Jacksonville, Florida is served by all means of transportation.
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Jacksonville International Airport (JIA), identified as IATA airport code JAX, is the seventh largest airport in Florida with nearly 6 million passengers annually and serves the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan Area, Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia. In 2006, construction began to replace the three existing passenger concourses. Concourse A was demolished and rebuilt, followed by Concourse C, which was completed in 2008. Concourse B was a low priority because the capacities of Concourses A & C were more than adequate for existing demand.
The Late-2000s recession resulted in a significant decrease in passengers and flights, which prompted the Jacksonville Aviation Authority to demolish Concourse B in June, 2009 because it was safer and easier for the contractor. The JAA expects passenger traffic to increase by 2013, and when it occurs, Concourse B will be erected.[1] The airport is currently served by 7 major airlines and 13 commuter airlines. Several air service companies utilize JIA including FedEx, DHL Express and UPS.
Craig Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport for business and personal aircraft as well as small commuter planes. The airport has a control tower and handles 400-500 aircraft operations daily.
Cecil Field is a civil-military airport at Cecil Commerce Center that services military aircraft, corporate aircraft, general aviation, and air cargo. The Florida Army National Guard's primary Aviation Support Facility and the United States Coast Guard's Helicopter Interdiction Tactical Squadron (HITRON) are also located there.
Herlong Airport is a general aviation airport used primarily for personal aircraft, including ultralights and gliders. JAA is the Fixed base operator in the absence of a control tower.
Several interstates serve the Jacksonville area:
Interstate Highways 10 and 95 intersect in Jacksonville, creating the busiest intersection in the region with 200,000 vehicles each day.[2] Interstate 10 ends at this intersection (the other end being in Santa Monica, California).
A $152 million project to create a high-speed interchange at the intersection of Interstates 10 and 95 began in February, 2005, after the conclusion of Super Bowl XXXIX. Construction was expected to take nearly six years with multiple lane flyovers and the requirement that the interchange remain open throughout the project. The previous configuration utilized single lane, low speed, curved ramps which created backups during rush hours and contributed to accidents.[3]
Public transportation provided by the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) includes:
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, provides daily service from the Jacksonville Amtrak Station on Clifford Lane in the northwest section of the city. Two trains presently stop there, the Silver Meteor and Silver Star. Jacksonville was also served by the thrice-weekly Sunset Limited and the daily Silver Palm. Service on the Silver Palm was cut back to Savannah, Georgia in 2002. The Sunset Limited route was truncated at San Antonio, Texas as a result of the track damage in the Gulf Coast area caused by Hurricane Katrina on August 28, 2005. Service was restored as far east as New Orleans by late October 2005, but Amtrak has opted not to fully restore service into Florida.
Jacksonville is the headquarters of two significant freight railroads. CSX Transportation, owns a large building on the downtown riverbank that is a significant part of the skyline. Florida East Coast Railway also calls Jacksonville home.
Public seaports in Jacksonville are managed by the Jacksonville Port Authority, known as JAXPORT.
The JAXPORT Cruise Terminal is a 63,000 sq ft (5,900 m2) cruise ship terminal located at the northwest corner of the Dames Point Marine Terminal, beside the Dames Point Bridge. Vehicle access to the site is via Hecksher Drive and there is paved parking for about 600 cars.[6] Sailings commenced in October, 2003 and Carnival Cruise Lines presently offers service aboard the Fasciantion[7] with service to the Bahamas and Key West[8] through May, 2011.[9]
Every year, imported and exported goods are shipped from well over 100 countries through the Port of Jacksonville. In this harbor, the Jacksonville Port Authority owns three cargo facilities: the Blount Island Marine Terminal, the Talleyrand Marine Terminal and the Dames Point Marine Terminal.[10]
Although Jacksonville has managed to sustain a relatively low amount of traffic congestion for a city of its population, this is mostly because the city covers 767 square miles (1,990 km2),[13] an area much larger than most cities with a population over 800,000. Jacksonville's low population density might also be the reason the city has yet to further develop its mass transit bus system or a heavy or light rail network. Among urbanized areas with 1,000,000 population or greater in the United States, Jacksonville ranked tenth in freeway lane miles per 1,000 population and eighth in freeway-equivalent miles per 1,000 population. [14] The Skyway was intended to serve the Sports Complex (Stadium, Baseball Park, and Arena), but it was never finished, and because of that, parking is a problem. It is of limited help for most downtown commuters unless they live on the Southbank and work in a building close to a skyway station.
As the 13th-largest city in the U.S., Jacksonville has repeatedly been ranked below 40th in mass transit availability.
Some complaints include:[15]
There are other concerns over a lack of safe walking paths in many areas of the city. Many suburbs which were incorporated in the consolidation of 1968 don’t have sidewalks. This often forces pedestrians to navigate a narrow road shoulder near high-speed automobile traffic.
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