JTA Plans Major 2027 Cuts

[Charles Hunter]

JTA to hold community meetings and a public hearing on the fare increases / service cuts:
https://jtafla.com/about-us/public-hearings-and-notices/

Upcoming Community Meetings:
• Tuesday, July 14 - 4 PM - Gulliford Community Center, Mayport
• Thursday, July 16 - 5 PM -  Webb Wesconnett Library 103rd Street
• Tuesday, July 21 - 5 PM - JRTC Bay Street
• Wednesday, July 22 - 4 PM - Highlands Library Dunn Ave
• Thursday, July 23 - 5 PM - Pablo Creek Library Beach Blvd.
Public Hearing:
• Tuesday, July 28 - 5 PM - JRTC

Then the Board meeting is Wednesday, July 29, at 3 PM, in the JRTC

[marcuscnelson]

Nat Ford's next stop appears to be Dallas, Texas.

Local news there announced that he is one of three finalists to be the next CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

https://www.fox4news.com/news/dart-names-finalists-vacant-ceo-position

[jcjohnpaint]

Sounds like a perfect placeforhim

[Todd_Parker]

Nat Ford's next stop appears to be Dallas, Texas.

Local news there announced that he is one of three finalists to be the next CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

https://www.fox4news.com/news/dart-names-finalists-vacant-ceo-position

ESPN has announced the following trade:

Dallas receives: Nat Ford, NAVI, and the "potential" HOLON manufacturing facility

Jacksonville receives: DART Light Rail line

[jaxlongtimer]

Nat Ford's next stop appears to be Dallas, Texas.

Local news there announced that he is one of three finalists to be the next CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

https://www.fox4news.com/news/dart-names-finalists-vacant-ceo-position

I went to Dallas DART's website where they offer the below description:

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) provides modern public transit services designed for fast, comfortable, and economical travel. The agency operates light rail, Trinity Railway Express, regional rail, bus routes, GoLink on-demand service, and paratransit, moving more than 171,000 passengers daily across a 700-square-mile, 12-city region including Addison, Carrollton, Cockrell Hill, Dallas, Farmers Branch, Garland, Glenn Heights, Irving, Richardson, Rowlett, Plano, and University Park.

https://www.dart.org/about/about-dart/about-dart

Not one mention of AV's (Waymo is operating in Dallas so maybe that common sense approach prevailed unlike Jax) and lots of mentions of rail services.  Seems Ford would not be a good match given his track record in Jacksonville.  It looks like the last CEO resigned due to "political interference."  Maybe navigating that makes Ford more attractive given his ability to sell U2C snake oil to Jax officials.

I note that one of the 3 finalists was a past EVP of Dallas DART and the other is CEO of a regional transportation authority in Ohio.  Will be interesting to see who wins the job.

[marcuscnelson]

Interesting to compare DART's description to JTA under Ford:

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is an independent state agency serving Jacksonville, Florida, and Northeast Florida with multi-modal responsibilities. The JTA provides varied mass public transit services and builds roads, bridges, and other infrastructure to enhance mobility in Jacksonville. Public transportation services include BRT and regular bus service, Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation (NAVI), paratransit, the St. Johns River Ferry, Skyway APM, and other mobility and on-demand services in Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns counties.

We are at the forefront of shaping the future of mobility in Northeast Florida. The team is committed to driving innovation through our comprehensive transit solutions. Our strategic goals focus on improved mobility, and efficiency.

One still sees themselves as primarily a public transit agency, the other is obsessed with "mobility" and "innovation". Yet who is more integral to their region? Who is actually getting more people anywhere?

[marcuscnelson]

Just finished listening to DART's board meeting. It appears there was some controversy involved in their CEO search, with one candidate apparently potentially withdrawing before ultimately committing to the process, on the same day they announced their resignation from another transit agency. Some board members expressed concern about this candidate's previous departures from other agencies being of controversy.

Nonetheless, it appears that by a vote of 9-6, Nat Ford has emerged as the finalist to serve as the next President & CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. An additional 11-4 vote launched the beginning of negotiations for an employment agreement with Ford.

[Jankelope]

I am sure Nat has a lot of redeeming  characteristics and expertise, but I just really can't forgive how much wasted time and money has gone into U2C. Nat got here in 2012. Over the last 14 years, think of how much more expensive things like First Coast Commuter Rail, Bringing Amtrak back downtown, Light Rail, a true fix for the Skyway vehicles/systems have become.

If we are ever to have something resembling a "transit oriented" pocket of any part of our city, we will be looking at insane prices compared to what we could have spent pre-pandemic. It hurts a lot when I think of First Coast Commuter Rail, which I think is a great project.

[marcuscnelson]

Interesting article that was just shared with me looking at Ford's possible next stop, including an overview of his career in Jacksonville and elsewhere:

https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2026/07/dart-ceo-search-nathaniel-ford/

[jaxlongtimer]

Interesting article that was just shared with me looking at Ford's possible next stop, including an overview of his career in Jacksonville and elsewhere:

https://www.dmagazine.com/frontburner/2026/07/dart-ceo-search-nathaniel-ford/

I read this article and I took from it pretty much the attitude of most Jaxson posters.  How does Ford keep his personal ship afloat?  The DART 2 day rush to hire, his pull out before being back in, resigning JTA before having the job, the swirling concerns over expenses, absences from his office, JTA's finances, U2C... I don't get how DART's board approves him but then JEA's board hired totally inappropriate Aaron Zahn.  Politics are lurking somewhere in Dallas, just like Jax.  This is what gives government a black eye.

[Charles Hunter]

From the article

On Saturday, all three candidates appeared at a public forum.

I hope Ford didn't expense his trip to Dallas to the JTA.


To echo jaxlongtimer, the article's conclusion could have been written by someone from the Jaxson.

To cities and state leaders who think of DART, and even fixed-route transit generally, as a relic of the 1980s, Ford is selling what they are buying: things like innovative vaporware solutions pitched as an easy way out of the very uneasy situation transit faces in the Dallas area. Political tradeoffs aren't anything new to DART, but the current situation demands a CEO who can manage political relationships without giving in to them and who serves riders instead of turning them into pawns to be sacrificed for headline-getting pet projects. We ought to have learned our lesson about what happens when you build transit for politicians over riders by now.

In the week since Tuesday's meeting, Ford's many scandals have started bubbling up into the Dallas press. The board will have been given a whole week since Tuesday to learn about their "Candidate A" when they meet again on July 21. It's possible he is up to the task; he will fit into the role smoothly and serve the agency well. However, DART's future requires walking carefully down a narrow path, and Ford's record is nothing but shaky.

Will be interesting to see if a week's marination has changed any minds on the DART board. Will they make a bullseye, or ... the something from the other end of the bull?

[jaxlongtimer]

Can cats have more than 9 lives?  Nat Ford seems to.  Thanks Mayor Deegan for helping him move on... maybe he will leave before January now.

Dallas transit agency hires JTA CEO Nat Ford as its leader

The Dallas Area Rapid Transit board hired Nat Ford as its new CEO on a 9-4 vote, three weeks after the Jacksonville Transportation Authority announced Ford was resigning as head of JTA.

The DART board approved an employment agreement for Ford during a special meeting on July 21. Board members supporting him said they were convinced after hearing from Ford about "red flags" raised about his 13-year record in Jacksonville.

"We've had a chance to go through every one of them," board member Enrique MacGregor said during the board meeting.

He said because "some of this information is sensitive," he couldn't go into detail but they involved concerns about inappropriate spending, time in the office, transit service levels, ridership dropping and a "potential conflict of interest."...

...DART board Chair Randall Bryant said he contacted the current JTA board chair and two former JTA board chairs, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and a former mayor who he did not identify to get their assessments of Ford's 13-year tenure at JTA.

"And in all of those conversations, there was one constant message from these individuals — Nathaniel Ford made our region and our transit system better," Bryant said.

He said when he talked to Deegan, she said of Ford, "I hope Dallas is fortunate enough to get him."...

...During public comment at the start of the meeting, six residents urged the board to not hire Ford. Several said they do not want Ford to bring autonomous transit vehicles to Dallas as he has in Jacksonville, where the autonomous transit shuttles have suffered from meager ridership and high costs since they went into service a year ago.

One resident said DART should focus on improving bus and rail service and avoid "wasteful and expensive vanity projects" such as autonomous shuttles. Another resident said riders aren't interested in DART getting "pet projects" because they want "bread-and-butter bus and rail service."

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2026/07/21/jta-ceo-nat-ford-moving-on-to-lead-dallas-area-rapid-transit/90999224007/

[marcuscnelson]

DART's press release announcing Ford's hiring says he will start in Dallas on October 26.

https://www.dart.org/about/news-and-events/newsreleases/newsrelease-detail/nathaniel-p.-ford--sr.-named-dart-president---ceo

It is unclear where this will leave Jacksonville and JTA, or how Ford plans to simultaneously lead two transit agencies in cities 900 miles apart from then until January.

JTA's upcoming board meeting to potentially discuss these matters will be next Thursday, July 29th.

[Steve]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/jul/21/its-official-jta-ceo-nat-ford-is-headed-to-texas/

Great Quote: "DART's board chair said he spoke to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, along with JTA board members. Chair Randall Bryant said Deegan told him that 'I hope Dallas is fortunate enough to get him.'"

Any else see the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode called, "Foisted"? If not, watch it.

[CityLife]

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/jul/21/its-official-jta-ceo-nat-ford-is-headed-to-texas/

Great Quote: "DART's board chair said he spoke to Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan, along with JTA board members. Chair Randall Bryant said Deegan told him that 'I hope Dallas is fortunate enough to get him.'"

Any else see the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode called, "Foisted"? If not, watch it.

HAHAHA. I was drafting the post below and then saw your post before I posted it. Please anyone, feel free to keep riffing on the joke. So many options.

The DART Board Chair seeing the calendar invite for his 12th dinner in 2 months with Japanese and German Autonomous Companies:



Well done Donna.