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

[Jax_Developer]

It's pretty much a guarantee that the circuit design (& overall system) have had virtually zero stress testing done.

[jaxlongtimer]

Based purely on watching the drivers each day when I drive down Bay Street, I'm starting to suspect that the U2C is not running nearly as autonomously as presented. Almost every turn and stop appears to be human controlled. Also, broken record, but thing is a death trap down by the stadium exiting the Hart Bridge.

It never was autonomous so I wouldn't apply that term ever to the U2C.  U2C and autonomous should never be used in the same sentence  . Autonomous means absolutely no human intervention or management.  No one has autonomous today except Waymo.  All others remain pretenders.  U2C is so far out of the loop they don't even qualify as a pretender.

[fsu813]

"JTA reported in mid-August that the NAVI service was drawing 100 to 195 riders per day."

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/sep/26/downtown-development-update-part-the-four-seasons-rises-navi-rolls-out/

If one were to observe the actual number of people hopping on/off, I'd wager its much less than the reported number. And free service ends next week.

[thelakelander]

Lol. Does the attendant (driver) count as a rider for each trip?!!! Did they report what Skyway ridership is? Just imagine if the Skyway had less than 200 riders a day (yes that number is bloated lol) when it was rolled?

[Ken_FSU]

"JTA reported in mid-August that the NAVI service was drawing 100 to 195 riders per day."

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2025/sep/26/downtown-development-update-part-the-four-seasons-rises-navi-rolls-out/

If one were to observe the actual number of people hopping on/off, I'd wager its much less than the reported number. And free service ends next week.

Hilarious that even the completely fabricated numbers, bloated beyond any reality, still represent a small transit system to begin with running below 5% capacity. By my math, assuming four clown cars, room for 9 clowns per car, and an average ride of 10 minutes, this thing can realistically offer about 2,600 rides per day. I'd be shocked if it's doing 20. But, even assuming it's doing 150 daily on average, that's a 36-seat system (in total, LOL) running at 95% vacancy. Meaning, at any given moment in time, three of the four clown cars are completely empty, and the other may have a single passenger, or a couple on a good loop. Truly insane.

As is the fact this guy was built to go to the sports complex, but has no plans to operate on game days until at least 2031, apparently:

https://www.wokv.com/news/local/schedule-safety-concerns-with-jtas-new-navi-service-no-rides-game-days/E3ETWDD66VANLDRA7RZ3A2LSNY/

[jcjohnpaint]

I'm working downtown two days a week. Never see anyone in those cars other than the driver.

[marcuscnelson]

Banner day for NAVI.

The Times-Union out with some... decidedly lackluster ridership figures.

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/local/2025/10/06/ridership-off-to-slow-start-on-jta-autonomous-transit-shuttles/86445024007/

Some choice quotes:

The empty seats on the NAVI shuttles were evident when a Times-Union reporter used the NAVI service five times at different times of the day on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The reporter rode the entire 3.5 mile loop that has 12 stops along it.

On four of those loops, not a single passenger boarded the van. On one of the loops, one passenger got on board.

The NAVI service on the Bay Street leg has had different ridership projections. In March 2021, JTA said a Transit Concept and Alternative Review Plan projected daily ridership would be an average of 1,000 to 3,500 per day by 2035 and then 1,200 to 4,000 rides by 2045.

JTA says according to a model approved by the state Department of Transportation and the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, projected ridership wll be 280 per day by 2035.

"These are conservative projections that do not include the full 10-mile route or take into account the planned development coming to Bay Street," the JTA statement said.

And I just saw the following notification:

NAVI Service Will Suspend Operations at 3pm Today
The JTA is suspending NAVI service at 3pm today due to scheduled road closures for the Jaguars Monday Night Football game. Service will resume at 7am tomorrow morning. For more information please visit jtafla.com.

This aligns with previous reports from Action News about JTA not running NAVI service during games:

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/schedule-safety-concerns-with-jtas-new-navi-service-no-rides-game-days/E3ETWDD66VANLDRA7RZ3A2LSNY/

[Charles Hunter]

I'm happy to see the Floridoge folks might take a look at the U2C

Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said Oct. 1 in Jacksonville his scrutiny of spending by the city of Jacksonville might review the NAVI system.

"It doesn't sound like it's a great use of taxpayer funds," he said when fielding questions from reporters at an event with Gov. Ron DeSantis about local government spending. "We would have to delve into that more specifically, but what we're finding is that a lot of the stuff we're seeing is not a great use of taxpayer funds."

A way to keep people without bank (or payment app) accounts from riding? And how does it work if you stay on the van for more than a complete loop? Does the driver make you pay again? What happens when there is no driver (yeah, I know, this is years in the future)? Does JTA take cash on their regular buses?

NAVI gives passenger a way to pay fare the same they typically pay at stores. JTA accepts debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and the MyJTA App for covering the fares. Passengers cannot pay by cash when boarding the vans.

[Steve]

It's so remarkable how on JTA's autonomous shuttles, the only person in the things is......the driver.

[jcjohnpaint]

Maybe Dogey will catch on to this waste

[thelakelander]

Can't take any doge talk seriously without NAVI/U2C being at the top of any type of list about waste.

[jcjohnpaint]

Yeah they got hologate to focus on for now.

[jaxoNOLE]

Yeah they got hologate to focus on for now.

Not sure a state government that spent $60k to update all the Welcome to Florida signs to read "Welcome to the Free State of Florida" has much of a moral high ground on that issue.

That, of course, being in addition to the typical changeover of the governor's name on each of those signs.

Or that time the commissioner of agriculture put her picture on the gas station stickers, and then the legislature made them promptly switch all of those stickers back.

Wait, what were we talking about? 

[jaxlongtimer]

There is also the $600+ million the State spent on Alligator Alcatraz that got shut down after only a few weeks.  Yes, the Fed's reimbursed most of it but it's still the taxpayers' dollars wasted and I am betting the State spent quite a bit more on this and related projects, still ongoing, that haven't been reimbursed.  Go back a little further, how much did the State pay to charter planes to send immigrants to Mass., etc. 

Add, millions spent on legal fees defending clearly unconstitutional/unlawful State actions and policies.

How about FDOT painting over rainbow stripes and general street art?

So many things we could list here that likely add up to more than the entire City budget.

Definition of wasted money by DeSantis and Trump:  Any dollars spent on anything other than their culture wars.

[Joey Mackey]

Can't take any doge talk seriously without NAVI/U2C being at the top of any type of list about waste.

Looks like Diamond wants to take a closer look. https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/can-we-cancel-it-jacksonville-councilman-talks-possibility-nixing-jtas-navi-u2c/VPJE4PDWTFHLNJKI5MSPCETCNM/