^ I might add money is fungible. If the gas tax dollars were used to pay for "transportation projects" that are already being funded by the City budget, that would free up City budget money for other needs in the City.
Is it a "transportation project" to maintain, clean and repave City streets? Can some dollars be used to reduce any City subsidies for the Skyway, bus system, Mayport ferry, river taxi, etc.? Could some dollars be used to complete the full Emerald Trail (a pedestrian and bike transit project) instead of using dollars from the City budget? Or used to pay for buses used during Jaguar games? Toward improving the cruise terminal, a boat ramp, electric vehicle stations, the Downtown scooters? Converting Downtown streets into two ways, increasing the number of road diets, landscaping roadways, adding or repairing sidewalks, installing intelligent transportation systems or adding roundabouts in the City? Being used as the City match for transportation grants from the State or Feds? Basically, how much could be used to fund much of the Public Works budget for awhile?
All the mayoral candidates talked about investing in infrastructure... here is a nice chunk of change to get that going.
jaxoNOLE is pretty much correct, much of what you said would probably be something than can be covered under the LOGT, although like the debate over the Emerald Trail it'd need to be confirmed for sure.
Personally, I'm of the opinion that since it's unlikely we'll get another sales tax soon and a lot of the smaller projects like 2-way streets, landscaping, etc. can be covered by other funding sources over time, we're best served using these LOGT funds for some of the bigger ticket projects that require either a lot of money upfront or for a local match to federal & state funding. The new ferry the LOGT will eventually fund is a good example. So are the funds that were directed to the Emerald Trail.
We spend quite a bit of money on roadway construction and expansion already, and FDOT doesn't seem interested in stopping. Meanwhile, being able to make a generational investment in regional transit would be incredibly valuable for a city that's so sorely lacking it. Save for San Antonio, every city larger than Jacksonville has developed some kind of substantial rail transportation system. If we're going to claim the big leagues, we should leverage the rare opportunity to really look like it. Not with a moonshot gadgetbahn (again), but with real, proven solutions for our mobility challenges.
Look at the nearly $250 million JTA dedicated to the Skyway conversion. If you took that and decided to leverage it, FDOT is often willing to give a 1:1 match. Now imagine you go to the FTA and ask for a match on that. All together that's a billion dollars. What would a one billion dollar transit project look like in Jacksonville? We're about to see a billion-dollar highway, in the form of the I-95 widenings, but imagine what a billion dollars would look like in giving us real options. That's the opportunity cost JTA is losing out on because they've married the U2C.
