Saturday, July 26, 2008

Would a Camden - Jax commuter train work?

Obviously, it's a slow news day. Let's assume that you are a daily commuter from Camden to a job in Jax. Your trip takes +/- 1 hour each way and you are spending $400.00 per month on gas. What would get you out of your car and onto a commuter train? First of all, let's look at the the time factor. Assume that the trip to the station in Jax, with a stop in Nassau County, takes 1.5 hours. Once there, you have to transfer to a bus or the light rail, or a combination of both, for another 30 minute trip. Now you're up to double the time your one hour each way commute takes in your car. Question: How much would your commute cost have to be reduced from $400.00 per month to make it worth the extra time? Comments? By the way, I wonder if some sort of effort to put Camden-Jax commuters in touch with each other might be more efficient. Suppose you have four Camdenenians working at the same Jax company or the same general area of Jax. For about $3,500 each, the four could jointly buy a 40 MPG highway Toyota Yaris and split the gas - and the driving duites. Of course, central to effective carpooling would be the existence of a county-owned commuter parking lot. It would need to be located a little off of I-95 to kep the acquisition cost down, but convenient to it. Any suggestions as to location? I'm thinking somewhere on or near Harriets Bluff Rd. between I-95 and Hwy 17.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I heard the real desire for a communter train is to transport service industry workers into Camden and Nassau. These workers will not be able to afford to live within the boudaries of these areas therefore they will have to basically bus them in from other places.

But you were dead on point with your assumption about the festivals. It was also said that this would increase traffic to the many festivals.