corridors (green, red, orange and blue lines) across the City connecting people, jobs and other key destinations. Pre-COVID, the Greenline corridor which serves the northside of Jacksonville, was operating at headways of 15 minutes or less during peak hours and saw some of the system’s highest daily transit ridership. Restoring the Greenline to premium levels of service is a key recommendation of the study.
CH. 1 - REINVESTING IN THE GREEN LINE CORRIDOR strategy of encouraging growth around high quality transit stations. Areas adjacent to a transit stop or station are often referred to as the transit walkshed, which is about one-quarter to one-half a mile distance from a transit station. TOD often requires some level of public-policy and infrastructure investments to create centers of activity around transit where there is a strong mix of uses (housing,
REINVESTING IN THE GREEN LINE CORRIDOR - CH. 1
High Quality Transit – the First Coast Flyer System The First Coast Flyer is JTA’s regional Bus Rapid Transit or BRT system. The First Coast Flyer offers frequent, limited stop service in key corridors across the city connecting people, jobs, and key destinations. The Green Line is one of four First Coast Flyer BRT routes, shown in the map. Pre-COVID, the Green Line BRT corridor was operating at headways of 15 minutes or less during peak hours and saw some of the system’s highest daily transit ridership. Since that time, service frequency has been reduced and ridership has dropped. More is needed to realize its full potential, including capital and operational investments – but it also requires aligning local land use policies to build in strong ridership potential. That means putting more people, jobs, and daily activities within walking distance of premium transit stations and designing nearby infrastructure to make it attractive to walk and bike to and from the station. Those strategies are known as Transit Oriented Development (TOD). retail, offices, healthcare, etc.), and buildings that are compact and higher density. Intentional planning for TOD also means creating conditions where building frontages are welcoming to pedestrians, cars slow down and people on foot or on bike are given the priority for safe and convenient access to and from the station areas. TOD for the Greenline Corridor means doing all the above while also being intentional about the preservation and production of attainable and affordable housing, reducing risks of displacement for existing businesses and people, and creating opportunities for wealth creation, attracting new growth and investments in station areas that will directly benefit those people living and working near transit today and those who might locate there tomorrow. It also means developing TOD plans collaboratively with community members near each station.
What is TOD? Transit Oriented Development (TOD) i s an intentional plan for growth and development to encourage compact, mixed-use, higher density building near transit stations. The geography of TOD is the land area located within one- quarter to one-half a mile from a transit stop or station. This is known as the transit walkshed because this is the distance that most people can walk in 15 minutes or less. Locating a wide range of daily activities (work, shopping, school, recreation, social venues, etc.) near transit makes it easier and more likely for people to drive less, and walk, and use transit more. It also makes it easier for people to live car free or car-lite which can reduce the household costs for transportation. TOD is most effective when applied not only to a single transit station area, but in multiple station areas along high-quality, or premium transit corridors. When applied to an entire region, TOD becomes a growth management strategy that enables continued growth while using less land to accommodate that growth. By intentionally creating centers of activity that can be easily reached by walking, biking, and transit – a region can grow and move a greater share of people in more efficient and sustainable ways. Many historic neighborhoods in America have the key features of TOD. Places built before the advent of the automobile or built around streetcars at the turn of the
TOD: Maximizing the number of people and jobs within walking distance of transit stations
Future TOD vision for the Gateway Mall Station Area.
19th century have connected street grids, shorter length blocks, sidewalks, a mix of uses, and commercial areas with main street-like patterns where building frontages at the street edge are oriented towards pedestrians. Downtown Jacksonville has many historic neighborhoods like LaVilla, Brooklyn, Springfield, and Riverside where large segments of the historic street grid are still intact. Auto oriented suburban development patterns since the 1950s make it necessary to retrofit walkable urban development patterns along premium transit corridors, which is the case for much of Jacksonville outside Downtown and adjacent neighborhoods.
JTA's First Coast Flyer BRT Routes. Source: https://fcf.jtafla.com
Encouraging Changes to the Built Environment for TOD The existing land patterns along the Green Line corridor reflect an urban to suburban continuum. In areas such as the urban commercial core of Downtown, and the historic neighborhoods of LaVilla and Springfield, the streets already have a walkable grid pattern. There is potential for TOD in many other areas with higher density residential and high density commercial and institutional uses like UF Health. In these urban areas, a grid street pattern, most desirable for TOD, is already in place. However, there are many vacant and underutilized areas that could benefit from improving the street grid, bringing in more uses with infill and redevelopment, and more community-focused organizations to help serve and improve this corridor. Further north, just beyond these historic areas, the corridor shifts to a suburban pattern anchored by places like Gateway Mall which were designed to prioritize auto access to shopping. In these areas, the structure of the suburban plazas will need to transform to become more urban with reintroduction of street grids and a diversification of uses. Similarly, areas further north can benefit from additional transformation of the built environment to make each station area a stronger, more walkable, compact mixed-use centers of activity. https://fcf.jtafla.com
Transit Oriented Development characteristics
Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Maximizing the number of people and jobs withing walking distance of transit stations
Before Interventions
After Interventions
• Mixed-use • Compact • Higher density
• Infill and redevelopment • Walkable and bikeable • Prioritizes people and transit over cars
Green Line bus at the current UF Health/Shands Hospital bus stop.
Equitable TOD
• Mixed use • Compact • Higher density
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Northwest Jacksonville Connects: Green Line TOD Study Final Report | Jacksonville Transit Authority
Northwest Jacksonville Connects: Green Line TOD Study Final Report | Jacksonville Transit Authority
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