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

[marcuscnelson]

JTA announcing on social media today that NAVI will run until midnight tomorrow for "various downtown events!"

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DtAhvx8Rn/

This includes a detour off Bay Street onto Forsyth and the addition of stops to "accommodate the detour route." It's unclear if the vehicles will be driving themselves on this detour or driven by their attendants.

[MakeDTjaxGre@tAgain]

Getting some competition in the mix. Not looking good for JTA if this passes. Rider count will plummet setting them back even further. What deal did they sign with Holon? Can they get out before it's too late?

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2026/02/27/is-waymo-coming-to-jacksonville-councilman-says-he-will-do-everything-he-can-to-bring-robotaxis-here/

[Charles Hunter]

This means I agree with Diamond on something!

But ... I don't see Waymo coming here before some of those larger un-Waymo'd cities.

[jcjohnpaint]

Reminds me of when Gandalf tells Frodo that Gollum, good or evil, will have a purpose in the end.

[thelakelander]

Waymo doesn't need Diamond to be here, if and when they want to expand service to Jax. Diamond passing legislation is like council trying to pursuade Publix with incentives to open in a food desert. They have a business model and if it makes sense to do something local, they will pursue it.

But I agree with his general stance on NAVI, when compared to these private sector options. NAVI and Holon's little van will be obsolete before things are figured out locally. But that should be a separate discussion from planning and implementation of Jax's "mass" transit network.

[Jankelope]

Didn't I read that they had like 20 riders a day or something?

It's really quite sad because I feel like basically anybody could have told you this was all a bad decision that has cost us hundreds of millions of dollars that the taxpayers trusted us with.

You cannot expect citizens to feel good about where their tax dollars and local-option gas tax increases are going when you have stuff like this.

It muddies the water around the truly awesome and essential things we are doing with infrastructure projects, emerald trail, Riverfront Parks, etc

We need the average citizen to feel like the money they are investing is not some vanity project or R&D experiment for JTA.

So frustrating.

[jaxlongtimer]

Is this JTA's idea of an April Fools joke??!!  Lot's of confusing double speak and doubling down.  In support of U2C?  Is that an admission of execution concerns?  And, by April 17th? For the best ideas anywhere?

OK, so if Waymo came in and says we have you covered, where does that leave U2C?  What's good for the burbs would likely also be good for Downtown.  Why 2 separate programs?

JTA exploring citywide deployment of autonomous vehicles
A call for proposals for a pilot program includes potentially retrofitting existing automobiles and buses with self-driving technology.

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority has begun seeking proposals for a pilot program that could include retrofitting JTA buses and passenger vehicles with autonomous technology, an early indication of interest in expanding self-driving public transit beyond Downtown.

In the request for proposals, filed as P-26-014, JTA says it "is soliciting innovative technology solutions through a structured Test & Learn Research & Development (R&D) program.

"This includes but (is) not limited to the following Areas: Advanced Autonomous Vehicle Operations, Smart Connected Infrastructure, and related Safety Technologies that will be appropriate for the Pilot deployment of the AVs and technology surrounding it in support of the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U²C) Project in the Jacksonville urban core," the RFP reads.

"The JTA sees autonomous technology as an important part of the future of mobility solutions," Taniel Koushakjian, a JTA spokesperson, wrote in a statement.

"While we are committed to ensuring a safe and successful deployment of AVs in downtown Jacksonville through the U2C program, we are also exploring opportunities to deploy this technology in other areas such as our ReadiRide Zones."...

...In a document provided in response to a public records request by the Daily Record, JTA says that respondents to the RFP are "expected to provide an Autonomous Solution(s)" that would include "Autonomous Vehicle Shuttles, Autonomous kit for Automobile Retrofits, Bus Retrofits, and other Autonomous Solutions deemed appropriate by the proposer for applicability within the project scope."...

..."The goal is to identify technologies that can enhance the safety, reliability, and efficiency of transit services in Jacksonville. The JTA is seeking the best ideas the market has to offer to benefit Jacksonville residents."...

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/apr/01/jta-exploring-citywide-deployment-of-autonomous-vehicles/

[jcjohnpaint]

The idea of these cars driving 30 miles an hour in mixed traffic outside of downtown is just frightening.

[marcuscnelson]

I... depending on how you slice it, might disagree in part here.

Obviously NAVI is a disaster, and has no business wrecking the Skyway infrastructure. And it's past time to stop spending millions of tax dollars on experimenting (especially with this RFP being in part an admission that this stuff in this context still isn't actually ready for prime time) with such a desperate need to get basic transit operations back in shape.

However, at the right level of financial and institutional commitment, it does probably make some sense to invest in improving those basic transit operations with things like better Transit Signal Priority and preemption, fitting autonomous kits to buses to operate more efficiently (akin to Super Cruise on GM vehicles), perhaps reducing the cost of automated train control on the Skyway, or even running some reasonable high-frequency circulator loops that connect to the Skyway (such as to RiversEdge, maybe through Brooklyn now that infill has probably foreclosed further Skyway expansion, or in San Marco proper, or Cathedral Hill). Those are all potential applications of this process. But those are small, practical transit solutions and not a half-billion-dollar program you get to have parties and junkets for.

Deciding that now is the time to calm down and reduce U2C to primarily a skunkworks "Test & Learn" program while investing in regular mass transit that might be improved by the experiments is perfectly sensible, even if late. Doubling down on spending more money on this at the expense of literally everything else, that's dumb.