JTA Board Approves Resolution to Modernize Skyway

[thelakelander]

The APM technology we have was never intended to be an extensive public transit system. It was intended to be a downtown circulator that would be fed riders from a citywide transit system that was never built. For anything more extensive then the potential routes shown in Ock's post above, you'll need another type of technology.

[Adam White]

The APM technology we have was never intended to be an extensive public transit system. It was intended to be a downtown circulator that would be fed riders from a citywide transit system that was never built. For anything more extensive then the potential routes shown in Ock's post above, you'll need another type of technology.

Seems like it would be inefficient and would struggle with capacity as ridership increased. I can see it serving downtown well. But I think it would need to connect to more traditional rail or whatever to take people in and out from the suburbs. I also wish it weren't elevated.

[thelakelander]

Miami's Metromover APM gets over 35k daily riders. It's also free fare. Greater Downtown Miami has 80k residents and a daytime population of 220k. Metromover is also fed riders from Metrorail (Heavy Rail) and Tri Rail (commuter rail).



None of us will probably be around the day DT Jax hits 80k residents or a daytime population of 220k. So if the Skyway is to remain an APM, serving as a downtown circulator only, new vehicles carrying more passengers will probably suffice just fine because it won't get anywhere near 30k riders a day.

[Ocklawaha]

Whatever the technology, this really isn't very hard and digital assistance with signaling makes it elementary.

For the sake of this discussion only, consider the red and black lines operate every 8 minutes, staggered between them on say 16 minute headways you mingle the smaller spurs. In the case of a in-stadium station, that final leg from the 'Sports District Station' to the 'Everbank Field Station' only operates on game or event dates.

With this being the limit of a APM type system, I'd say a spur into the Baptist Medical Complex more important then Healthy Town as we are ignoring 11,000-12,000 employees.

[ProjectMaximus]

I have no experience planning transit (just riding it) so I'm using my own ignorant logic, but to me as a layman it seems that it requires more coordination and precision to have so many cars merging from different lines/spokes/branches, whatever you wanna call it. Whether that higher level of coordination necessitates automation or not I have no clue.

I believe the Skyway currently has less than 10 total cars and a few of those don't operate anymore. Take a look at Jax's old streetcar route maps (keep in mind, you won't have something this extensive locally with the current APM)...



Or Toronto's (North America's largest operating streetcar system)...



Or CSX's system across the eastern seaboard....



Nothing that JTA proposals will require a level of coordination or necessitate automation over what's been figured out and operating successfully for over a century.

You're still not understanding me but it's ok cause i guess the potential "problem" isnt really a problem at all lol. But for theory's sake I'll explain once more, the above examples still look like normal transit lines, they just cross every once in awhile. Only a few spurs like what I see with the Skyway. Put another way...in the Skyway you'd have to worry about other cars merging onto the same track every 1.5 stations. In the above examples you have 20 stops or more before you'd have another train potentially merging. Again...I realize my question was stupid cause it's pretty easy for human drivers to coordinate I guess.

With this being the limit of a APM type system, I'd say a spur into the Baptist Medical Complex more important then Healthy Town as we are ignoring 11,000-12,000 employees.

Or at the very least that connected walkway that you've always suggested!

[thelakelander]

I understand what you're saying. I'm just not doing a good job of explaining that it isn't a problem. I think Ock's last post does a good job at answering your concern.

Whatever the technology, this really isn't very hard and digital assistance with signaling makes it elementary.

For the sake of this discussion only, consider the red and black lines operate every 8 minutes, staggered between them on say 16 minute headways you mingle the smaller spurs. In the case of a in-stadium station, that final leg from the 'Sports District Station' to the 'Everbank Field Station' only operates on game or event dates.

With this being the limit of a APM type system, I'd say a spur into the Baptist Medical Complex more important then Healthy Town as we are ignoring 11,000-12,000 employees.

[ProjectMaximus]

I understand what you're saying. I'm just not doing a good job of explaining that it isn't a problem. I think Ock's last post does a good job at answering your concern.