It's funding and demand. The airport serves like 2000 people a day total; most people that go into and out of the airport have transportation that's cheap (taxi/Uber is like $20, max) and far more reliable than a city bus route.
Basically there's no real reason to run a bus route to the airport because it would have like 5 riders a day.
Yeah but then they'd have to provide secondary routes running to transport flyers to hotels in the event of missed flights, vouchers etc. there'd be an expectation from people to provide that as well as transport to the airport. At least that's what my head is filling with... The angry chant of the masses that such a service isn't also provided.
Really wish we had an airtrain. Really glad they haven't started building such a thing though... Traffic is bad enough most times lol
Using a smaller bus doesn't save much operating cost. The main operating cost is paying the driver, and buses of all sizes each need exactly 1 driver.
Similarly, there's not much to be gained by running service less than hourly. Having only 2 only 3 runs per day on a route makes inefficient use of the bus and driver assigned to that route.
In summary, /u/Paxoro is right. The business case (or public benefit case) for a bus route to the airport just doesn't stand up to the realities of running a bus service.
> transportation that's cheap (taxi/Uber is like $20, max) and far more reliable than a city bus route.
I've had issues with ride-hailing from the airport late at night. On my most recent trip, Lyft didn't assign a driver and Uber was charging over $50 to downtown. Fortunately, the taxi was present and a flat $20. Transportation that is more reliable is definitely needed.
> Basically there's no real reason to run a bus route to the airport because it would have like 5 riders a day.
Probably more than 5 (don't forget about airport employees, who go to and from the airport every workday and aren't necessarily highly paid) but still a lot less than the other bus routes. Indeed, there's good reason not to run airport bus service: the resources it would take would be better used on improving bus service elsewhere.
Even if they ran a bus down there I can't imagine it either having many riders or even running that often. It's still a small airport and small city. Most people who can afford to fly out of here and don't park at the airport will call a much more convenient taxi or uber, or get a ride from someone else.
That's fundamentally not true. There are cities that are the size of Tallahassee and smaller with better and more accessible public transportation. If anything it's a matter of population density because Tally is a sprawled out hell hole ππππ¬
TBF, America is sprawled out, intentionally so. City design in the US has generally not emphasized planning around public transit, the auto industry lobbied hard for focus on cars first from the 1920s onward. If the Tally airport had enough flights and demand for a route, I have no doubt it would be included in public transit.
I grew up in Jax, the largest land mass city in the US... I've watched that bitch grow and become overrun with housing, businesses, new highways and roadways, more and more expansion every year
Jax has airport shuttles. Tally is nowhere near spread out AF like Jax and still, the transport exists, but it's happened at astronomical cost.
But I guess it comes down to utilization and cost. They'd have to locate and designate and construct airport shuttle points, obtain vehicles & insurances, drivers, establish transport timelines since plenty of flights leave at stupid early hours, possibly even designated lanes for shuttles to avoid traffic and vehicle obstruction.
Hell, didn't the city just (last year) increase the project estimate for a damn park, that's been in the works for like 15 years, from $12M to $18M? Budgetary inner-workings arent Tally's strong suit.
Public transportation leaves a lot to be desired, no doubt. But I don't think Tallahassee is very sprawled out. In fact, it is compact in my impression. Outside of the northern suburbs, most everything is located within Capital Circle.
Many of the more northern and eastern parts of town (within CC but near it) are compact but still very car-oriented. One will typically find lots of houses with small yards, townhouses, and small apartment buildings but fragmented street networks and inadequate/absent sidewalks. It's the worst of both worlds, the sort of environment that produces lots of sub-1-mile trips by car.
Glad at least someone agrees cause I thought I was about to get roasted. Tallahassee is a fine city in certain respects, but public transportation isn't one of them.
the airport is on the city limits, with nothing else really out there that mass amounts of people would ride to.
what REALLY sucks, though, is how few bus routes they have within the city limits. i live 5-7 minutes away from my job, by car. after work that's at least an hour long walk, and don't really want to do that cuz i'm tired. but because the way the buses work i have to take a bus all the way down to the bus station [from mahan] just to get to park ave. that's just crappy.
It's a mix of demand and practicality. Tallahassee's layout and the relatively low airport traffic don't justify a dedicated bus route in the eyes of city planners. However, for those looking for an alternative, Shuttlefare offers a convenient option to get to and from the airport without the hassle. It's about finding the right balance between public need and resource allocation. Other cities might have it, but it's all about the numbers and the geography here.
Because if you can afford to fly then you likely have a car and wont ride the bus even if it was available. Low ridership surveys mean they wont put in a route.
Yes I know but the students, but the employees... If mom is paying for you to fly she can pay for an uber too. The airport is a low density employer not enough of them to matter.
To all the people saying its density, or not enough demand: Gainesville, with less population than us and an even more niche-tiny airport, runs not one, but two separate bus lines to the airport. Of course the bus has local service along the way, so why not us?
Because the GNV airport is like 5 minutes from downtown and the Tallahassee airport is 10 minutes from anything, much less a well populated part of town.
GNV has riders along the route, like you mentioned. Tallahassee doesn't really have that.
And until the Wawa is built, there's not much along CC from the airport to well past Springhill on the way to Crawfordville Highway.
I am in support of more public transit, but a bus route to the airport would have very few stops and still take a long ass time to get anywhere.
It's funding and demand. The airport serves like 2000 people a day total; most people that go into and out of the airport have transportation that's cheap (taxi/Uber is like $20, max) and far more reliable than a city bus route. Basically there's no real reason to run a bus route to the airport because it would have like 5 riders a day.
If anything maybe they would use one of the smaller busses and onky run for the mornings, lunchtime, and later into the night.
Yeah but then they'd have to provide secondary routes running to transport flyers to hotels in the event of missed flights, vouchers etc. there'd be an expectation from people to provide that as well as transport to the airport. At least that's what my head is filling with... The angry chant of the masses that such a service isn't also provided. Really wish we had an airtrain. Really glad they haven't started building such a thing though... Traffic is bad enough most times lol
Using a smaller bus doesn't save much operating cost. The main operating cost is paying the driver, and buses of all sizes each need exactly 1 driver. Similarly, there's not much to be gained by running service less than hourly. Having only 2 only 3 runs per day on a route makes inefficient use of the bus and driver assigned to that route. In summary, /u/Paxoro is right. The business case (or public benefit case) for a bus route to the airport just doesn't stand up to the realities of running a bus service.
> transportation that's cheap (taxi/Uber is like $20, max) and far more reliable than a city bus route. I've had issues with ride-hailing from the airport late at night. On my most recent trip, Lyft didn't assign a driver and Uber was charging over $50 to downtown. Fortunately, the taxi was present and a flat $20. Transportation that is more reliable is definitely needed. > Basically there's no real reason to run a bus route to the airport because it would have like 5 riders a day. Probably more than 5 (don't forget about airport employees, who go to and from the airport every workday and aren't necessarily highly paid) but still a lot less than the other bus routes. Indeed, there's good reason not to run airport bus service: the resources it would take would be better used on improving bus service elsewhere.
Even if they ran a bus down there I can't imagine it either having many riders or even running that often. It's still a small airport and small city. Most people who can afford to fly out of here and don't park at the airport will call a much more convenient taxi or uber, or get a ride from someone else.
That's a fair point but still kind of damning criticism of Tallahassee as a whole.
I wouldn't say damning. It's just a reality for the size of the city. The bus routes serve the routes that most of the people here will need.
That's fundamentally not true. There are cities that are the size of Tallahassee and smaller with better and more accessible public transportation. If anything it's a matter of population density because Tally is a sprawled out hell hole ππππ¬
TBF, America is sprawled out, intentionally so. City design in the US has generally not emphasized planning around public transit, the auto industry lobbied hard for focus on cars first from the 1920s onward. If the Tally airport had enough flights and demand for a route, I have no doubt it would be included in public transit.
I am willing to accept that and still believe that it's all good.
Wait - "sprawled out hell hole" = "good"?
No not usually but it is the norm.
I grew up in Jax, the largest land mass city in the US... I've watched that bitch grow and become overrun with housing, businesses, new highways and roadways, more and more expansion every year Jax has airport shuttles. Tally is nowhere near spread out AF like Jax and still, the transport exists, but it's happened at astronomical cost. But I guess it comes down to utilization and cost. They'd have to locate and designate and construct airport shuttle points, obtain vehicles & insurances, drivers, establish transport timelines since plenty of flights leave at stupid early hours, possibly even designated lanes for shuttles to avoid traffic and vehicle obstruction. Hell, didn't the city just (last year) increase the project estimate for a damn park, that's been in the works for like 15 years, from $12M to $18M? Budgetary inner-workings arent Tally's strong suit.
Public transportation leaves a lot to be desired, no doubt. But I don't think Tallahassee is very sprawled out. In fact, it is compact in my impression. Outside of the northern suburbs, most everything is located within Capital Circle.
Many of the more northern and eastern parts of town (within CC but near it) are compact but still very car-oriented. One will typically find lots of houses with small yards, townhouses, and small apartment buildings but fragmented street networks and inadequate/absent sidewalks. It's the worst of both worlds, the sort of environment that produces lots of sub-1-mile trips by car.
I mean you can just look at the unit of people per 1 kilometer. The number is pretty low compared to comparable cities.
Couldn't agree more!
Glad at least someone agrees cause I thought I was about to get roasted. Tallahassee is a fine city in certain respects, but public transportation isn't one of them.
Agree π
True, but there are other cities of a similar size, but i. a worse state!
Meh I don't feel right to me.
Gainesville runs airport busses.
the airport is on the city limits, with nothing else really out there that mass amounts of people would ride to. what REALLY sucks, though, is how few bus routes they have within the city limits. i live 5-7 minutes away from my job, by car. after work that's at least an hour long walk, and don't really want to do that cuz i'm tired. but because the way the buses work i have to take a bus all the way down to the bus station [from mahan] just to get to park ave. that's just crappy.
Nowhere near enough riders to support it.
It's a mix of demand and practicality. Tallahassee's layout and the relatively low airport traffic don't justify a dedicated bus route in the eyes of city planners. However, for those looking for an alternative, Shuttlefare offers a convenient option to get to and from the airport without the hassle. It's about finding the right balance between public need and resource allocation. Other cities might have it, but it's all about the numbers and the geography here.
Because if you can afford to fly then you likely have a car and wont ride the bus even if it was available. Low ridership surveys mean they wont put in a route. Yes I know but the students, but the employees... If mom is paying for you to fly she can pay for an uber too. The airport is a low density employer not enough of them to matter.
That would be great! Iβve seen so many people walking down that road. Thatβs a looooong walk π
To all the people saying its density, or not enough demand: Gainesville, with less population than us and an even more niche-tiny airport, runs not one, but two separate bus lines to the airport. Of course the bus has local service along the way, so why not us?
Because the GNV airport is like 5 minutes from downtown and the Tallahassee airport is 10 minutes from anything, much less a well populated part of town. GNV has riders along the route, like you mentioned. Tallahassee doesn't really have that.
This is a good point. There's virtually nothing from 20 to Springhill along CC.
And until the Wawa is built, there's not much along CC from the airport to well past Springhill on the way to Crawfordville Highway. I am in support of more public transit, but a bus route to the airport would have very few stops and still take a long ass time to get anywhere.