Bicycle-less BRT Streetscape Coming to Downtown?

[Ocklawaha]

As usual Ock, that is a great idea.  And yes idiots doing the planning is more apt.  I've often questioned, as many on here, how can JTA build BRT right along side future proposed commuter rail and at same time say they are planning for future rail?  And as for BRT, I've looked on here and haven't found it, but it may be somewhere here, has anyone shown the difference this would make?  I mean according to schedules you can choose from two or three buses to go from dt all the way to avenues mall ... Isn't BRT just a redundancy then?  I would think if traffic was really that bad where you needed dedicated lanes for a "high speed bus" then the best solution would be to build these bike lanes instead and let commuters combat obesity!  Plus, all the talk JTA does about money, isn't the cost per rider much less on commuter rail, SkyWay system or even a dt trolley system than a bus could ever be?

It is true that the O&M costs for light rail, streetcar, etc. are cheaper then buses.

My problem with this route is as much about demand then it is duplication. If there are really so many thousands of pedestrians and bike riders that need to catch a bus on Phillips, then wouldn't it make more sense to FIRST provide them with a nice, safe, pedestrian friendly bike trail alongside the road? Imagine how many more people might catch these buses if people didn't have to stand in the rain, walk through sand spurs, bicycle through bushes, duck under trees and hop ditches? If providing a network of hybrid, lane separated bike/pedestrian trails really this hard to understand?

[Pinky]

I think that our climate is a bigger obstacle to increased bicycle commuting than the roads are.  The winters are too cold for comfortable riding, the summers too hot, and the spring and fall are too rainy.  I know that I can rarely spend a full day on my chopper because of the climate, choosing instead to use it to run errands or just do recreational rides when conditions allow.  (Early or late in the day for example..) Its the same reason why the roof stays on my Lotus about 90% of the time; our weather is just too extreme to be out there in the noonday sun. 

We could build a million miles of bike trails, but I suspect that unless we enclose and air condition them, the only people who will use them are folks who have no other alternative.

[Ocklawaha]

Really? Then why would they build bike trails in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma, where the summer temperature can be 122 degrees outside!

...And this one has to be the winner of them all.... DEATH VALLEY. And it has several hundred miles of bike trails. YIKES!

No I'm not convinced that folks won't ride because it's too hot or too cold, Local's and those aclimated to Florida can blow this off and ride! Or WALK! Trouble is, we're building a 'mass transit spine' that will collect 'thousands of riders' and not one of them is going to get to that bus stop on a sidewalk.

[Pinky]

It's a dry heat.

I was in Phoenix in June.  108 degrees, but not a drop of sweat.  Jax heat is different.  Plus they don't have daily rain like we do.

[Adam W]

It's a dry heat.

I was in Phoenix in June.  108 degrees, but not a drop of sweat.  Jax heat is different.  Plus they don't have daily rain like we do.

It's definitely not too cold to cycle in Jax during the winter. And at least the winters tend to be drier, too. It is hot in the summer (and for most of the year) which can make cycling to/from work a pain. Some employers have showers, though, and that makes everything better.

[thelakelander]

Unfortunately, another reason why its a good idea to make sure there's bicycle infrastructure added within this downtown JTA BRT project.  A cyclist was just hit by a JTA bus near San Marco Square.



It's much easier to design a road safely for multiple forms of mobility before construction actually starts.

[fieldafm]

This is the second cyclist hit this week near downtown.  A cyclist was hit on Riverside Avenue near RAM earlier this week.

[acme54321]

There may be a few days where it is too cold to ride... but riding in the winter here is generally awesome.  I have met numerous people at Santos in Ocala (Big mountin bike trail) that have come down here just to ride in the winter.

[tufsu1]

seems to be a cyclist hit almost every day

[Tacachale]

^Yes, and it would seem to disprove the notion that people don't bike here. Many more would do so too if it wasn't so dangerous.

[Ocklawaha]

^Yes, and it would seem to disprove the notion that people don't bike here. Many more would do so too if it wasn't so dangerous.

Agreed, I don't think there is ANY acceptable excuse for putting bikes next to high speed vehicle lanes. Kernan notwithstanding, there is also no excuse that we don't have a basic network of grade separated bike/pedestrian trails.

BOB

[Adam W]

I just came across this video on a blog I frequent and thought it was pretty amazing. A great solution to getting cyclists safely across busy and dangerous roads. Leave it to the Dutch to do something like this:

http://youtu.be/fxN2atgF7tQ