Is U2C serious? Help me make it make sense....

[Ken_FSU]

Interesting that they are not doing this to encourage and introduce use of the U2C - provide parking in the Stadium area, and ride the U2C to the Central Avenue station/venue. Perhaps they are concerned about the limitations of the AV in navigating at night?

Or, perhaps they are concerned about exposing the fact that their new downtown transit solution can't move more than 40 people an hour?

[Charles Hunter]

Interesting that they are not doing this to encourage and introduce use of the U2C - provide parking in the Stadium area, and ride the U2C to the Central Avenue station/venue. Perhaps they are concerned about the limitations of the AV in navigating at night?

Or, perhaps they are concerned about exposing the fact that their new downtown transit solution can't move more than 40 people an hour?

Yeah, that, too. And the embarrassment of the people who parked remote and walked beating the van to Central Station.

[thelakelander]

Skyway Social is a party put on by Placemaking Jax. It doesn't really have anything real to do with growing transit ridership.

[jaxlongtimer]

The next JTA themed "party" should be a wake for the U2C.  We can all line up to carry the vans to "down by the river" before dumping them.  Buried along with all the cash we buried in U2C.

[marcuscnelson]

JTA taking the time to pat themselves on the back for doing all of this in this month's Making Moves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47OuBekGGwU

Funny they mention all the cameras and sensors but not you having to wear a seatbelt.

[thelakelander]

^All I notice is that comments are turned off. That tells me all I need to know about the messaging effort.

[Jax_Developer]

Notice how almost every person involved in this project has ties to Jacksonville University one way or another? Surely a coincidence & nothing more to it.

[Captain Zissou]

If anyone listens to the Mikes on Mic podcast, give this week's episode a listen.  Nat Ford was the guest and the level of propaganda is vomit inducing.  I like the Mikes and know a couple of them, but they are often too soft on the guest.  This time they enabled a con artist and gave him a platform.

[fsu813]

"Riders divided over Jacksonville's self-driving shuttles"

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/riders-divided-over-jacksonvilles-self-driving-shuttles/4CGC5BGS6NA3JIXSUXPHQJKX5Q/

[Ken_FSU]

"Riders divided over Jacksonville's self-driving shuttles"

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/riders-divided-over-jacksonvilles-self-driving-shuttles/4CGC5BGS6NA3JIXSUXPHQJKX5Q/

Two things from the article that I have absolutely noticed:

1. This might sound like an exaggeration, but it is 100% true. I drive up and down Bay Street four or five days a week. I can't recall ever seeing someone standing at a Navi stop waiting for a ride. Additionally, it is exceedingly rare to see even a single passenger inside of these things as they shuttle up and down Bay Street. If 20 people a day are using the service, I'd be shocked.

2. It is very, very common to see the drivers with their hands on the wheel operating these autonomous vehicles. I can't see a universe where drivers aren't required on board each Navi for a long time to come. Which, obviously, kind of defeats the purpose of a $65 million autonomous bus system.

[Charles Hunter]

Doing some math - 3000 riders over 23 weekdays = 130 per day for 12 hours/day = just over 10 per hour.

That doesn't square with Ken's observation.  I trust Ken.

And what will happen when they start charging in October?

[CityLife]

Doing some math - 3000 riders over 23 weekdays = 130 per day for 12 hours/day = just over 10 per hour.

That doesn't square with Ken's observation.  I trust Ken.

And what will happen when they start charging in October?

Also doesn't jive with Action News Jax's experience either. Per the article attached above:

"Action News Jax hopped on a couple NAVI shuttles to experience the ride firsthand Wednesday. Of the multiple trips taken, only one passenger, Lloyd Shipman, boarded during the ride....The shuttles are free to ride through September 30."

Truly insane when you realize that:

1. It's free and still nobody is riding it.
2. It's summer and people are more likely to ride public transit vs. walking/cycling in the summer due to heat than they are other times of year.
3. It's been a extremely hot July in Jacksonville. Guessing it will go down as the hottest on record.

I'll chip in $100 if a poster or posters here will ride for a full day and document how many riders are actually on it. Maybe we can pool up enough to entice someone to do it.

[thelakelander]

I'm downtown on nearly a daily basis. All those vans, excluding the driver, are empty when I see them. I did see a passenger on one once. However, they had a construction vest on, so they could have been another JTA employee.

[jaxlongtimer]

Based on the outcome of the below, the cost of U2C could be many times $400 million...

Tesla Autopilot plaintiffs seek $345 million in damages over fatal crash in Florida

Tesla is facing a crucial verdict in a personal injury trial over a fatal Autopilot crash in 2019, the first time Elon Musk's automaker has been in front of a jury on such a matter in federal court.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs on Thursday asked the jury to award damages of around $345 million. That includes $109 million in compensatory damages and $236 million in punitive damages. The trial in the Southern District of Florida started on July 14.

The suit centers around who shoulders the blame for a deadly crash that occurred in 2019 in Key Largo, Florida. A Tesla owner named George McGee was driving his Model S electric sedan while using the company's Enhanced Autopilot, a partially automated driving system.

While driving, McGee dropped his mobile phone that he was using and scrambled to pick it up. He said during the trial that he believed Enhanced Autopilot would brake if an obstacle was in the way. He accelerated through an intersection at just over 60 miles per hour, hitting a nearby empty parked car and its owners, who were standing on the other side of their vehicle.

Naibel Benavides, who was 22, died on the scene from injuries sustained in the crash. Her body was discovered about 75 feet away from the point of impact. Her boyfriend, Dillon Angulo, survived but suffered multiple broken bones, a traumatic brain injury and psychological effects.

The plaintiffs have included Benavides' surviving family members, and Angulo, who testified in the trial. Angulo is seeking compensation for his medical expenses and pain and suffering, while Benavides' estate is suing for wrongful death, pain and suffering, and other punitive damages.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs argued that Tesla's partially automated driving systems, marketed as Autopilot at the time, had dangerous defects, which should have been known and fixed by the company, and that use of Autopilot should have been limited to roads where it could perform safely.

They also argued that Musk and Tesla made false statements to customers, shareholders and the public, overstating the safety benefits and capabilities of Autopilot, which encouraged drivers to overly rely on it.

In opening arguments and throughout the trial, the plaintiffs' attorneys and expert witnesses cited a litany of Musk's past promises about Autopilot and Tesla's autonomous vehicle technology. The lawyers said

Tesla attorneys countered in court that the company had communicated directly with customers about how to use Autopilot and other features, and that McGee's driving was to blame for the collision. They said in closing arguments that Tesla works to develop technology to save drivers' lives, and that a ruling against the EV maker would send the wrong message.

The Benavides family had previously sued McGee and settled with him. McGee was charged in October 2019 with careless driving and didn't contest the charges.

While Tesla has typically been able to settle cases or move Autopilot-related suits into arbitration and out of the public eye, Judge Beth Bloom in the Miami court wrote, in an order in early July, that the case could move ahead to trial.

"A reasonable jury could find that Tesla acted in reckless disregard of human life for the sake of developing their product and maximizing profit," she wrote in that order.

For closing arguments on Thursday, the Benavides family and Angulo were in the courtroom. They looked away from screens anytime a video or picture of the scene of the crash was displayed.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/31/tesla-autopilot-plaintiffs-seek-345-million-over-fatal-florida-crash.html

[Lostwave]

I also am downtown every day.  I have never seen a person aside from the driver inside.  I do see a shocking number of these vans on every drive.  There is usually one stopped on Bay Street blocking a lane causing all kinds of traffic.  They go so dang slow too.  It would be faster and more fun to ride a lime scooter.