Dale Martin
City Manager
City of Fernandina Beach
February 11, 2016 23:00 a.m.
Last year, a goal of the City Commission was the introduction and operation of a trolley. With City financial support and a local operator, the trolley began service on May 30 and operated through the Labor Day weekend. The route had seventeen stops, traveling from downtown to Main Beach, down Fletcher Avenue to Sadler and then returning to downtown along 8th Street.
According to most reports, the trolley operation struggled. By some accounts, this was due to the hurried commencement of the operation- notice of the venture was not widespread. A more popular perception is that the three dollar per person per trip was cost prohibitive for riders, especially families.
Although not again raised by the City Commission during its January visioning session, I anticipate taking an advocacy role in support of continued trolley operations as an additional City Manager goal. I believe that public transportation is a quality of life issue, providing a service to a broad spectrum of residents.
From a more personal perspective, I have a family legacy of transit: my paternal grandfather operated the last private bus companies in metropolitan Detroit (for an overview, please see http://www.detroittransithistory.info/Suburban/MartinLines.html). It was on one of the chartered Martin Lines bus trips to Washington D.C. that my grandfather first met the woman who eventually became my grandmother (eighteen years younger than he- probably somewhat scandalous in the early 1930s).
I have made use of public transportation (busses, not only subways or trains) throughout European cities, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Portland (OR), St. Louis, and Toronto. I find it fascinating to examine the confusingly-numbered and multi-colored bus route maps, especially since I am slightly colorblind. It is an accomplishment to get from point-to-point in an unfamiliar environment using an old fashioned paper map (in the words of Bill Murray, Stripes, “Army training, sir!”).
Last November, the Nassau County Transit Study was presented. The study was completed by England-Thims & Miller, Inc., a Florida-based civil engineering firm. Several Nassau County agencies were represented on the Study’s Steering Committee, including the City of Fernandina Beach’s Community Development Director Adrienne Burke and Senior Planner Kelly Gibson and the President of the Amelia Island-Fernandina Beach-Yulee Chamber of Commerce Regina Duncan.
Two key findings described in the Executive Summary were:
- Community feedback and stakeholder involvement indicate county stakeholders and residents support public transportation. Residents understand the important benefits of public transportation. For example, of those that participated in an online survey, most (80 percent) agree that public transportation is important to the economy; should be improved to reduce congestion; and is important to the environment. Frequent service/vehicles that run often is the top ranked condition that would most encourage survey respondents to use public transportation. This improvement topped the list for both the public opinion and the transit survey. Additional needs of current transit riders include early morning, late evening and weekend service.
- In addition to work, medical and shopping trip purposes, public transit may provide a convenient alternative for those traveling from I-95 along SR200/A1A to the beach or festivals, eliminating the need to park. Demand for beach parking that is currently not met during peak beach season is significant.
Challenges were reported as lack of efficiency and effectiveness, relative unfamiliarity with public transit in Nassau County, dispersed population outside of Fernandina Beach, and limited local, state, and federal funding. The full Study can be found at http://www.northfloridatpo.com/images/uploads/docs/Nassau_County_Transit_Study_FINAL_Lowres.pdf
I have heard from many the desire to reduce traffic, and public transportation, including the local trolley, is an opportunity to address congestion issues. I recently met with several local stakeholders to indicate my support and desire to keep the trolley in operation this year similar to last year, but to also begin to prepare for long-term expanded operations beginning next year.
I asked Mr. Ernie Saltmarsh, who operated the trolley last year, about the financial impact of reducing the fee for the trolley to one dollar. He has responded that with such a reduction, the trolley would require a subsidy of approximately $10,000 per month. With no such funds available in the City budget at this time, I am exploring alternative funding and funding sources.
Public transit is best implemented with partners, and a significant outreach for such a partnership was initiated by Ms. Duncan. Ms. Duncan and I, as well as several Nassau County officials, met with the leadership of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) this week to begin a study group to explore how Nassau County and the JTA could form an operating partnership. It was an exciting meeting and opportunity.
I look forward to continuing this effort in support of public transportation in Fernandina Beach and Nassau County. Please share your comments regarding this effort with me, Ms. Duncan, or County and City Commissioners. Thank you in advance for those comments.
Mr Martin, Thank you for your report and input on the Trolley! Since you have such strong ties to transportation, it is good to see what your thoughts are and the importance of public service. For my part, I was dismayed to see the lack of planning for last year’s IT. To me it seemed that we just threw, I believe $10K, at the Trolley and said “Go for it”! There was little to no advertising, the IT signs that were placed at each stop really had no information about where the Trolley went, cost or timetable and the ridership was sad, to say the least. I was told that total ridership for the little over three months was about 1200…this proves what a fail it was due to lack of planning.
To have a Trolley system that serves the locals, not just the tourists would be amazing! While this is a great way for visitors to see this part of the island, we have locals who, if the route was better thought out and the fare was fair, this Trolley has the potential to be a HUGE success! As you said and as the input was, $3 per ride was high…if my husband and I wanted to take the Trolley downtown for dinner it would have cost us $12, a bit crazy. There are so many things to be laid out and planned before the IT gets up and running again and I hope that you’ll ask the public’s thoughts and ideas on this. One of the biggest things is that there may need to be a second Trolley to run the route also to pick up the overlap time….
Thank you and I do look forward to a great system for our island!
Having consulted with a number of the largest mass transit systems in the United States on fare payment issues, I can safely say that there isn’t a public transit system in the United States that operates on a profit without a subsidy from the local, state or (primarily) the federal government. The reality is that even in a market with a large population base, developing a transit program that provides convenient access points and scheduling is very expensive.
A problem with consumer studies is that often times what people say and then what they actually do are two different things. People often say they favor public transit but they are thinking of it as a benefit of “the other guy” and not themselves.
The good news is that this year the Dept. of Transportation is devoting a LOT of money to public transit so there might be an increased chance for the City/County to receive funding. In the bus transit operations of LA and NYC, the cost of operating a bus ranges from $125 – $175 hour and this doesn’t include the cost of the bus. I don’t know what Mr. Saltmarsh’s trolley operating cost are but when you factor in the labor costs (driver, maintenance and finance), trolley purchase, fuel, insurance and other costs, it is going to require a subsidy to have a fare that is reasonable.