Latest from Transportation
Latest Transportation articles from Jacksonville, FL
BRT vs. Rail: A Tale of Two Urban Transit Systems
In previous articles, we've discussed the difference between bus rapid transit and rail transit in urban environments. We've also displayed evidence suggesting that bus dominated transitways in urban environments are more of a hinderance to stimulating retail, than a help. Now, to illustrate the idea...
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Understanding Rail Transit
Contrary to popular belief, all rail transit is not created equal. There are many different types of systems that serve many different purposes. Take a look at this rail transit guide to understand the differences in rail transit systems.
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BRT & Transit Malls: Do they create Vibrant Cities?
On Monday, April 2, 2007, the consultants for JTA's Bus Rapid Transit system presented their plans for the downtown busway routes to the CPAC. During this presentation, planners had attempted to prove that despite eliminating parallel parking spaces, restricting vehicular accessibility to downtown retailers,...
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Touring the Westside: Commuter Rail Photo Tour
CSX Transportation recently announced an agreement in principal to sell 61 miles of the A-Line, from DeLand to Poinciana, to the State of Florida for a proposed Central Florida Commuter Rail operation. This deal includes diverting most freight traffic away from Orlando and onto the parallel S-Line,...
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Commuter Rail Demonstration visits Jacksonville
On Saturday, March 10th, two self propelled transit DMU's were on display outside of the Prime Osborn Convention Center. Built by Colorado Railcar, DMU's such as these can operate on existing rail infrastructure in Jacksonville.
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FEC Corridor: Commuter Rail Photo Tour
The Florida East Coast Railway is a locally based company that operates 351 miles of mainline track between Jacksonville and Miami. While we've discussed the potential of using the city's S-Line right-of-way for urban commuter rail, FEC's rail line through the Southside is a critical segment...
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Rebuilding the Northside: Saving the S-Line
The S-Line was originally the Seaboard Coastline Railroad, later taken over by CSX, that snakes through the Northside from JTA's maintenance center near the Prime Osborn to just north of Gateway Mall, where it ties in with CSX's industrial line that crosses the Trout River.
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Metro Jacksonville crashes the Downtown BRT Party
At a recent public meeting held at the Main Library Downtown by the Jacksonville Transit Authority, members of MetroJacksonville.com's editorial board were able to meet, greet and ask questions about the controversial 'mass transit' plan currently being proposed by the Authority.
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Coming to a downtown street near you: BRT Photo Tour
Yesterday we touched on the potential negative effects of JTA's BRT plans for downtown. For those who don't know, those plans include taking up a massive amount of parallel parking spaces on several major downtown corridors and putting bus lanes in their place. Without a doubt, this is something...
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Move over billion dollar bus, it's S-Line time!
The costs for Bus Rapid Transit are spiraling out of control and Metro Jacksonville research has discovered that little to no effort was conducted by hired JTA transporation consultants to evaluate the feasibility of using the city-owned S-Line rail right-of-way as a transit route from Downtown to Gateway...
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