Milwaukee Intermodal Station: The Gateway to the City
Metro Jacksonville's Robert W. Mann uses Milwaukee's Intermodal Station as an example of how to plan for a transportation center. Will the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) and city leaders pay attention?
INTRODUCTION:
I want to approach this from a different angle in the hopes that some of it actually get's through to the generally rail-ignorant (though through no fault of their own) folks at JTA, FDOT and the City of Jacksonville.
Revised Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center (JRTC) Layout. A passenger rail station on the south side of the Prime Osborn Convention Center would be added at a later date. To learn more about the JRTC click HERE.
In November 2007, following rules laid down in 1916, Milwaukee, WI, with a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) 33% larger than Jacksonville's, remodeled a 1965 vintage, 'dog ugly' station facility renamed the 'Milwaukee Intermodal Station.' The $16.9 million renovation included a glass atrium addition to the main waiting room and improved space for Amtrak ticketing and motorcoach (bus) passenger facilities. This state-of-the-art, single facility was built for a fraction of the proposed Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center's (JRTC) estimated costs.
Let's pick the Milwaukee Intermodal Station apart using the master work on major terminals: 'Passenger Terminals and Trains,' 410 pp by John A. Droege, McGraw-Hill, 1916. Droege was the VP and GM of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which carried a volume of passengers that would make Atlanta's or Chicago's airports blush with envy. This book has been in my personal library since it's re-re-re-introduction in 1969, forwarded by George W. Hilton and published by Kalmbach Publishing of Milwaukee, WI.
A true intermodal terminal has scalable capacity, sustainable savings, and serves as both an economical and environmental solution to a scattered collection of stations.
The layout of the article below:
A critique of stations around the USA in the 1916 text defining the best practices for the construction and flow of a major terminal.
Followed by
Photos and comments of how Milwaukee Intermodal meets those demands.
Followed by
Comments based on the JRTC design in contrast to Milwaukee and the 1916 textbook.
Throughout this article we will use the abbreviation PT&T as reference to the text book.
THE HISTORY:
The new Milwaukee Intermodal Station is a good example of compact functionality.
Milwaukee's Intermodal Station began life in the worst possible way-- unwanted by the railroads and hated by the public as bland and terribly ugly. Railroads were horribly over-regulated and strangling on a redundant physical plant and mounting losses on passenger trains. Relief, in the form of a government rescue of the American Passenger Train, was several years off and when it arrived it would resemble more of a murder then a rescue.
Milwaukee has had 3 major railroad terminals in it's history plus two major terminal sized interurban railway terminals. In 1951 The Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light Company shut down it's 13 track 'Public Service Building;' the terminal was the largest interurban station in the nation when it was built and the only historic station in the city to be saved. In 1963 Chicago, North Shore, and Milwaukee (high speed interurban) shuttered it's station about 2 blocks south of the Public Service Building. The magnificent brick, Gothic Everett Street (railroad) Station opened in 1887, with a stunning, skyline dominating clock tower. The clock tower was razed in 1953 as a structural hazard. The tracks leading to the old terminals crossed many surface streets and with the decline of passenger trains and traffic the city pushed The Milwaukee Road to construct a new station. Designed by the architectural firm of Donald L. Grieb and Associates of Milwaukee, the new station was dedicated on August 3, 1965, and saw its first train arrival the next day with the Morning Hiawatha. Despised from the start it was as utilitarian as a metal backyard shed and as homely as a mud fence. Within days of the opening of the new station, the Everett street station 'mysteriously' burned. Shortly after it opened, the neighboring Chicago and Northwestern Railroad gave up on it's own classic Lake Front Station and moved in with The Milwaukee Road.
The State of Wisconsin purchased the '5th degree ugly place' in 1999 and working with the Milwaukee Intermodal Partners, LLC they signed contracts for a $5.4 million rehabilitation project.
Serving as the absolute gateway to urban Milwaukee, the station serves 1.3 million annual passengers on Amtrak, Greyhound, Coach USA - Wisconsin Coach Lines, Greyhound, Indian Trails, Jefferson Lines, Lamers Bus Lines, Megabus, Badger Bus, Tornado Bus, Milwaukee County Transit System-- as well as all of the city's taxi carriers. Wi-Fi, Bike racks, lockers, drop-off lanes, All Aboard Café, vending machines, gift shop, full service Amtrak and bus ticketing and baggage services as well as the offices of the WDOT State Traffic Operations Center.
Interior of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light, Public Service Building (preserved terminal)
Interior of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light, Public Service Building (preserved terminal)
Interior of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light, Public Service Building (preserved terminal)
Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railway Terminal
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, ("The Milwaukee Road") Evert Street Station
Chicago Northwestern Railroad, Lake Front Station
THE LESSON:
John A. Droege's critiques on New York, Bangor, Providence, Kansas City, Memphis, Meridian, Cincinnati and Baltimore rail stations.
SIGNATURE
"The public wants Magnificent stations which do not earn one cent more revenue their cost is great and they are costly to maintain but if these mighty edifices will please the public (and give signature pride to the city) they must be built. The passenger terminal has been aptly described as the city gate and for some of the newer and larger stations it would indeed be hard to find a term more fitting. The railroad terminal is the city gate... It has broad portals and through these portals come and go a host of folks in cabs and carriages in trolley cars and elevated trains folk afoot. Within this city gate is a thing of stupendous apartments and monumental dimensions a thing not to be grasped in a moment. In a single great apartment a vaulted room so great as to have its dimensions sink into distant vistas are the steam caravans that come and go It is a busy place a place of an infinite variety of business. Rest? Oh! There is rest at the city gate." PT&T p.p. 5-6
The interior of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.
MONUMENTAL AND FUNCTIONAL
"Next in order but not in importance to a station's accessibility is convenience in the arrangement of the terminal facilities and the proper relation of parts This is a matter which is frequently subordinated to the necessities of architectural design sometimes with reason but more often because of lack of care or because the architects fail to realize that the terminal is not built primarily for a monument but as a decidedly important railroad facility It cannot be urged too emphatically that it is all important in every case to pay particular attention to the good and bad points in older terminals with a view to making the most of all experience that may be available The various railway clubs and associations offer a splendid means among others of obtaining this experience in the safer way In like manner it is nothing less than foolhardy not to secure the suggestions and expressions of opinion of the operating officers who will be given the task of operating the new terminal or who may have operated similar terminals." PT&T p.p. 20
Milwaukee's intermodal station was designed by railroaders, followed by intercity bus operators with an eye toward impressive function. Is the JRTC monumental or functional? How hard will it be to come in on one mode, transfer downtown for lunch and leave on a different mode... and not get smashed by a car?
MARKET & MATCHING INTERIOR FACILITIES
"The two important things to be determined are the correct location of each (interior) facility and the amount of space to be allowed it. The latter can be estimated only by a careful study of the amount and kind of travel the proportion of through and suburban business the peculiarities of the station's patrons and in general the needs of the community." PT&T p.p. 21-22
Milwaukee saw that it was only logical that all modes share the same building, same simple layout, same restaurant, same waiting room, same gift shop and adjacent concourses and platforms all in the name of critical mass and ease of movement. Are the JRTC's sprawled out 3 building facilities, for a city 33% smaller then metro Milwaukee, proportional to our needs?
EXTERIOR
"In outward design the building should show clearly the main functions of the station and the main waiting room or concourse whichever is the more dominant feature should be evident from the exterior. The proper entrances for patrons should be readily recognized and marked architecturally so that traffic will instinctively enter and depart from the building at the proper places and thus move in quickest and most direct manner." PT&T p.p. 22
Milwaukee features two primary street entrances each marked with a small logo indicating Amtrak or Motor Coach, on passing through the entrances two broad pathways between waiting room segments lead to the main concourse which runs laterally from the bus platform straight down the center of the building. All services are off of this lateral concourse. From the exterior(s) of the multi-building, multi-block JRTC, would one instinctively know how to find their way without signs?
HIGHWAY TRANSPORT
"The carriage way should be outside the street limits so as to avoid congestion. Not infrequently in modern designs sidewalk coverings are provided so that patrons may be protected in stormy weather when arriving at the station in vehicles." PT&T p.p. 22
A simple walk of perhaps 100' feet brings a bus customer into the central lateral concourse, ticketing and all services, at about 200' feet the lateral intersects the railroad gate and concourse. In the JRTC plan, is the intercity bus loading platform a physical part of the railroad station?
ACCESS TO AUTOMOBILES - BICYCLES - CITY BUSES
"Cab stands should be outside the street limits so as to avoid congestion. An exit to the space for carriages on the street level is provided for incoming passengers who do not wish to go to the waiting room." PT&T p.p. 89
Kiss-n-Ride patrons in Milwaukee have but a single broad driveway that takes modern day 'carriages' and cabs outside of the street to avoid congestion. Will automobiles have a single Kiss-n-Ride lane for departing and arriving passengers? Are all of the facilities at hand when the dashing commuter leaves his ride and enters a building without questioning if he is in the right building, right concourse or right block?
PEDESTRIAN FLOW (Providence RI)
"The arrangement of facilities in the station could have been improved upon. That all persons using the station do not have to go through the waiting room is a good point. p.p. 75-78 It is axiomatic that in the well arranged station the necessity for signs is small for the various facilities are placed as nearly as possible in a natural sequence along the routes from the entrances of the station to the platforms and trains In general the layout should be such that there will be no obstruction to free and easy movements by the shortest possible lines between the streets and trains. The various facilities should be placed along these lines in a natural order so that the patron may be able to reach them without going out of his way." PT&T p.p. 22
Milwaukee has virtually no busy street crossings or large signage, a few logo's as wall art are all that is needed, the bright,safe, open, central concourse makes every service just steps away. Will there be no elevators, stairs, escalators (except understandably our Skyway) or twisting, serpentine paths connecting bus and rail concourses without the need to cross a street at grade as a 'short-cut?' Would you trust that as a safe zone for your 7 year old? In Milwaukee, you can!
MULTIPLE BUILDINGS
"On the whole it is impossible to argue in favor of either one or the other type of structure. The head station (station where the tracks end at the terminal) is little else than an absolute nuisance when it has to be used for through traffic. The Providence station is an especially flexible and convenient through arrangement (station where tracks enter from both ends and pass through the station area). There might however better be but one building instead of a group of five for thus the cost of heating maintaining cleaning etc would be reduced." PT&T p.p. 75-78
Milwaukee is a 'through' station, where trains can pull straight through. The bus zones are designed with a 'saw tooth' platform, they angle park and backup then drive out, this condenses Milwaukee's bus loading zone packing more buses, side by side, into a smaller space and a shorter walk between them or the station. How many 'stations' are really at the JRTC 'Intermodal Center?' Are the facilities for JTA, Intercity buses and Amtrak all condensed into one space? REMEMBER - "There might however better be but one building!"
ORGANIZED - SAFE LINE OF TRAVEL
"It is a detriment however that a person should have to cross the waiting room to get to the ticket office retrace his steps to get to the baggage checking counter and then have to cover the distance still a third time by a walk through the waiting room or the concourse to get to his train. Offices could be more conveniently located with reference to each other. There would be less actual obstruction to streets two cross thoroughfares outside the building probably serving instead of three. One subway perhaps larger than the present ones would have materially simplified the directing of passengers to their trains and reduced the cost of attendants required for that purpose " PT&T p.p. 75-78
Milwaukee's concourses are at grade, there is no subway, there are two street access points, and with everything laid out along the lateral concourse, moving from train to bus or motor coach is virtually a straight line and only a few feet. Is the movement of your baggage (IE: dragging you bags) from train to bus or motor coach at the JRTC going to be just down the hall, or down the block?
SIMPLE FUNCTIONALITY - EVERYTHING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
"The Bangor, ME station of the Maine Central and the Bangor & Aroostook illustrated in Fig 38 is a typical through station of the first type. The station building proper is 154 ft long and 82 ft wide with a wing 29 ft by 40 ft It is built of buff colored brick with brownstone trimmings and base. The tower on the front 130 ft high gives an imposing effect to the structure The principal entrance is defined by a porte cochere and beyond this entrance which is about 18 ft square there is a vestibule through which one passes to the main waiting room 41 ft by 84 ft. This is connected with the dining room by a wide passageway In the extension are the kitchen and a store room. The women's retiring room with toilet room adjoining is in the main part of the building to the right of the vestibule and the ticket office agent's office news stand smoking room and men's toilet are on the opposite side. The train shed is 500 ft long and 100 ft wide. It covers eight tracks five of which are stub and three are through. The platforms between the tracks and the station building are 25 ft wide. PT&T p.p. 69
In Milwaukee, every single service and facility is along one wall, one lateral concourse and from that vantage point I can see all three public transportation modes on the same level, just outside of the doors and all services. In recent decades, Jacksonville has had no concept of the one-stop-shop. Will your movements be from ticket counter to waiting room to concourse as in Milwaukee, Fort Worth and Denver? Or from waiting room to elevated concourse, to elevator, to ticket office, to waiting room, to elevated concourse, to elevator to concourse, as in Miami and Jacksonville?
FOOD SERVICE
"Too commonly the railroad lunch room strikes the passenger as a necessary evil. In the lunch rooms on many roads the prices are too high the food too stale or tasteless and the service too poor to gain the railroads any friends. There is room in this respect for all kinds of criticism and a great field for improvement. PT&T p.p. 376
By combining the modes into a single central building, Milwaukee has the critical mass to support every service you would expect in a major modern airport. How many successful restaurants and services will the JRTC host when the rail side counts 200 passengers a day, 5 blocks away a greyhound station (with traffic which currently only supports a snack bar) or the JTA Rosa Parks station customers which will be at yet another location? Will this be family or child friendly?
CONCLUSIONS
The fact is, baring the use of the old terminal (Prime Osborn Convention Center), there is no reason why a single, centralized station could not be built at the end of, and encompassing the Skyway station, or over Bay Street where it could serve both a transit function and a conventioneer's needs. From the Skyway, the JTA buses would be below on the north side, Intercity buses below on the west side, and rail below on the south side. Notice how Milwaukee's railroads in 1965, and the city in 1999, created a station that literally followed the book in virtually every way. Compare Milwaukee's modern terminal and the excerpts from Droege's masterwork with the monstrosity local officials have planned to dump on Jacksonville. Indeed! You have now visited Milwaukee, and read excerpts from the Railway Engineering Association with critiques on New York, Bangor, Providence, Kansas City, Memphis, Meridian, Cincinnati and Baltimore, enough at least to understand the stiff opposition to JTA's sprawling, disorganized scheme... As you can see, we've read the book, and now you've seen the cliff notes.
Article by Robert W. Mann. Contact Robert at bob@metrojacksonville.com
I want to approach this from a different angle in the hopes that some of it actually get's through to the generally rail-ignorant (though through no fault of their own) folks at JTA, FDOT and the City of Jacksonville.
Revised Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center (JRTC) Layout. A passenger rail station on the south side of the Prime Osborn Convention Center would be added at a later date. To learn more about the JRTC click HERE.
In November 2007, following rules laid down in 1916, Milwaukee, WI, with a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) 33% larger than Jacksonville's, remodeled a 1965 vintage, 'dog ugly' station facility renamed the 'Milwaukee Intermodal Station.' The $16.9 million renovation included a glass atrium addition to the main waiting room and improved space for Amtrak ticketing and motorcoach (bus) passenger facilities. This state-of-the-art, single facility was built for a fraction of the proposed Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center's (JRTC) estimated costs.
Let's pick the Milwaukee Intermodal Station apart using the master work on major terminals: 'Passenger Terminals and Trains,' 410 pp by John A. Droege, McGraw-Hill, 1916. Droege was the VP and GM of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, which carried a volume of passengers that would make Atlanta's or Chicago's airports blush with envy. This book has been in my personal library since it's re-re-re-introduction in 1969, forwarded by George W. Hilton and published by Kalmbach Publishing of Milwaukee, WI.
A true intermodal terminal has scalable capacity, sustainable savings, and serves as both an economical and environmental solution to a scattered collection of stations.
The layout of the article below:
A critique of stations around the USA in the 1916 text defining the best practices for the construction and flow of a major terminal.
Followed by
Photos and comments of how Milwaukee Intermodal meets those demands.
Followed by
Comments based on the JRTC design in contrast to Milwaukee and the 1916 textbook.
Throughout this article we will use the abbreviation PT&T as reference to the text book.
THE HISTORY:
The new Milwaukee Intermodal Station is a good example of compact functionality.
Milwaukee's Intermodal Station began life in the worst possible way-- unwanted by the railroads and hated by the public as bland and terribly ugly. Railroads were horribly over-regulated and strangling on a redundant physical plant and mounting losses on passenger trains. Relief, in the form of a government rescue of the American Passenger Train, was several years off and when it arrived it would resemble more of a murder then a rescue.
Milwaukee has had 3 major railroad terminals in it's history plus two major terminal sized interurban railway terminals. In 1951 The Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light Company shut down it's 13 track 'Public Service Building;' the terminal was the largest interurban station in the nation when it was built and the only historic station in the city to be saved. In 1963 Chicago, North Shore, and Milwaukee (high speed interurban) shuttered it's station about 2 blocks south of the Public Service Building. The magnificent brick, Gothic Everett Street (railroad) Station opened in 1887, with a stunning, skyline dominating clock tower. The clock tower was razed in 1953 as a structural hazard. The tracks leading to the old terminals crossed many surface streets and with the decline of passenger trains and traffic the city pushed The Milwaukee Road to construct a new station. Designed by the architectural firm of Donald L. Grieb and Associates of Milwaukee, the new station was dedicated on August 3, 1965, and saw its first train arrival the next day with the Morning Hiawatha. Despised from the start it was as utilitarian as a metal backyard shed and as homely as a mud fence. Within days of the opening of the new station, the Everett street station 'mysteriously' burned. Shortly after it opened, the neighboring Chicago and Northwestern Railroad gave up on it's own classic Lake Front Station and moved in with The Milwaukee Road.
The State of Wisconsin purchased the '5th degree ugly place' in 1999 and working with the Milwaukee Intermodal Partners, LLC they signed contracts for a $5.4 million rehabilitation project.
Serving as the absolute gateway to urban Milwaukee, the station serves 1.3 million annual passengers on Amtrak, Greyhound, Coach USA - Wisconsin Coach Lines, Greyhound, Indian Trails, Jefferson Lines, Lamers Bus Lines, Megabus, Badger Bus, Tornado Bus, Milwaukee County Transit System-- as well as all of the city's taxi carriers. Wi-Fi, Bike racks, lockers, drop-off lanes, All Aboard Café, vending machines, gift shop, full service Amtrak and bus ticketing and baggage services as well as the offices of the WDOT State Traffic Operations Center.
Interior of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light, Public Service Building (preserved terminal)
Interior of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light, Public Service Building (preserved terminal)
Interior of the Milwaukee Electric Railway Power and Light, Public Service Building (preserved terminal)
Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railway Terminal
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, ("The Milwaukee Road") Evert Street Station
Chicago Northwestern Railroad, Lake Front Station
THE LESSON:
John A. Droege's critiques on New York, Bangor, Providence, Kansas City, Memphis, Meridian, Cincinnati and Baltimore rail stations.
SIGNATURE
"The public wants Magnificent stations which do not earn one cent more revenue their cost is great and they are costly to maintain but if these mighty edifices will please the public (and give signature pride to the city) they must be built. The passenger terminal has been aptly described as the city gate and for some of the newer and larger stations it would indeed be hard to find a term more fitting. The railroad terminal is the city gate... It has broad portals and through these portals come and go a host of folks in cabs and carriages in trolley cars and elevated trains folk afoot. Within this city gate is a thing of stupendous apartments and monumental dimensions a thing not to be grasped in a moment. In a single great apartment a vaulted room so great as to have its dimensions sink into distant vistas are the steam caravans that come and go It is a busy place a place of an infinite variety of business. Rest? Oh! There is rest at the city gate." PT&T p.p. 5-6
The interior of the Milwaukee Intermodal Station.
MONUMENTAL AND FUNCTIONAL
"Next in order but not in importance to a station's accessibility is convenience in the arrangement of the terminal facilities and the proper relation of parts This is a matter which is frequently subordinated to the necessities of architectural design sometimes with reason but more often because of lack of care or because the architects fail to realize that the terminal is not built primarily for a monument but as a decidedly important railroad facility It cannot be urged too emphatically that it is all important in every case to pay particular attention to the good and bad points in older terminals with a view to making the most of all experience that may be available The various railway clubs and associations offer a splendid means among others of obtaining this experience in the safer way In like manner it is nothing less than foolhardy not to secure the suggestions and expressions of opinion of the operating officers who will be given the task of operating the new terminal or who may have operated similar terminals." PT&T p.p. 20
Milwaukee's intermodal station was designed by railroaders, followed by intercity bus operators with an eye toward impressive function. Is the JRTC monumental or functional? How hard will it be to come in on one mode, transfer downtown for lunch and leave on a different mode... and not get smashed by a car?
MARKET & MATCHING INTERIOR FACILITIES
"The two important things to be determined are the correct location of each (interior) facility and the amount of space to be allowed it. The latter can be estimated only by a careful study of the amount and kind of travel the proportion of through and suburban business the peculiarities of the station's patrons and in general the needs of the community." PT&T p.p. 21-22
Milwaukee saw that it was only logical that all modes share the same building, same simple layout, same restaurant, same waiting room, same gift shop and adjacent concourses and platforms all in the name of critical mass and ease of movement. Are the JRTC's sprawled out 3 building facilities, for a city 33% smaller then metro Milwaukee, proportional to our needs?
EXTERIOR
"In outward design the building should show clearly the main functions of the station and the main waiting room or concourse whichever is the more dominant feature should be evident from the exterior. The proper entrances for patrons should be readily recognized and marked architecturally so that traffic will instinctively enter and depart from the building at the proper places and thus move in quickest and most direct manner." PT&T p.p. 22
Milwaukee features two primary street entrances each marked with a small logo indicating Amtrak or Motor Coach, on passing through the entrances two broad pathways between waiting room segments lead to the main concourse which runs laterally from the bus platform straight down the center of the building. All services are off of this lateral concourse. From the exterior(s) of the multi-building, multi-block JRTC, would one instinctively know how to find their way without signs?
HIGHWAY TRANSPORT
"The carriage way should be outside the street limits so as to avoid congestion. Not infrequently in modern designs sidewalk coverings are provided so that patrons may be protected in stormy weather when arriving at the station in vehicles." PT&T p.p. 22
A simple walk of perhaps 100' feet brings a bus customer into the central lateral concourse, ticketing and all services, at about 200' feet the lateral intersects the railroad gate and concourse. In the JRTC plan, is the intercity bus loading platform a physical part of the railroad station?
ACCESS TO AUTOMOBILES - BICYCLES - CITY BUSES
"Cab stands should be outside the street limits so as to avoid congestion. An exit to the space for carriages on the street level is provided for incoming passengers who do not wish to go to the waiting room." PT&T p.p. 89
Kiss-n-Ride patrons in Milwaukee have but a single broad driveway that takes modern day 'carriages' and cabs outside of the street to avoid congestion. Will automobiles have a single Kiss-n-Ride lane for departing and arriving passengers? Are all of the facilities at hand when the dashing commuter leaves his ride and enters a building without questioning if he is in the right building, right concourse or right block?
PEDESTRIAN FLOW (Providence RI)
"The arrangement of facilities in the station could have been improved upon. That all persons using the station do not have to go through the waiting room is a good point. p.p. 75-78 It is axiomatic that in the well arranged station the necessity for signs is small for the various facilities are placed as nearly as possible in a natural sequence along the routes from the entrances of the station to the platforms and trains In general the layout should be such that there will be no obstruction to free and easy movements by the shortest possible lines between the streets and trains. The various facilities should be placed along these lines in a natural order so that the patron may be able to reach them without going out of his way." PT&T p.p. 22
Milwaukee has virtually no busy street crossings or large signage, a few logo's as wall art are all that is needed, the bright,safe, open, central concourse makes every service just steps away. Will there be no elevators, stairs, escalators (except understandably our Skyway) or twisting, serpentine paths connecting bus and rail concourses without the need to cross a street at grade as a 'short-cut?' Would you trust that as a safe zone for your 7 year old? In Milwaukee, you can!
MULTIPLE BUILDINGS
"On the whole it is impossible to argue in favor of either one or the other type of structure. The head station (station where the tracks end at the terminal) is little else than an absolute nuisance when it has to be used for through traffic. The Providence station is an especially flexible and convenient through arrangement (station where tracks enter from both ends and pass through the station area). There might however better be but one building instead of a group of five for thus the cost of heating maintaining cleaning etc would be reduced." PT&T p.p. 75-78
Milwaukee is a 'through' station, where trains can pull straight through. The bus zones are designed with a 'saw tooth' platform, they angle park and backup then drive out, this condenses Milwaukee's bus loading zone packing more buses, side by side, into a smaller space and a shorter walk between them or the station. How many 'stations' are really at the JRTC 'Intermodal Center?' Are the facilities for JTA, Intercity buses and Amtrak all condensed into one space? REMEMBER - "There might however better be but one building!"
ORGANIZED - SAFE LINE OF TRAVEL
"It is a detriment however that a person should have to cross the waiting room to get to the ticket office retrace his steps to get to the baggage checking counter and then have to cover the distance still a third time by a walk through the waiting room or the concourse to get to his train. Offices could be more conveniently located with reference to each other. There would be less actual obstruction to streets two cross thoroughfares outside the building probably serving instead of three. One subway perhaps larger than the present ones would have materially simplified the directing of passengers to their trains and reduced the cost of attendants required for that purpose " PT&T p.p. 75-78
Milwaukee's concourses are at grade, there is no subway, there are two street access points, and with everything laid out along the lateral concourse, moving from train to bus or motor coach is virtually a straight line and only a few feet. Is the movement of your baggage (IE: dragging you bags) from train to bus or motor coach at the JRTC going to be just down the hall, or down the block?
SIMPLE FUNCTIONALITY - EVERYTHING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
"The Bangor, ME station of the Maine Central and the Bangor & Aroostook illustrated in Fig 38 is a typical through station of the first type. The station building proper is 154 ft long and 82 ft wide with a wing 29 ft by 40 ft It is built of buff colored brick with brownstone trimmings and base. The tower on the front 130 ft high gives an imposing effect to the structure The principal entrance is defined by a porte cochere and beyond this entrance which is about 18 ft square there is a vestibule through which one passes to the main waiting room 41 ft by 84 ft. This is connected with the dining room by a wide passageway In the extension are the kitchen and a store room. The women's retiring room with toilet room adjoining is in the main part of the building to the right of the vestibule and the ticket office agent's office news stand smoking room and men's toilet are on the opposite side. The train shed is 500 ft long and 100 ft wide. It covers eight tracks five of which are stub and three are through. The platforms between the tracks and the station building are 25 ft wide. PT&T p.p. 69
In Milwaukee, every single service and facility is along one wall, one lateral concourse and from that vantage point I can see all three public transportation modes on the same level, just outside of the doors and all services. In recent decades, Jacksonville has had no concept of the one-stop-shop. Will your movements be from ticket counter to waiting room to concourse as in Milwaukee, Fort Worth and Denver? Or from waiting room to elevated concourse, to elevator, to ticket office, to waiting room, to elevated concourse, to elevator to concourse, as in Miami and Jacksonville?
FOOD SERVICE
"Too commonly the railroad lunch room strikes the passenger as a necessary evil. In the lunch rooms on many roads the prices are too high the food too stale or tasteless and the service too poor to gain the railroads any friends. There is room in this respect for all kinds of criticism and a great field for improvement. PT&T p.p. 376
By combining the modes into a single central building, Milwaukee has the critical mass to support every service you would expect in a major modern airport. How many successful restaurants and services will the JRTC host when the rail side counts 200 passengers a day, 5 blocks away a greyhound station (with traffic which currently only supports a snack bar) or the JTA Rosa Parks station customers which will be at yet another location? Will this be family or child friendly?
CONCLUSIONS
The fact is, baring the use of the old terminal (Prime Osborn Convention Center), there is no reason why a single, centralized station could not be built at the end of, and encompassing the Skyway station, or over Bay Street where it could serve both a transit function and a conventioneer's needs. From the Skyway, the JTA buses would be below on the north side, Intercity buses below on the west side, and rail below on the south side. Notice how Milwaukee's railroads in 1965, and the city in 1999, created a station that literally followed the book in virtually every way. Compare Milwaukee's modern terminal and the excerpts from Droege's masterwork with the monstrosity local officials have planned to dump on Jacksonville. Indeed! You have now visited Milwaukee, and read excerpts from the Railway Engineering Association with critiques on New York, Bangor, Providence, Kansas City, Memphis, Meridian, Cincinnati and Baltimore, enough at least to understand the stiff opposition to JTA's sprawling, disorganized scheme... As you can see, we've read the book, and now you've seen the cliff notes.
Article by Robert W. Mann. Contact Robert at bob@metrojacksonville.com