City Council Meets Rail! (Jacksonville, Tampa: house, employment, neighborhoods)

[agreatlife]

Oh come on. You don't really believe that do you? I mean people take buses because that's the only way to get around. I seriously don't believe someone who is waiting at a bus stop is thinking, Oh, that's the bus # I was looking for, but it has the Pierson twins on it, so I'll wait another half hour for the next bus.

And I like the pierson twins. I think they are cute.

[Ocklawaha]

Well first lets say you sell real estate professionally... I do railroads and transit.

I'm not saying they won't take the bus, what I'm saying is there IS some sort of mental image people have of mass transit in general. Different styles and different modes bring wildly different ridership on the same routes. According to the Federal Transit Administration, it doesn't matter to any of us, if we fly, take a bus or a train... we see them ALL the same.

I don't agree, and neither do the numbers.

My thought is, a transit system, with two routes, going to say Avenues Mall. Both buses leave at the same time, both arrive at the same time, they take slightly different routes... One is bus wrapped on every bus, every day, the other has the clean gray colors and stripes with a simple "Jacksonville Transportation Authority" on them. The bus with the STANDARD colors, "feels" more fixed, more professional, and will have more riders. My thinking is it is because it looks more like a transit bus then a rolling billboard.

A similar example in realestate, have two perfectly good homes, both in the same neighborhood, same floorplan, same everything, including price. One has faces painted on the sides and the other is standard paint. Even though the seller agrees to repaint, which is more attractive to the buyer?

Maybe this isn't rocket science, but I think it IS human nature and Mass Transit is missing the bus by trying to be a mobile ad platform.

Ocklawaha

[agreatlife]

I agree with you if you had two buses going to same destination and arriving same time. However, since that doesn't happen that I'm aware of, and yes, I am not a transit professional, I just don't see the rolling ads as a negative. But I'll bow to your judgement. Actually, I had hoped to have an ad for my real estate business on the bus, but for now, I'll ride whichever bus has the fewest riders on it, regardless of if it has the twins.
Anyway, good fun. And now back to the regularly scheduled thread topic.

[Magnolia Bloom]

Originally Posted by Ocklawaha

Well first lets say you sell real estate professionally... I do railroads and transit.

I'm not saying they won't take the bus, what I'm saying is there IS some sort of mental image people have of mass transit in general. Different styles and different modes bring wildly different ridership on the same routes. According to the Federal Transit Administration, it doesn't matter to any of us, if we fly, take a bus or a train... we see them ALL the same.

I don't agree, and neither do the numbers.

My thought is, a transit system, with two routes, going to say Avenues Mall. Both buses leave at the same time, both arrive at the same time, they take slightly different routes... One is bus wrapped on every bus, every day, the other has the clean gray colors and stripes with a simple "Jacksonville Transportation Authority" on them. The bus with the STANDARD colors, "feels" more fixed, more professional, and will have more riders. My thinking is it is because it looks more like a transit bus then a rolling billboard.

A similar example in realestate, have two perfectly good homes, both in the same neighborhood, same floorplan, same everything, including price. One has faces painted on the sides and the other is standard paint. Even though the seller agrees to repaint, which is more attractive to the buyer?

Maybe this isn't rocket science, but I think it IS human nature and Mass Transit is missing the bus by trying to be a mobile ad platform.

Ocklawaha

I couldn't agree more. It's all about branding. If it wasn't effective, those companies wouldn't pay for the space.

(Sorry, couldn't figure out how to resize the photos)

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/kshellyflorida/mcdonalds_bus.jpg (broken link)
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/kshellyflorida/DART902.jpg (broken link)



We should have a "name" for our system and professionalize the look of the coaches. Do you know how far off this is?

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/kshellyflorida/JTA.jpg (broken link)



There are some very cool looking "buses"....

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w76/kshellyflorida/modern-bus.jpg (broken link)

[riveree]

Originally Posted by Ocklawaha

.

My thought is, a transit system, with two routes, going to say Avenues Mall. Both buses leave at the same time, both arrive at the same time, they take slightly different routes... One is bus wrapped on every bus, every day, the other has the clean gray colors and stripes with a simple "Jacksonville Transportation Authority" on them. The bus with the STANDARD colors, "feels" more fixed, more professional, and will have more riders. My thinking is it is because it looks more like a transit bus then a rolling billboard.



Maybe this isn't rocket science, but I think it IS human nature and Mass Transit is missing the bus by trying to be a mobile ad platform.

What do you think about advertising on the inside of the bus?

I used mass transit daily when I lived in NYC, and while the exterior of the buses pretty much read as "neutral" to me (you learn to tune things out when you live there ), the ads on the inside of the buses and subway cars would sometimes catch my eye....they are physically closer and smaller (more intimate), plus you have a bit of downtime to fill while you're actually in transit.

Some LCD ads (like in Minority Report) can't be far off either, can they?

[Ocklawaha]

Hey Y'all,

I'm all for ad's inside the buses, I'm not even against the more traditional placard type ad's on the back, front, or side panels outside the buses. What ever is done though, should have to pass inspection with the board of directors of the agency. It should be uniform, and not subtract from the professional "transit" image of the bus.

Many of us have a hobby, church or school and we place little bumper stickers on the backs of our cars to promote the idea. Few of us completely cover the vehicle in a giant bumper to bumper "My child is an honor student at..." sign.

Transit equates (or should) to precision, it should have shades of military like uniformity and drill. Things like:

On time, every time
Uniform look
Uniform comfort
Uniform CLEAN
Uniform kind

This is the Transit system I am promoting in Jacksonville. Glad y'all are on board for the ride. I'll keep you posted on public meetings.

Ocklawaha

[Since 1972]

Oklawaha, have you seen this article? America's crumbling transportation system: Back channel political gamesmanship--and the national security implications

There seems to be some high level efforts against rail in this country.

[Ocklawaha]

It's the same story of who framed Roger Rabbit all over again. Highway demons that are sometimes too powerful to overcome. Jacksonville and JTA is infested with them, we either beat them NOW or we lose later...

Thanks very much for the article.

Ocklawaha

[apvbguy]

Originally Posted by Ocklawaha

It's the same story of who framed Roger Rabbit all over again. Highway demons that are sometimes too powerful to overcome. Jacksonville and JTA is infested with them, we either beat them NOW or we lose later...

Thanks very much for the article.

Ocklawaha

therein lies the problem with you transit advocates, if you're not a transit zealot you're an enemy. By beat them are you saying that cars should be banned and everyone be forced to use mass transit?

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by apvbguy

therein lies the problem with you transit advocates, if you're not a transit zealot you're an enemy. By beat them are you saying that cars should be banned and everyone be forced to use mass transit?

No, just choice would be nice, eh??