Bicycle-less BRT Streetscape Coming to Downtown?

[Bill Hoff]

The Jacksonville Bicycle Coalition would like your enthusiasm and particpation.

They attend every BPAC meeting and are the bicycle organization best equipped to advocate.

For example, arranged for the Mayor to attend Bike Month at Art Walk a few months ago. And organize a host of other bike advocacy and activities.

http://jaxbikecoalition.org/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jacksonville-Bicycle-Coalition/172300239518264

Open group meetings are held 2x month, at Bold Bean in Riverside and Three Layers in Springfield, respectively.

Engage them.

 

[PeeJayEss]

Is that 2nd picture in the article the whole system?!? Does this thing just duplicate the Skyway and do nothing else?

Jefferson and Broad will remain 1 way? If that is the case, why even keep 2 lanes? 3 lanes during off-peak hours is excessive. 2 lanes is already excessive as it stands to for Jefferson.

[tufsu1]

Downtown does not have an advocate like Soutbank does in San Marco Preservation.  Can Transform Jax take this fight on?

Already engaged Kay

[tufsu1]

Jefferson and Broad will remain 1 way? If that is the case, why even keep 2 lanes? 3 lanes during off-peak hours is excessive. 2 lanes is already excessive as it stands to for Jefferson.

I disagree....there is a need for 2 lanes of traffic on each of the one-way streets

what should happen is this:

let the buses have their own lane during peak hours....and replace that lane by not allowing on-street parking during the same time period.

This is done in countless cities and all it takes is a little bit of enforcement.

[cline]

^If there's one thing Jax is good at downtown, its handing out parking tickets.

[CityLife]

They attend every BPAC meeting and are the bicycle organization best equipped to advocate.

For example, arranged for the Mayor to attend Bike Month at Art Walk a few months ago. And organize a host of other bike advocacy and activities.

There are people like Ennis, Doug, Wiatt, and others who understand the planning, engineering, and policy side of this at a high level and probably should be consulted with by anyone trying to advocate against this. Influencing policy decisions of JTA, City Council, Mayors Office and power players in town is a whole different ball game then getting the mayor to ride a bicycle at Art Walk.

It would be great to have the energy and passion of the Bicycle Coalition to be engaged in this, but if they do, they should probably touch base with some of the aforementioned names. Or perhaps some of the aforementioned will reach out to the Bicycle Coalition.

[jcjohnpaint]

Bikes and walking are part of a 'complete' transportation system and should be factored in to the equation.  For this BRT system to act as a main line duplicating services of the skyway and proposed commuter rail, without a care for bikes or pedestrians is a knife in the heart of complete transportation.  Somebody thinks this BRT is going to be a transportation fix all- They are wrong!

[PeeJayEss]

There are people like Ennis, Doug, Wiatt, and others who understand the planning, engineering, and policy side of this at a high level and probably should be consulted with by anyone trying to advocate against this. Influencing policy decisions of JTA, City Council, Mayors Office and power players in town is a whole different ball game then getting the mayor to ride a bicycle at Art Walk.

It would be great to have the energy and passion of the Bicycle Coalition to be engaged in this, but if they do, they should probably touch base with some of the aforementioned names. Or perhaps some of the aforementioned will reach out to the Bicycle Coalition.

Not to completely belittle the efforts, work, and experience of the JBC or anything...

[CityLife]

There are people like Ennis, Doug, Wiatt, and others who understand the planning, engineering, and policy side of this at a high level and probably should be consulted with by anyone trying to advocate against this. Influencing policy decisions of JTA, City Council, Mayors Office and power players in town is a whole different ball game then getting the mayor to ride a bicycle at Art Walk.

It would be great to have the energy and passion of the Bicycle Coalition to be engaged in this, but if they do, they should probably touch base with some of the aforementioned names. Or perhaps some of the aforementioned will reach out to the Bicycle Coalition.

Not to completely belittle the efforts, work, and experience of the JBC or anything...

Didn't in any way. The reality is that Ennis and others probably understand this better than they do (heck probably better than virtually everyone). After all they are professionals and get paid to do this stuff for a living. That's a compliment to the talents of the aforementioned and not an insult to the JBC.

Not sure if you noticed, but we are hearing about this because of the hard work, knowledge, and quality of writing from Ennis...

[John P]

It would be great to have the energy and passion of the Bicycle Coalition to be engaged in this, but if they do, they should probably touch base with some of the aforementioned names. Or perhaps some of the aforementioned will reach out to the Bicycle Coalition.

Connecting planning expertise and connections with bicycle expertise and passion sounds like a good idea. It will take both.

[peestandingup]

Actually just took this today while I was sitting at a red light & watching this poor guy struggle to get up the road. I think it belongs here.

[Ocklawaha]

Bikes, Car's and Buses in Bogota, which one's make the most sense? HINT? It ain't the cars.


Typical Bikeway in Colombia


In the more restricted area, a whole lane is dedicated to Bikes and marked as in this photo of 'Chica de la Bicicleta.'


What would stop Jacksonville from doing this on a couple of downtown streets? Photo taken in Madrid.


Scene of the opening of 100 KM of new urban bikeways. Derecho de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina


This is my preferred method of installation, bikes + auto's or buses don't mix well. The argument that Jacksonville doesn't need this because we have no critical mass of bikes or pedestrians downtown is rather like wanting a few chickens but refusing to entertain any eggs. Waiting for a huge demand is a recipe for some future major reconstruction. This would be far less costly to put into place while we are rebuilding the streets. Photo from El Mundo.


A similar 'Ciclovia' in Nueva York...


Bicycles and BRT work in harmony in Bogota.


Do you REALLY want to ride your bike in a JTA shared lane? In the last year JTA has taken out a dump truck, a school bus and a dozen or so automobiles, your bicycle might as well have a target painted on it.

[Adam W]

Do you REALLY want to ride your bike in a JTA shared lane? In the last year JTA has taken out a dump truck, a school bus and a dozen or so automobiles, your bicycle might as well have a target painted on it.

It's an issue of training - I think JTA would need to train all of its drivers to ensure they know how to drive around cyclists.

It's a little short-sighted to discount the idea. It's far from ideal, sure... but it's better than nothing. And it's not that dangerous. Many thousands of people bike daily in London and share bus lanes. The numbers of bus-related fatalities are low. And almost exclusively the fault of the cyclists (people have a tendency to try and overtake the bus on the inside while it's waiting at a light and get crushed). More deaths result from HGVs than buses.

Again, I don't think it's ideal, but it is an option. And to answer your question, I wouldn't hesitate to ride my bike in a shared lane. Hell - after riding in traffic in Jax, sharing a lane solely with a bus would have to be significantly safer.

[tufsu1]

Do you REALLY want to ride your bike in a JTA shared lane? In the last year JTA has taken out a dump truck, a school bus and a dozen or so automobiles, your bicycle might as well have a target painted on it. [/center]

well the portion of the southbank BRT that has the shared bike/bus lanes also has wide sidewalks....so if you don't want to ride in the shared lane, you don't have to.

[Adam W]

Do you REALLY want to ride your bike in a JTA shared lane? In the last year JTA has taken out a dump truck, a school bus and a dozen or so automobiles, your bicycle might as well have a target painted on it. [/center]

well the portion of the southbank BRT that has the shared bike/bus lanes also has wide sidewalks....so if you don't want to ride in the shared lane, you don't have to.

I agree. Though I am opposed to the thought of cyclists using sidewalks. I realise it is legal, but I don't like the idea, because I think it reinforces the notion that cyclists are basically the same as pedestrians and undermines their right to use the road in the minds of motorists and others who seem to have issues with cyclists.

By allowing ourselves to be relegated to sidewalks, we're allowing the City to not feel it's necessary to build adequate cycle lanes.

On the other hand, I don't blame anyone for not wanting to put his body on the line to make a political point