JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A $16 million federal grant is helping the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) expand. It’s adding a new First Coast Flyer Orange line that will run from Lavilla down to the Orange Park Mall.
JTA introduced its first Flyer line in 2015. The orange will be their fourth.
The ‘Bus Rapid Transit’ lines are designed to be faster with less stops. They run every 10 to 15 minutes while regular buses can take up to 30 minutes.
The Orange line will complement the existing Route 5 buses. The Flyer will leave JTA’s new hub in Lavilla, drive south along Park Street and Blanding and end at the Orange Park Mall.
One group who could really benefit -- students. The new buses will make a stop at FSCJ’s Kent Campus.
It's a $33 million project with JTA and FDOT putting up $8 million each. They're making the investment despite ridership being down.
Action News Jax requested data on the total number of rides JTA customers took the past three years:
· 2017 – 10,794,798
· 2018 - 10,436,309
· 2019 – 9,968,311
JTA says the decrease of almost 468,000 rides in 2019 could be because of a fare raise that year.
They hope adding new routes like the Orange line will encourage families to leave their cars at home and take the bus.
JTA expects families to take 540,000 trips on the new line each year. It could be up and running as early as February 2021.
More information from JTA:
The Flyer network is complementary to our existing bus services and adds capacity for our transit network along busy corridors. This was planned out over the past 10 years and routes are selected through various planning activities, studies and in collaboration with the Federal Transit Administration, FDOT and the City.
The first coast flyer lines – and all bus rapid transit lines throughout the country- are designed to be faster than normal bus routes with less stops. Flyer’s run 10 minute frequencies during peak hours and 15 minutes during non-peak hours. Regular buses can be 30 minutes + and often weave through individual neighborhoods. In a city the size of Jacksonville, we need to offer as many choices as possible to get people where they need to go.
So in essence, this route will be faster than Route 5 and won’t follow the same path. Again – just because we have an existing route, doesn’t mean we can’t add more capacity.
The federal funding also allows us to put in the traffic signal upgrades, and make upgrades or to build new transit facilities, bus stops and purchase new, more energy efficient Compressed Natural Gas buses. We also believe it will help us increase ridership by offering new services to our customers and along with other alternative transit options.