic for dedicated use by buses. State and Union Streets both have synchronized traffic lights and fast moving traffic. BRT could be run on these two roads, in their current state, without the need for dedicated lanes and still have faster travel times then using dedicated lanes through the core.    

To help the casual observer understand Metro Jacksonville's alternative option, it was suggested that BRT buses stay on either State and Union (yellow) or Beaver Street (blue) before eventually crossing the Matthews Bridge.  For those riders who desire to access the downtown core, only one stop should be provided on this east-west line at the existing FCCJ terminal.  From that point, downtown riders would either take the skyway(red) or the free trolley buses to their downtown destinations.  Riders heading out to the suburbs would then get to their destinations faster because there would not be multiple stops and circuitous routes being made in the downtown core.  By using what we already have in place, not only do you save money, you also feed riders into the skyway instead of competing against it.

Competing Against the Skyway

During the presentation, it was mentioned that the planned downtown leg complements the skyway because it has FIVE direct connections with our "expensive and riderless" peoplemover system. That is precisely the problem.  The Skyway is not a citywide system.  It only has EIGHT stations in total.  If the buses run parallel to most of the system and provide direct connections to five of the eight stations... why transfer, passenger will simply stay on the bus.  This will not complement the skyway, it will compete with it.

Why spend money we don't have to?  Complementing the Skyway would involve a bus stop ONLY at the Skyway ENDPOINTS (ex. Kings Avenue, FCCJ and the Prime Osborn).  By doing this, riders that are headed downtown need to transfer to our existing downtown peoplemover system already in place, or to the free downtown trolleys.  Doing this means JTA will not have to spend upwards of $20 million on a downtown transit system that apparently nobody wants.  Take that money saved, by using what's already in place, and purchase new signs, shelters, and directional information to help improve the existing bus system.

Metro Jacksonville Conclusion:

Transportation planners have no idea of what they are talking about and could really care less about alleviating the concerns of downtown residents and business owners, when it comes to the idea of transit malls, BRT and its impact on the core.  What has been presented in the public workshops to date is a plan that is being pushed for the sole purpose of moving buses, not building a better community with an enhanced pedestrian environment.

To save downtown from this huge mistake, contact the Mayor's office, the City Council, and the JEDC to express your concerns and ask for a resolution to make JTA take a step back and seriously consider the logical and affordable alternatives discussed here before "railroading" this thing through.  Also included is the email address to JTA's Downtown Rapid Transit System (BRT) contact.  Let JTA know how you feel about BRT being introduced to downtown. Time is running out!

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