J Magazine Winter 2019

More documents

Recommendations

Info

how kids are so hooked on playing these computer games. I had my entertainment every day and for an eight-hour period. “And again, being single, I worked a great deal of overtime. So I worked double shifts, and I worked at some of the busiest terminals in the New York City transit system. “It was a source of pride every day to move literally millions of people passing through your hands, so to speak. “From there, I was bitten by the bug. Every day you just strive to do better than you did the last day, and you had to make split-second decisions in terms of processing trains and passengers. And the next day, that orchestra, that symphony, started all over again.” Moving people’s lives In 1992, Ford took his ambition on the road. He became an assistant chief transportation officer for San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit, responsible for the commuter rail between that city and Fremont. The experience taught him not only another mode of transportation but also how to work with local governments and elected officials, as the route traversed multiple jurisdictions. After five years, Ford came south to be senior vice president of operations for the Metropolitan Atlanta Regional Transit Authority, ninth largest in the country, where he expanded his band width to multi-modal operations, with more than 680 buses serving 25 million miles and a rail system with 38 stations connecting 48 miles of track. He was named CEO in 2000, leading the rehabilitation of the system When Nat Ford was hired as CEO of JTA in 2012, one of his first challenges was to fix a decades-old bus route system. and implementing the first complete passenger-fare smart cards in the country. This experience was his second major inflection point, as Ford began to learn that public transportation is more than modes, tracks, bus stops and equipment. He says he was profoundly influenced by his board, which included Juanita Abernathy, widow of civil-rights icon Ralph David Abernathy; Joseph Lowery, another prominent civil rights leader, and other community leaders. “It’s shaped who I am today to a large degree in terms of my leadership attitude,” Ford said. “Up until that time, my whole focus was more performance-related terms of on-time performance, vehicles, really statistically kind of just the day-to-day blocking and tackling of making the trains run on time. They helped me truly understand the importance of transportation to the community, from an economic standpoint, from a health-care standpoint, from an equity standpoint, in terms of accessibility, to hospitals, to jobs, to college and educational opportunities. “So that kind of spirit that I have now in what I do here at the JTA, yeah, it’s buses. And yeah, it’s the Skyway and yeah, it’s road projects, but at the end of the day, what I really preach to our staff is what does it mean, in terms of somebody’s lifestyle and generational lifestyle, and access to economic vitality and health care.” Holism and technology Ford returned to the West Coast for his third inflection point. In 2006, he became CEO of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and broadened his experience by being responsible for the city railway, parking and taxis. He led the integration of the siloed system. “The citizens actually chose to do that, because they did not like the disjointed decision-making around transportation. Transit was a No. 1 priority. But people walk, they bike, they actually park and they wanted a holistic strategy for the governance and objective, professional decision making on the balance between those different modes.” Even more important, Ford discovered that technology could make complex systems function faster, smoother and more efficiently. The San Francisco agency launched the nation’s first parking-management system, an app that provides real-time information about parking availability. “The idea was to cut down congestion in 48 square miles,” he said. “I have to get you in a parking spot as soon as possible. I don’t need you circling around looking for a parking spot on the street and quite often a lot of the municipal parking lots were empty. We developed an app that actually got you right to a parking spot, and if you chose, that app would also take you into a nearby municipal garage where the rates were actually lower. So we got into congestion 22 J MAGAZINE | WINTER 2019
{ } “At the end of the day, what I really preach to our staff is what does it mean, in terms of somebody’s lifestyle and generational lifestyle, and access to economic vitality and health care.” – NAT FORD – pricing by adjusting prices to ensure that we had a certain amount of availability on the street and maximize the availability of off-street parking.” At the same time, Ford watched the birth of ride-sharing, which became transformational. “Uber came along because of scarcity of taxis in San Francisco. While I sat there, I started getting emails about this new transportation technology using an app. We watched it, but we could not get the taxi industry to adopt credit card swipes, GPS, things that Uber leveraged and utilized to actually create a business model that has now gone through the roof. “Technology for me has been critical in terms of its impact on transportation going forward in this industry — autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence and using the Internet of things to effectively provide people better services.” Gavin Newsom, then mayor of San Francisco and now governor of California, had expanded Ford’s responsibilities but left to become lieutenant governor in 2011. “We had an acting mayor, and he and I decided it was time for me to move on. He was looking for commitment from me that I would not continue to look for jobs in other parts of the world. I think six years doing a job like that was enough, and it was time to get back home on the East Coast.” Ford did independent consulting work in 2011-12. “The interesting thing about that was I got a chance to work around the country for a number of large engineering construction firms, helping them actually compete for transportation infrastructure jobs. I got a chance to spend time in a lot of cities around the U.S. working with these international firms.” Bringing it all here Meanwhile, Jacksonville’s public transportation system was mired in problems and controversy. A Times-Union investigation Need a quick lift? Your ride is ready! ReadiRide offers on-demand shuttle service in 11 Jacksonville neighborhood zones. And for only $2 each way, go anywhere you want within the same zone! Call (904) 679-4555 to reserve your ride today, or visit jtafla.com/readiride to learn more. © 2019 Jacksonville Transportation Authority. All rights reserved. ASD-19020. WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 23
Page 1 and 2: THE MAGAZINE OF THE REBIRTH OF JACK
Page 3 and 4: architecture ◆ engineering ◆ co
Page 5 and 6: KEEPING AMERICA MOVING CSX is the n
Page 7 and 8: David Cawton II, Manager of Media &
Page 9 and 10: FROM THE EDITOR Indicators show pro
Page 11 and 12: «««««««««««««««««
Page 13 and 14: SPRINGFIELD NATIONAL GUARD ARMORY V
Page 15 and 16: 64-year-old building for $3.7 milli
Page 17 and 18: 2019 T he St. James Building - curr
Page 19 and 20: Man WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 19
Page 21: Todd Brearley, the Design and Const
Page 25 and 26: Steven Frich of First Transit dusts
Page 27 and 28: { } “I had a number of people who
Page 29 and 30: We know Jacksonville. Times-Union i
Page 31 and 32: Workers put the finishing touches o
Page 33 and 34: Work continues on the framework of
Page 35 and 36: for Speed Virgin Trains USA is expa
Page 37 and 38: JEFF DAVIS (MAP); ASSOCIATED PRESS
Page 39 and 40: VIRGIN TRAINS USA STATIONS /// ///
Page 41 and 42: While Jacksonville is one of the co
Page 43 and 44: To ride in the core city, a cyclist
Page 45 and 46: With the closing of The Jacksonvill
Page 47 and 48: spaces that are designated for the
Page 49 and 50: WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 49
Page 51 and 52: Work continues on Riverplace Boulev
Page 53 and 54: lanes and two lanes won’t hurt tr
Page 55 and 56: Decades ago, an experiment to add o
Page 57 and 58: But this time, they faced a popular
Page 59 and 60: ServingJacksonvilleforover40years N
Page 61 and 62: One of Beach Buggy San Marco’s el
Page 63 and 64: short ride as fun as possible. “G
Page 65 and 66: Earlier this fall, Downtown’s Fir
Page 67 and 68: Pastor Jerry Vines delivers a sermo
Page 69 and 70: “I would love for the city to rec
Page 71 and 72: BEAUTIFUL. MADE AFFORDABLE. PROUDLY
Page 73 and 74:
A streetlight illuminates the sidew
Page 75 and 76:
The lack of light and the absence o
Page 77 and 78:
E V E N T S MAGAZINE J MAGAZINE INT
Page 79 and 80:
WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 79
Page 81 and 82:
Alan Bliss, executive director of t
Page 83 and 84:
A group of Bolles School students l
Page 85 and 86:
BOB SELF As thousands of Downtown w
Page 87 and 88:
that runs smarter and leaner by plu
Page 89 and 90:
PREMIER MEDIA AND MARKETING IN GREA
Page 91 and 92:
Downtown Investment Authority turne
Page 93 and 94:
are nonprofits. We have 635 apartme
Page 95 and 96:
Parking Continued from page 88 Broo
Page 97 and 98:
Innovation Continued from page 87 w
Page 99 and 100:
Top-ranked and trusted. Your family
show all

J Magazine Winter 2019

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?