When the afternoon peak travel period began Monday at Rosa Parks Station Downtown, Jacksonville Transportation Authority officials described the first day of the revamp of mass transit in Duval County as a success.
“Day 1 went very well,” JTA spokeswoman Leigh Ann Rassler said of the opening of the
massive Route Optimization Initiative. “We are pleased with
the launch.”
Passengers who used the new routes and schedules weren’t as enthusiastic.
Lucille White has been riding the bus for 10 years. She said with the new system, she now has to take two buses instead of one to get home in the afternoon. And the buses were crowded to the point of standing room only.
“They had it right before. This is crazy,” she said.
Marv Kramer lives at the John Gorrie condominiums in Riverside. He was waiting Monday afternoon at Rosa Parks for a bus to take him home. He said his trip earlier in the day from his home to the Downtown hub took 30 minutes longer Monday than it did last week and the bus did not arrive at the time printed on the schedule.
“It sounds good,” he said of the optimization program. “But it’s way off on the first day.”
Kramer also is concerned about the effect of the elimination of 1,200 of the previous 4,000 bus stops that started Monday.
He said passengers who used to board the bus at stops along Herschel Street now have to walk several blocks to stops along Park Street. “A lot of people have handicaps,” said Kramer.
Some appreciated the changes.
Darrin Boswell said he had been riding the new routes all day with his wife and two children. “It’s better, he said. “It reminds me of the way routes were back in the ’90s.”
One advantage under the new system for his travel needs is transferring from one bus to another at the Regency Square hub to get home in Southside.
“You don’t have to sit so long on the bus. You get to get off and take a break,” Boswell said.
Several routes were eliminated, which led to crowded buses in the first days of the new transit design.
The crowds also could be attributed to free bus rides this week.
On Monday, the 19 Arlington bus headed Downtown at 6 a.m. was standing room only by the time it arrived at Rosa Parks.
Demand for the 19 Arlington also exceeded supply Monday afternoon. The 4:35 p.m. bus was crowded to the point that several passengers had to wait for the next bus at 5:05. It, too, was standing room only when it left Downtown.
At 6:15 a.m. Tuesday, the 19 Arlington driver stopped the bus at the Town & Country shopping center along University Boulevard to report she would be unable to pick up any more passengers at the several stops remaining along the route in East Jacksonville.
As the remaining stops were passed by, the operator opened the front door and told passengers they would have to wait for the next bus.
Buses being even more crowded on the second day of the new program might be attributed to Tuesday being the first day Duval County Public School students who use mass transit to get to and from school were on the buses. Monday was a “weather day” for public schools, so students stayed home.
Rassler said JTA issues about 30,000 student passes each month.
The school system implemented an educational program on social media to make sure parents and students were aware of the changes in routes and schedules, said DCPS spokeswoman Tia Ford.
In addition, an automated “robocall’ went out Monday on the “Duval Connect” voice message system to remind parents of the change, she said.
JTA CEO Nathaniel Ford was among the staff stationed Monday at Rosa Parks to assist passengers.
He said the authority will be evaluating ridership data and adjustments may be made in about 90 days.
“We’re going to be gathering information this week and next,” Ford said. “We’ve seen a couple of things we can fine-tune.”
@DRMaxDowntown
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