The promising JITNEY trial run, from Atlantic City thru Ventnor & Margate has run out of (natural) gas. Downbeach Jitney’s were cancelled, not because of weak demand, but due to weak marketing and advertising of the service.
Fact: The Jitney Association needed to reach vacationers & visitors. They used local Radio / Media to promote the new service. This strategy failed. Big-time. Potential Jitney users do not listen to local Atlantic City area Radio or read the local AC / Downbeach Newspapers.
Why the Jitney’s Failed in Margate and Ventnor:
- Poor vacationer awareness of Jitney service
- Lack of route info
- Driver confusion
- Poor marketing, poor choice of advertising platforms
- Over-reliance on Radio & Newspaper for awareness
The rise of UBER is another reason why the Jitney experiment was cancelled after just 45 days. Note: we understand 3 signs were placed at stops in Ventnor.
Mayor Becker of Margate wanted it. He even extended the trial. Ventnor Commissioner Landgraf also supported the service. Nonetheless, the Jitney Association decided to cancel the Jitney run, claiming ‘there was no demand’.
Our 2 cents: The demand for Jitney service in Margate & Ventnor is absolutely there. FACT: the 45 day trial run was poorly executed & marketed. Local radio reports on WOND 1400 are false, as they wrongly proclaim ‘there was no demand’. We did hear extra-heavy promotion on the local radio stations though. But all this extra radio advertising didn’t work. It provided no boost in ridership. The Jitney Association ignored recent reports showing substantial decline in local radio listenership and newspaper readership, and only used those platforms. They opted not to use common & popular online and digital forms of marketing.
Margate and Ventnor Reader feedback:
Melanie Martin – Well you wouldn’t put signs up on where to catch one. Tried to wave one down and it didn’t stop. No posted schedules or anything. What do you expect
Mary Owen Delcher – There was no information about this jitney service. No schedules for pick up or drop off stops. The jitney drivers I asked had no idea about anything. TOTALLY DISORGANIZED! The people in charge should be ashamed of themselves. A real embarrassment.
Jamie Cohen Walker – They didn’t even advertise it…I would have used it!
Candy Donnelly – The season just started, need more time to promote. Now the group of people who were against it (small group of Margate Realtors), will walk around with an attitude. This program needed the Summer to test. Ventnor/margate needs to move proudly I to the future and not be afraid of change.
Beth Buckley Grossman – Absolutely absurd…no one had any information about how it worked…including the jitney drivers that we asked. No one knew where the stops were and how it operated. It would have been nice to share information with the public. But you certainly made sure to send out the cancellation of service information!
Isaac Brumer – I wanted this to succeed and tried this twice. Time #1, 10 jitneys passed and each driver had a different story whether or not there’s service. I went with the NJT 505 which I usually use. Time#2, it took 2 jitneys to get to Margate. 1 to get me to Jackson & Ventnor, where I waited 15 minutes for the jitney that loops through Downbeach. While there, I got to see a disorderly person and another jitney driver fighting (and the police intervention). When the second jitney arrived, the driver told me that I actually should have been dropped off on Atlantic, not Ventnor. 10 PM on a Friday, I was the only customer. All in all, most customers would not put up with my experience. Putting something like this (or something like open container on the boardwalk) in place takes time, effort, planning, publicity and staff. You can’t do these things at the drop of a hat.
Milton W. Glenn III – There’s been no real promotion of the service, the drivers don’t seem to know anything about the Ventnor and Margate route, and Jitney stops aren’t even marked for those who want to utilize the service. If the drivers aren’t aware and won’t travel Downbeach, what is the point?
Tori Edmiston – This is a great service for the whole island but poorly organized. There are no signs for the stops in Ventnor…people don’t know when or where to stand and wait.
Anastasia Taboada – I live on Jackson Avenue and would love to use the Jitney to go to Margate bars and restaurants. But there is no information of times or stops on Jitney website… I asked a driver and he had no information either.
Ellie Dinoia-Sclocchini – The JITNEY website lacked information -wanted to use the service from Ventnor to outlets and had no clue where the closest stop was..forced to call Uber
Jay Eger – A disappointment in Ventnor, 4 stops and none past the library. Looks like a wasted opportunity.
Samantha Lowe – The jitney went down Atlantic Ave and stopped in 3 places that were so far off Dorset Ave that it took 25 min to walk to them. Poor planning. They did it like that to appease the people against the expansion.
Eileen Johnstone – We tried taking one two weekends in a row to Margate. Waited in front of city hall as instructed, but none ever showed up. Ended up calling Island Hopper both times for a ride to Margate and then walked back. There is never any parking in Margate.