JTA meetings on the future of the Skyway

[thelakelander]

I don't think we've proven that it can't be a part of a smart transit plan moving forward. I've never understood the argument or position to demo or doing anything that would trigger a repayment.

We've got thousands of more residents living in and around downtown than we had 20 years ago. There are thousands of more coming. We're also investing a significant amount of cash in public realm assets such as the riverfront parks and the Emerald Trail. Real development around Skyway stations and facilities in LaVilla, Pearl Street, Brooklyn and the Southbank is now happening after years of dreams. Land use is finally beginning to align with the transit investment and infrastructure already in place.

Until there's a viable regional transit plan and funds lined up to implement a real alternative, maintain what we have because there is the possibility that the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence.

[marcuscnelson]

^ I agree, which is why I said earlier that I would rather go with the No Build alternative than one that actively devalues the investment in the guideway through reconstruction for the U2C or a cheap copy of the High Line.

The design of the Skyway doesn't lend itself to running to the airport or beaches like some less-informed folks have suggested, but for modest extensions to Brooklyn, San Marco, and (granted this might be foreclosed by the parallel investment in NAVI) the Sports Complex it's a plenty suitable light metro system that would fix well within a broader transit network. But JTA has spent a decade and millions now on "mobility integrators" and "Silicon Valley of the East" instead, and the City for whatever reason has enabled those fantasies instead of trying to actually leverage its own investments in development incentives and infrastructure to demand a real transit plan. And now the state has put suburbanites potentially in the driver's seat on future decisions and forefeit a future focus on more urban connectivity.

It's a real shame that things have gotten to such a point that people like Alex Sifakis are having to be here or on the news at public meetings to beg for something that is at least cheap and (potentially) fast because we've done so little to give developers any transit for Transit Oriented Development in the very center of town.

[Jankelope]

I just have a feeling that they are going to make whichever decision makes the least sense.

[Jagsdrew]

Option 6: Find a retrofit option for existing Skyway BUT find a retrofit option to take it from elevation to ground for future expansion that is less expensive than building elevated sections. This can open up to areas beyond the Core.

A section of Riverside Ave is SIX Lanes. You can easily take two of those lanes to have a ground network to stop at all the retail development/Whole Foods/residential and extend it to RAM, Cummer, 5 Points.

It's low hanging fruit yet we're creating ideas for expensive bumper cars.

[Joey Mackey]

1. Repair of existing cars is maintenance of the system. This should be required, not a future option. There's still a limited self life with this option, so it should be combined with #2.

When we propose this type of stuff without considering feasibility and cost, etc. it simply confuses the public and wastes time. More than a decade ago, the public feedback was to fix up and expand the Skyway, not turn it into a system of autonomous human driven camper vans or being the first at experiementing with a risky form of technology. Lets get back to the basic purpose and move forward.

I agree with both of these sentiments so much. Just fix the dang thing. For the life of me, I cannot understand why our city institutions consistently propose ideas straight out of Willie Wonka's Factory, that nobody asked for. Anecdotally, I tried to be a good Jaxon and take the Skyway to and from work for about a month a few years ago, and it was a disaster. The trains were routinely late, not just by a few minutes, by thirty minutes (or more, who knows, I had to drive). The trains were occasionally out of service. I can't imagine what it is like now. Just get the Skyway running on time, and people will use it. We don't need a Constitutional Convention to figure that out.

[Charles Hunter]

Our very own Ennis gets a shout-out in a Jax Business Journal article about the JTA-Skyway.

Some advocates involved with infrastructure projects in Duval such as urban planner Ennis Davis argued the problem was not the guideway itself but the city's failure to integrate it with surrounding neighborhoods and transit options. Rather than scrap it, they urged Jacksonville to modernize the system and connect it to fixed transit serving Riverside, Brooklyn and San Marco — a vision rooted in walkable, transit-oriented urban living.

Might be behind a paywall sorry.
https://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/news/2026/02/27/jta-ponders-skyway-future-facing-up-to-100m-risk.html?ana=e_JA_me&j=44395773&senddate=2026-02-27&empos=p4

[jcjohnpaint]

What I don't understand is we voted on this prior to the NAVI, and if I remember correctly we voted to keep the system and extend into Brooklyn. We got NAVI, so JTA did not listen. We are they doing this again, and why would they listen to anyone this time?

[jaxlongtimer]

And the hits keep on coming...

JTA reports nearly $9M deficit in late December; auditors flag revenue and expenditure concerns

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Transportation Authority reported a nearly $9 million deficit in late December, according to a newly released council auditors' report.

Action News Jax reporter Yona Gavino has been following JTA's finances and asked the city auditor how this happened.

"This latest audit follows my last report on this in January, showing JTA was nearly $19 million over budget last year," Yona Gavino said.

Last year's overspending by JTA was driven by costs that included $10 million for its Connexion service and $7 million for its autonomous shuttle program. But revenue concerns don't stop there....

....JTA says it will end the year on budget, but auditors point to a potential problem with the math. The agency is banking on sales and gas tax revenue to come in exactly as planned, but initial projections show those collections might fall short, according to the council auditor's report....

....It's not just revenue—expenditures are climbing, too. Auditors say programs like Connexion Plus, JTA's service for the elderly and disabled, were significantly under-budgeted....

....Add in unexpected health insurance hikes for staff and lower fare revenue from a new pilot program, and the deficit grows.

JTA is now working on a budget amendment to address the gap, but the auditor says it's still unclear how they'll fix it.

In a statement, the city auditor said in part: "While JTA projects that they will be on budget for the ½ cent transportation tax and gas taxes, our first quarter projections indicate they may come in lower than budget. However, this is only a portion of potential budgetary issues and it really is too soon to tell from just one quarter."

https://www.wokv.com/news/local/jta-reports-nearly-9m-deficit-late-december-auditors-flag-revenue-expenditure-concerns/CLWUFLXJYVAFFGB5QJSGZGEYSE/

More bad news for JTA, but, hey, the U2C funding appears to be "solid" through thick and then.  Comparing to the Russian or Iranian economies under sanctions... How long can U2C hang on?  With pay cuts, will rats start abandoning a sinking ship?

Budget shortfall forces 15% pay cuts for top JTA administrators

In a warning sign for government budgets, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority is cutting salaries for its top executives and senior leaders by 15% because sales tax revenue is projected to come in well below expectations.

A budget amendment approved Feb. 27 by the JTA board made a multimillion dollar course correction that also will eliminate some professional services contracts and administrative positions.

"The adjustments made today, while difficult, are necessary to ensure we end this year with a balanced budget while preserving the transportation services that citizens of Northeast Florida rely on each and every day," JEA CEO Nat Ford said...

...JTA started the 2025-26 fiscal year in October with a $162.4 million operating budget, which was a 2.7% increase from last year, according to the agency's presentation last summer to City Council. The budget projected $99.2 million in sales tax money for its operating costs, the same amount of sales tax collection as the prior year.

The budget amendment approved by the board will cut $14.2 million in expenses from the operating budget. The biggest reason for the reduction is JTA projects it will collect about $11 million less in sales taxes for the fiscal year that runs through the end of September....

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2026/02/27/jta-cuts-salaries-after-sales-tax-collections-drop/88896495007/?tbref=hp

[Jdog]

Putting aside other guideway considerations (i.e, height to station platforms, bringing them down to grade,etc), does the specific holon urban, of which JTA starts with an oder of 100, from the git-go dimensionally fit inside the width of the guideway? I always thought that that would essentially be a given consideration....

[jcjohnpaint]

[Charles Hunter]

Interesting video. What caught my eye is that Las Vegas has a monorail transit system that, apparently, is functioning well. Do they know that their monorail cars will disappear at any minute, and must be replaced with ... something.

[MakeDTjaxGre@tAgain]

This is why cities like New York and every major European city flourishes. They have invested in their train system on a super scale. This promotes density and walkable neighborhoods near stations.

I asked chat gpt, what Jacksonville would be like if it had train stations and density of few European cities.

Response
City Model
Density (per sq mi)
Jacksonville Population

London
~14,500
~12.7 million

Paris
~55,000 (very dense core)
~48 million

Barcelona
~41,000
~35.9 million

Munich
~12,000
~10.5 million

Birmingham
~11,000
~9.6 million

Leeds
~4,800
~4.2 million


48 million is just insane. But what could've been with density rather than sprawl.

[marcuscnelson]

Interesting video. What caught my eye is that Las Vegas has a monorail transit system that, apparently, is functioning well. Do they know that their monorail cars will disappear at any minute, and must be replaced with ... something.

The Las Vegas Monorail uses newer and much more "standard" monorail technology built by Bombardier (now Alstom), so whenever their trains need replacement it'd be relatively straightforward to upgrade with newer generations of that same train, which are being built now for new systems in the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and China.

[jcjohnpaint]

It was funny when he was waiting for the self-driving Tesla to show up and the driver was in training, so he waited 12 minutes. Made me laugh. So NAVI. He then praises the Monorail.