Bus Shelter Advertising Debate headed to City Council

[thelakelander]

JTA inching towards transit shelters ads

Legislation has been introduced to the City Council that would amend the regulations concerning signage on public right of ways to allow advertising on the JTA’s shelters that serve bus and trolley riders. Thursday the Downtown Development Review Board of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission considered a recommendation that the ordinance be amended. The item was on the agenda because the DDRB is charged with acting as the City’s Planning Commission for matters that affect the area within the Downtown Overlay.

JEDC Deputy Executive Director Paul Crawford explained to the members before the discussion began that the legislation filed by several Council members that would allow the advertising required a finding by the DDRB and that a second recommendation would be filed by the Planning Commission that will address the rest of the county. He also said, “This is not something the JEDC has put forth. This is the JTA working with the City Council.”

full article: http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=529156

[Ocklawaha]

Administration back when they did have street cars and the like at least made use of what they had! Current Administration is only good for spending my tax dollars without peer! No vision........no plans.......no sense!

Frankly a read of the newspapers pre-WWII is like reading the LA times or Chicago Tribune. One get the image of a polished booming city with industry to spare, and energy to become the next Sao Paolo.  Sad that somewhere right after the war, this town had a major brain fart and ceased to be progressive. It was in the armpit of the Great Frog, in the 1960's when the school system lost all state accreditation, Consolidation was a hail Mary pass to try and save something from the ashes.

Very interesting Lakelander. So JTA CAN work with the City Council for approval to get bus shelters with advertising on them, but can't work with them to tap the mystery money so we could enjoy the 5 BILLION dollar boom Phoenix is having around it's light rail.

My fear is that if we wait too long, the novelty of LRT might wear down to a point where "everybody's doing it" and thus the economic boom would be lower.

OCKLAWAHA

[thelakelander]

Just about everybody is doing it.  If we hop on board, we'll benefit also.  My fear is that we'll miss the financing boat if we can't make a true commitment while Obama is still in office.

[CS Foltz]

lake  and Ock...........both of you hit the nail on the head! A day late and a dollar short is the direction we are going. If we can not convince someone in the inner circle rail, in any shape or form, is a plus for any City then we are wasting effort! I don't care who or what takes the lead but someone needs to step and get things going! We can discuss this till the cows come home but somewhere sometime someone needs to take charge and get it done! I hope it's soon!

[blizz01]

Did anyone catch this in today's Daily Record?  The signage looks great, however, it seems like they're getting ahead of themselves if the shelters are on the way too.   

New JTA bus signs, like this one on Newnan Street across from the Yates Building, have started popping up at stations Downtown. They provide the same schedule and route information as the old ones, but are taller and more colorful than the former white sheet-metal variety.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/showstory.php?Story_id=529423

[CS Foltz]

Everyone seems to have forgotten about the $73 Million Dollars that JTA just happen to find in someones desk or unused bank account............my point is why are we waiting till we get an "Advertiser" to fund bus stop shelters? JTA has the money on hand and if they don't have shelters in stock stored somewhere, then someone is not doing their job! The advertising verbage pertains to commercial advertising in conjunction with more shelters...........I mean we can spend $600k+ on a new bus that will most always not be full to its 60 + person capacity and you mean to tell me that JTA has no prefabbed shelters available? How many new bus's were bought?......this is a case for prioritizing and JTA is not doing their job......one bus could have paid for several shelters....if they were on a average of $2200 per shelter and labor cost to assemble was $300.....that's more than one shelter for sure is it not?

[stjr]

So JTA CAN work with the City Council for approval to get bus shelters with advertising on them, but can't work with them to tap the mystery money so we could enjoy the 5 BILLION dollar boom Phoenix is having around it's light rail.

JTA didn't "work" with the City Council for approval of bus shelters, they out and out MISLED them with misinformation.  Don't worry, give them some time, and they will have some cooked books out of the oven soon for the next item on their want list.  We'll see how that "works" with the City Council.

[CS Foltz]

stjr I agree! JTA has not been forthcoming with their numbers by any stretch of the imagination! I am looking forward to the first "Law Suit" so when it hits the fans.......I want to be standing behind a Council member for cover! The so-called Mayor has given this his stamp of approval which means .....won't be long before it hits the proverbial fan!

[tufsu1]

if they were on a average of $2200 per shelter and labor cost to assemble was $300.....that's more than one shelter for sure is it not?

one big problem...each shelter is more like $6,000 and often costs about the same to install (given that concrete pads have to be poured)...and remember, these are real basic shelters...;larger, nicer ones can cost $25,000 or more.

[stjr]

one big problem...each shelter is more like $6,000 and often costs about the same to install (given that concrete pads have to be poured)...and remember, these are real basic shelters...;larger, nicer ones can cost $25,000 or more.

Tufsu, just checking.  You aren't getting your numbers from JTA are you?   

[thelakelander]

According to Mike Miller, the Springfield shelters cost $40,000 a piece.

Everyone seems to have forgotten about the $73 Million Dollars that JTA just happen to find in someones desk or unused bank account............my point is why are we waiting till we get an "Advertiser" to fund bus stop shelters? JTA has the money on hand and if they don't have shelters in stock stored somewhere, then someone is not doing their job!

Imo, if JTA has $73 million in cash laying around, that money should go towards transit improvements that the private sector is not immediately willing to finance.  In other words, I'd go with advertising on shelters and shift the entire $73 million to getting something like a streetcar system out of the ground.

Did anyone catch this in today's Daily Record?  The signage looks great, however, it seems like they're getting ahead of themselves if the shelters are on the way too.  

You have a point.  The signs are nice but this something that could be worked into the design of the new shelters and paid with by private money.

[stjr]

According to Mike Miller, the Springfield shelters cost $40,000 a piece.

If that's true, I doubt even the advertising will pay for such a shelter.  Expect to hear that any ad company will limit the value of a shelter they will pay for.  It will be interesting to see what that number is and what type of shelter you can buy for it.  Jax isn't exactly New York when it comes to bus shelter sign views  So how much is each sign worth to an advertiser?  I expect a decent probability of JTA disappointing and/or looking foolish when all the details come out on this.  I noticed they didn't publicize in the press any examples of shelters to be funded or the amount of proceeds per shelter they expect to get.

Did anyone catch this in today's Daily Record?  The signage looks great, however, it seems like they're getting ahead of themselves if the shelters are on the way too.  

You have a point.  The signs are nice but this something that could be worked into the design of the new shelters and paid with by private money.

Another example of JTA incompetence.  Yes, the signs look great but knowing the shelters are to be upgraded and expanded, you would think, after all these years, they could have waited just a little longer for the signs to be attached to all those new shelters.  I bet these signs cost at least $1,000 to $2,000 each, installed.  How about it Tufsu?  I thought money was tight at JTA.

[CS Foltz]

40K for a Historical District shelter seems abit much and 6K for a standardized shelter also seems a bit much, concrete not withstanding! I doubt if there is any heavy rebar in the slab and most of the structure should be aluminum which would mean self drilling,self tapping hardware. Some caulk to seal roof sections and poof! Shelter should not cost $6k per shelter even in todays materials cost market! Standardizing would lower cost even more, but that's just my take!

[thelakelander]

The easiest way to find out the cost of a shelter and maintainence is to call one of the companies in the business.  Try contacting JCDecaux North America: http://www.jcdecauxna.com/pages/Default.aspx

[tufsu1]

Another few sites for research

http://www.sheltersdirect.com/transitShelters.php

http://www.handi-hut.com/?gclid=CKqNrvDY350CFQRM5QodPlGrPA