30 Days of Plight. Stephen Dare goes JTA every day.

[BridgeTroll]

Trolls know many things....

[winthropf]

This will be very interesting....Good Luck!

My wife had recently decided that riding the bus would be a good idea as there is a straight shot from our house (in St Nick) to her work (at UNF).
The initial trial was supposed to be a bus ride home from a conference downtown...  she showed up at the bus stop about 5 mins early.  45 minutes later still no bus, so she called someone to come pick her up.  When she called to complain to JTA, the lady at customer service told her...  "oh that bus was running late today".

The second test run was a morning bus ride to work...
So to start off, the "plan your trip" option on the website gives you directions to take the SS2, from Atlantic and San Souci what makes that interesting is that when you look up the SS2 it doesn't list this as a stop....  whatever, maybe I haven't figured out how to read their site or their maps yet (but I can easily use the public transit in cities like New York, Paris, London, San Francisco, Vancouver, & Seattle... and I don't need a secret decoder ring).
So, with the assurance of phone support that the plan your trip info was correct...  my wife goes to the stop in the morning... a couple of minutes early again....  and she sees her bus ride right by her (and yes, she is standing right under the sign).  This time phone support tells her...  she did everything she was supposed to, and the driver should have stopped.

Luckily she doesn't have to rely on this, she walked back home and drove to work....

I think she is crazy when she says she is going to try again....

[gatorback]

I'm interested to know how the bus to the beach pulls over and collects additional fare from riders before crossing the Intracoastal. I heard this is how they operate but I have trouble picturing it.

Its brutal and often involves threats of bodily assault, staredowns and lots of cop action. I will not be dealing with it, as I am using one of the 40 dollar month long passes, which gives you unlimited rides on all jta transit including the town to beach shakedown.

By the way.

The 40 MONTHLY PASS is an awesome deal for transportation.

17 per month in Austin. 

If you have an iPhone you can blog on the bus.  Also, Capmetro has WIFI on board some of the 983's already.

Wash your hands when you get off the bus or take that antibacteria hand sanitizer.

[stephendare]

Day One so far.

Starting at Main Street, I took the Talleyrand bus straight into the central station. As I arrived there, the downtown trolley arrived almost simultaneously.  I hopped on the azalea line (which is really just a dumb way of saying "The Trolley that circles East of Main Street"  It took me straight to Hemming Park, where I disembarked, got coffee, dropped in all three points of the Bermuda Triangle of Downtown Gossip (The UPS Store, Starbucks and of course the Library Book Store)

Now comes the real trick.

Finding any useful bus stops once one is away from the central station.

First a few hard cold fact and observations:

No one who works or drives for JTA knows a damned thing about any other part of JTA.

Already this weekend I have had the distinctly unpleasant experience of announcing a perfectly reasonable destination like "Art Museum Drive" or "San Marco", only to be stared at as though I had murmered something dangerous that ended with "Allah Akhbar".

Simply asking a bus driver which bus one needs to take to get to a final destination is bound to be an experience where one sits while said busdrivers gaze moodily off into a distant land and the sound of square wheels clanking brokenly in a badly designed clockwork is distinctly heard.

Invariably a rushing river of non sequitors follows in which the destination is used variously as a noun, adjective and verb in assorted sentences before one of two things happens:

1.  One is directed to a supervisor at the station (or alternately pointed in the direction of the website or customer service number)

2.  One is left to stuff the compounded information in ones pipe and smoke it.  Further questions will result in further obfuscations and sometimes the open interference and hostility of competing passenger theories, with the possibility that an argument will break out and one is left feeling part of a family melodrama.

Calling the customer assistance line is the best idea.  Indeed it is probably the safest as well.

That number is 630-3100.

Which is great if you have a cell phone with unlimited minutes (i do.)

Second thing to be aware is the curious and damnable custom unique to jacksonville of NOT OFFERING TRANSFER SLIPS.

This is especially pernicious.  ALL routes end downtown and if one is going from say, regency to UNF, one must necessarily go downtown and switch busses.  For this little indignity one would be forced to pay an additional dollar.

Already in the course of the weekend, I have witnessed no fewer than 4 melodramas over this basic injustice.  Each time with a newly energised first time user of JTA.  In one case,  I began to suspect that we were about to witness a case of self strangulation as the bus driver (a Vogon if ever there was one) happily explained to the power tie sporting 20 something that he would have to pay another fare if he wanted to ride the second half of his fare.

I suspect that this surprise mini lynching is going to lead to a lot more people carpooling.

In any case, I am able to stand above the fray as a result of the aforementioned monthly pass.

With it, I would never need a transfer.  This does not however shield me from the anxiety caused by the absence of the small helpful sensible little tickets.

[gatorback]

Get an iPhone or some other web enabled device.  With the Internet available on a PDA, or cell phone getting the bus schedules is no big woop.  Plus, with all the content you have, the news, MJ, Yahoo, etc., etc, you'll wonder why you ever drove in the 1st place...once you get your routes down.

Truly, Hell has no fury like a commuter with a lost 2 day old montly unlimted bus pass.

[stephendare]

Get an iPhone or some other web enabled device.  With the Internet available on a PDA, or cell phone getting the bus schedules is no big woop.  Plus, with all the content you have, the news, MJ, Yahoo, etc., etc, you'll wonder why you ever drove in the 1st place...once you get your routes down.

Truly, Hell has no fury like a commuter with a lost 2 day old montly unlimted bus pass.

this may be true in austin, but the jacksonville website sucks and is usually out of date.  relying on the schedules listed is a sure recipe for disaster.

[gatorback]

Still?  You've got to be kidding.  I compared the CapMetro site with JTA.net or whatever it is about 6 months ago and of course the sites were nothing alike.  One was well thought out and planned the other just thrown together not unlike their "regularly scheduled" bus service. 

Why don't you finish that trip up then go to another city and compare a real service for 30 days. Ha.

[BridgeTroll]

Day One so far.

Starting at Main Street, I took the Talleyrand bus straight into the central station. As I arrived there, the downtown trolley arrived almost simultaneously.  I hopped on the azalea line (which is really just a dumb way of saying "The Trolley that circles East of Main Street"  It took me straight to Hemming Park, where I disembarked, got coffee, dropped in all three points of the Bermuda Triangle of Downtown Gossip (The UPS Store, Starbucks and of course the Library Book Store)

Now comes the real trick.

Finding any useful bus stops once one is away from the central station.

First a few hard cold fact and observations:

No one who works or drives for JTA knows a damned thing about any other part of JTA.

Already this weekend I have had the distinctly unpleasant experience of announcing a perfectly reasonable destination like "Art Museum Drive" or "San Marco", only to be stared at as though I had murmered something dangerous that ended with "Allah Akhbar".

Simple asking a bus driver which bus one needs to take to get to a final destination is bound to be an experience where one sits while said busdrivers gaze moodily off into a distant land and the sound of square wheels clanking brokenly in a badly designed clockwork is distinctly heard.

Invariably a rushing river of non sequitors follows in which the destination is used variously as a noun, adjective and verb in assorted sentences before one of two things happens:

1.  One is directed to a supervisor at the station (or alternately pointed in the direction of the website or customer service number)

2.  One is left to stuff the compounded information in ones pipe and smoke it.  Further questions will result in further obfuscations and sometimes the open interference and hostility of competing passenger theories, with the possibility that an argument will break out and one is left feeling part of a family melodrama.

Calling the customer assistance line is the best idea.  Indeed it is probably the safest as well.

That number is 630-3100.

Which is great if you have a cell phone with unlimited minutes (i do.)

Second thing to be aware is the curious and damnable custom unique to jacksonville of NOT OFFERING TRANSFER SLIPS.

This is especially pernicious.  ALL routes end downtown and if one is going from say, regency to UNF, one must necessarily go downtown and switch busses.  For this little indignity one would be forced to pay an additional dollar.

Already in the course of the weekend, I have witnessed no fewer than 4 melodramas over this basic injustice.  Each time with a newly energised first time user of JTA.  In one case,  I began to suspect that we were about to witness a case of self strangulation as the bus driver (a Vogon if ever there was one) happily explained to the power tie sporting 20 something that he would have to pay another fare if he wanted to ride the second half of his fare.

I suspect that this surprise mini lynching is going to lead to a lot more people carpooling.

In any case, I am able to stand above the fray as a result of the aforementioned monthly pass.

With it, I would never need a transfer.  This does not however shield me from the anxiety caused by the absence of the small helpful sensible little tickets.

Allah ahkbar...

[stephElf]

I tried to use the JTA Plan a Trip tool on their website yesterday and I about blew my brains out. 

I am a web designer and from NYC... so between the two, I should have been able to figure it out.  But I couldn't.  It didn't recognize half of my destinations and the names of the lines make no freaking sense.

Right now it costs me about $4.75 per day in gas to drive to work and about a 15 - 20 minute trip.

I thought out of curiosity I would do a test to see how long it would take and how much it would cost me via public transportation.

I could never quite figure my route out from Emerson/Phillips to close to Baptist Medical Center by the Bartram Publix ... but the best I could guess was $2 each way... b/c of transferring... sweating my ass off in the Florida heat from a lot of walking ... and about 90 minutes each way ... if the bus even shows up.

If anyone can figure out the route... please enlighten me.

Gas would have to be like $10/gallon to justify that commute.  Too bad we don't have a decent train system...

Anyway, interesting post and I'll be interested to hear how the 30 days goes...

[Lunican]

JTA could solve the route planning problems for their riders by contacting Google and getting set up with their transit mapping system. http://www.google.com/transit

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/MngAUnhDDbg" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/MngAUnhDDbg</a>

[stephendare]

steph elf.  The Bartram publix?  Is that the one by Old Atlantic and University?

[stephElf]

steph elf.  The Bartram publix?  Is that the one by Old Atlantic and University?

It is on Old St. Augustine Road.  There is the Publix Plaza. And then there is the Hospital, Applebee's & Starbucks.  I work close to the hospital and Applebees.  Right at 95 & St. Aug. Road

[stephendare]

wow.  im speaking to the jta.   Unbelievable.  I am a little stunned at this, but I have been thoroughly put in my place several times by the operator.

JTA doesnt 'recognize' Interstate 95 as a street in Jacksonville.  So there is no way to find out what bus gets to the intersection of 95 and St. Augustine.

Instead, we had to look up the address of Publix and get directions for there.

From the intersection of Phillips and Emerson, you have to catch the L-7 which runs every thirty minutes to and from until 8:10pm.  You will take that to FCCJ Station

Then you will take the R5 which runs every hour till 10pm which is the last return trip.

Your cost, one way is two dollars, and you will have a scheduled wait time of 20-40 minutes between your bus connection, depending on what time of day you go.

Total cost there and back (you would obviously need to be on the last L7 bus by 8:10pm) will be 4 dollars a day.

Over the week thats 20 bucks.

So you obviously should buy the 40 dollar monthly pass.

Now Im going to go have an attack of outrage over 95 not being a recognized street in Jacksonville.

[stephElf]

hahah.  so basically it would prolly be a 2 hour commute each way to go 17 miles.... if there wasn't a transfer it wouldn't be so bad.

Doesn't it seems silly that every bus goes to and from downtown? .... If I could take a bus straight down phillips highway all the way to st. augustine road that would make SO much more sense.  Then it might only be like 30 minutes total of walking and a 45 min bus ride or so... for 40 bucks a month that might be worth it since I could sit on the bus and read or something....

Maybe one of these days I will test it out for the heck of it... I'd have to leave my house at 7 am tho vs 8:45 to make sure I wasn't late for work.

Back in 2003 I lost my license for 90 days for wreckless driving (yes, yes, I was a bad, young driver). At the time I was living in NJ.  My normal commute was 45 min driving.  After I had no license, I had to get dropped off at the train, then take the train into Newark, then switch onto a bus to Moonachie and then walk for about 5 - 10 minutes. It was 2.5 hours each way ... also being approached on a regular basis by some real characters. The bus was far worse then the train.  That was a learning experience....

Thanks for looking up the route!

[stephendare]

Ah.  The Bus Stops.

Who the hell needs the Da Vinci Code in order to build a sense of anxiety, dread and suspence.

L7 B7 R5 E4.

Do these numbers mean anything to anyone?  Is it part of the Navahoe Code?

Im sitting here, looking at the various incomprehensible alpha numerics wondering what in the hell do they mean.  A fellow passenger is certain that they are in the right place at the right time.  They are catching the B7 to San Marco.  "B", my limitedly informed benchmate informs me, stands for Baymeadows.

This gives me a certain sense of relief, since San Marco is also my intended destination.

I stare holes in the rest of the letters trying to divine what their true inner meanings might be.

R.  R.   R........
Riverside?  dunno.  Rogero?  maybe.  Can't tell.

E.

E.

E?

Eastside maybe? 

Where are the schedules for any of these routes?  where do they go?

James (the fellow B-7 passenger) can only answer two things with certainty.  That b-7 goes to San Marco and "B" stands for baymeadows.