J Magazine Winter 2019
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“As ridership, connectivity, economic development and<br />
population increases, this will give us the justification<br />
to ask for the means to add passenger rail to Downtown<br />
Jacksonville in the future.”<br />
DAVID CAWTON, Jacksonville Transportation Authority spokesman<br />
ida businesses, The Hyppo and May Day Ice Cream, were set to open<br />
in November. They’ll be joined by an eight-story Class A office building<br />
just to the west of the station that will create 500 high-wage jobs.<br />
Of interesting note, the deal to bring Amtrak to downtown Lakeland<br />
wasn’t led by the local transit agency. It was negotiated by<br />
Lakeland Downtown Development Authority executive director Jim<br />
Edwards. The name may sound familiar for those who follow local<br />
downtown development news. Edwards, who played key roles with<br />
the rebirth of downtowns in Lakeland, Hollywood and Charleston,<br />
W.V., was an original finalist who lost out to Aundra Wallace for the<br />
DIA CEO position in 2013.<br />
Richard Branson of Virgin Group greets passengers while riding a Brightline<br />
train from Miami to West Palm Beach. The state’s Brightline trains are being<br />
rebranded as Virgin Trains USA.<br />
Jacksonville<br />
For the time being, Virgin doesn’t plan to expand to Jacksonville.<br />
However, the city is on the rail company’s radar. In 2014, the rail carrier<br />
secured passenger rail easement rights on the Florida East Coast<br />
Railway for an extension into Jacksonville and access to tourist destinations<br />
like Daytona Beach and St. Augustine.<br />
In the meantime, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority continues<br />
to move forward with the construction of the Jacksonville Regional<br />
Transportation Center. When complete by the end of March<br />
2020, the $59 million transportation center will feature improved<br />
connectivity between intercity bus, local bus, JTA Flyer bus rapid<br />
transit and JTA Skyway services. A future phase will include Amtrak,<br />
commuter rail and additional intercity rail services such as Virgin.<br />
However, JTA is not actively engaged in talks with Virgin or Amtrak on<br />
the possibility of bringing intercity passenger rail back to downtown.<br />
According to JTA spokesman David Cawton, “As ridership, connectivity,<br />
economic development and population increases, this will<br />
give us the justification to ask for the means to add passenger rail to<br />
Downtown Jacksonville in the future. But we cannot set a timeline,<br />
and begin discussions with Amtrak (or anyone else), without setting<br />
the platform for ridership.”<br />
History suggests that setting a platform for ridership should not<br />
be an obstacle. Jacksonville is a city that loves to study but generally<br />
falls short on implementation. The discussion to bring rail back<br />
Downtown dates as far back as 1993 when former Mayor Ed Austin<br />
assembled a citizens committee to explore bringing Amtrak back to<br />
Downtown. That initiative 26 years ago is what has materialized as<br />
38<br />
J MAGAZINE | WINTER <strong>2019</strong>
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