A commuter rail, bus rapid transit or even a streetcar system.

Information about these projects and much more at the Prime Osborne Convention Center today where JTA is outlining its strategic plan for the future and the public is welcome to attend.

About 100 came out to the morning session, and were happy with the information they got from management on-hand to answer questions and give out information.

“I’ve just become inspired by what they do and I’ve wanted to learn about it,” says Mandarin resident Toby Williams.

Williams told me he uses the bus nearly every day, but it can be difficult to get to some locations or events around Jacksonville under the current routes.His main question today was why there weren’t more routes, specifically between Mandarin and Orange Park.

While he didn’t get the answer of why that is the case now, he found out that within the next few months service will be expanded with more routes added.It’s an answer he was happy to hear, and overall an experience he greatly enjoyed at the forum.

We told you today on Jacksonville’s Morning News about problems JTA is having funding some of the biggest projects right now, including the Butler/I-95 improvements.In addition to grant problems, the gas tax is not bringing in the revenue for transportation projects that it once did.

I asked Williams if he would be willing to see a tax funding transportation projects.While he says he is generally against any more government, and is distrustful of how the government spends the money it has now, under the right circumstances he- and many people he knows- may change their minds.

“If it’s transparent and it’s what they want to see and they know it’s a benefit to the community as a whole, they wouldn’t mind paying for that,” he says.

Williams says public transportation does not receive the respect it deserves from many people who don’t rely on it day-to-day.He thinks a big part of that is a lack of education by JTA to the community about understanding the sometimes confusing systems.

But he says everyone has to rely on buses or rails or other public transportation at some point- and normally when they do they enjoy it.He meets new people every day, and says that experience is just another of the longlist of perks.