JTA meetings on the future of the Skyway

[jcjohnpaint]

Looks like public comment in Times Union is much more intelligent and informed than in the past. A lot of comments on extending to Brooklyn. More desire for fixed rail, etc.

[Ken_FSU]

Looks like public comment in Times Union is much more intelligent and informed than in the past. A lot of comments on extending to Brooklyn. More desire for fixed rail, etc.

As opposed to News4Jax, where the comment section undoubtedly blames the Skyway's mechanical end-of-life on transgender bathrooms and the general existence of blacks and Latinos.

[Nmhatt]

I asked someone about this at the feedback meetings when I was there, but how much weight do the community responses actually have? Could JTA just ignore the results and do what they always planned to (converting the track for NAVI), or are they bound in some way by the outcome of the feedback? Something tells me that even if the results are between larger vehicles and a walking track that neither of those will actually end up happening.

I think my last post on this thread got lost in the shuffle a bit. So, I want to give another opportunity for this question to be answered. Does anyone have insight on this?

[Charles Hunter]

There is, so far as I know, no LEGAL requirement that JTA implement the option supported by the majority of the public attending their meetings. They may face political fall-out if that happens. But, given the history of Council and the Mayor taking a hands-off approach to JTA's decisions, I doubt anything will happen.

[jaxlongtimer]

If JTA cared about the public interests, we would have more robust and reliable bus service, more urban core MASS transit, laying the groundwork for future fixed rail of some sort and less chasing rainbow projects like U2C that pull massive amounts of funding, energy and political capital away from the better projects for the sole purpose of massaging JTA egos and careers.

With a an unquestioning and subservient-to-CEO rubber stamp board not exercising its oversight responsibilities, don't count on JTA changing direction.

[jaxlongtimer]

JTA isn't attracting riders, even with high gas prices and lower or no fares... maybe because it isn't providing service levels (e.g. frequency, time of day, routing, connectivity, reliability, # of routes, etc.) needed to attract more customers?  $400 million would go a long way to improving bus transit for tens of thousands.  Meanwhile, NAVI running at 49 riders a day... how many are JTA or City officials? Cost per passenger mile?

Money losing and wasting JTA is more and more appearing to be an agency on the ropes... Is change blowing in the wind?

Year-over-year ridership down through two months of JTA fare pilot
Despite cutting fares as much as 55%, JTA reported decreases of 27,042 and 15,272 in February and March, respectively.

Despite cutting fares to try to drive up ridership, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority has seen lower year-over-year demand for its services two months into a fare-reduction pilot program.

Ridership on fixed routes with reduced fares in the pilot fell in February and March 2026 by about 18.3% (27,042) and 10% (15,272), respectively, compared with the same periods in 2025, according to ridership data provided to the Daily Record.

Rate cuts from the JTA on non-NAVI vehicles began Feb. 1, 2026. The reduced rates are scheduled to run through July 30. JTA cut rates as little as 6% to as much as 55%.

NAVI is JTA's Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation service, which operates on a 3.5-mile route in Downtown, mostly along Bay Street.

NAVI fares were eliminated Dec. 15, cut from the $1.75 fare JTA had charged since Oct. 1, 2025. NAVI vans began service, initially without fares, in July 2025.

NAVI ridership has fluctuated since fares were eliminated. JTA reported 447 riders on NAVI in December, followed by 1,065, 1,385 and 1,075 riders in January, February and March, respectively.

In March, NAVI use averaged about 49 riders daily. JTA has pledged that by 2035, NAVI would average 280 riders daily.

Including showing a year-over-year drop, February and March 2026 non-NAVI ridership fell compared to almost all of 2025 data. February's total ridership of 120,861 was lower than each of the 13 months before the fare-reduction pilot, while March's total of 138,720 was lower than all months other than November and December 2025, and January 2026.

In explaining the pilot, JTA said it expected ridership to increase as a result of lower fares...

...Ridership figures provided to the Daily Record did not show how much revenue JTA has lost from decreasing ridership.JTA did not respond to questions about how much revenue decreased from the pilot program and an explanation for decreased ridership....

...Passenger fares trended under expectations by $1.03 million, sales tax revenue underperformed by $10.85 million, and interest earnings underperformed by $2.31 million, Ford said...

...JTA's fare-reduction pilot came after JTA recorded an $18.99 million budget shortfall in its fiscal year 2025 budget, a Jacksonville City Council auditor's report showed in January...

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/news/2026/apr/13/year-over-year-ridership-down-through-two-months-of-jta-fare-pilot/