The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is the independent agency responsible for public transit in the city of Jacksonville, Florida, and roadway infrastructure that connects northeast Florida.[3] However, they do not maintain any roadways. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 6,687,200, or about 24,600 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024.
History
In 1955, the Florida Legislature established the Jacksonville Expressway Authority. Its responsibility was limited to highways, bridges and tolls in Duval County until 1971, when the Jacksonville Transportation Authority was formed by a merger of the Jacksonville Expressway Authority with several private bus companies.
Governance
The JTA is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors. The mayor of Jacksonville appoints three members who must be confirmed by the Jacksonville City Council; the Florida Governor appoints three members who must be confirmed by the Florida Senate. Each member serves a four-year, unpaid term and can be re-appointed for a second term. If a member serves eight consecutive years, they must rotate off the board. From its membership, the Board elects its own Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer for one year terms. The seventh member is the District Two Secretary from the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) who serves as long as s/he is employed in the position. That individual is responsible for the FDOT activities within the 18 counties of the district, including administrative, planning and operations.[4]
As of September 2022, members included Ari Jolly, chair; Debbie Buckland, vice chair; G. Ray Driver, secretary; Abel Harding, treasurer; Greg Evans, FDOT District Two Secretary; Kevin Holzendorf, board member; and Aundra Wallace, board member.[5]
Revenue
Originally, when a bridge or roadway was completed, a toll was imposed at that location to create a revenue stream to repay bonds used to fund construction. State and federal tax money was used for specific capital projects, such as interstate highways.
Gas surcharge
The Jacksonville City Council approved a 10-year, 6¢ per gallon gasoline surcharge in 1986 to pay for new roadways and other transportation projects. Prior to its expiration in 1996, the council extended the tax for 20 additional years, until 2016.[6] In 2021, the City Council approved a further extension and increase to 12¢ per gallon in order to pay for infrastructure projects including the Emerald Trail system and the Ultimate Urban Circulator project to convert the Skyway monorail into an autonomous vehicle network.[7]
JTA was the major beneficiary of the $2.25 billion Better Jacksonville Plan (BJP), passed by voters in September, 2000. Roadway/drainage improvements, resurfacing, new sidewalks and railroad grade crossings accounted for $1.5 billion, of which half was funded by the BJP ½¢ sales tax increase and half from the existing gasoline surcharge.[8] In 2005, the JTA and city re-prioritized the projects still outstanding. The actual cost for most projects had significantly exceeded the estimate due to an 18-month lag time and an unanticipated increase in the price of construction materials. Dozens of projects were deferred to the future and removed from the BJP or left on a $320 million list of unfunded tasks.[9]
Budget
The gasoline surcharge generates approximately $30 million in revenue each year, about one third of JTA's budget of $100 million in 2010. Prior to the 1986 gasoline surcharge, tolls were the primary source of local revenue for the JTA. Federal and state highway money provided the balance. In early June, 2010, JTA announced their intentions to request an extension of the 6¢ per gallon gasoline surcharge, due to expire in 2016. They will also ask the council for an additional 5¢ per gallon tax over 30 years that would generate another $25 million per year, for a total of $55 million each year. Most council members questioned the need to extend the existing tax and were opposed to any new tax during difficult economic times, but JTA executives warned that if the gas taxes are curtailed, no road construction will occur and bus service will be slashed.
Responsibilities
The mission of the JTA is to improve Northeast Florida’s economy, environment and quality of life by providing safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable multimodal transportation services and facilities.[10]
Roadway infrastructure
The JTA develops and implements construction and financing plans for state and city roads, bridges and interchanges in conjunction with the city government and the Florida Department of Transportation. This was the original role of the Expressway Authority.
Public transit
Regular bus service: JTA's fleet has 218 vehicles, as of 2024, that travel 8.5 million miles per year on 37 routes; 110 maintenance workers and 320 drivers are employed.
Express bus service: five once-daily early morning routes are offered which originate from an outlying area and go directly to their destination with no intermediate stops, then return in late afternoon.
Trolley-replica buses: local transportation available weekdays from mid-morning to early afternoon; Bay Street and Beaver Street (downtown) routes are free; Riverside and the Beach trolley have a minimal charge but also run on weekends.[12]
JTA Connexion: paratransit for the disabled and elderly, provided by private vendors with specially equipped vehicles and drivers.
St. Johns River Ferry: vehicle and pedestrian ferry that operates between Mayport Village and Ft. George Island. [13]
Stadium shuttle: game day bus transportation from suburban, downtown and Park-n-Ride locations to the stadium and back.
Jacksonville Skyway: Automated people mover system which travels 2.5 miles from the King Street parking garage across the St. Johns River and through the central business district, ending at LaVilla or the Florida State College at Jacksonville downtown campus.
Park-n-Ride: Parking facility available in combination with express bus service or JTA Skyway.[14]
Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C): JTA is undertaking a project to modernize and replace the Jacksonville Skyway by converting and expanding the automated people mover into an autonomous vehicle (AV) network.[18][19]
Hurricanes
The JTA has the responsibility to identify, plan and prepare Jacksonville's hurricane evacuation routes. The JTA and the city of Jacksonville established a Hurricane Preparedness Plan that will provide emergency evacuation/patient transport and move civilians and/or emergency service personnel with mass transit.[20]
Routes
On December 1, 2014, JTA underwent a complete system redesign called Route Optimization. This was to provide more frequent, more direct, and more reliable service. The current routes as of 2022 follows.[21][22]
Local bus routes
1 North Main
3 Moncrief
4 Kings
8 Beach / Town Center
10 Atlantic
11 A. Philip Randolph
12 Myrtle / Lem Turner
13 Commonwealth / Lane
14 Edison / Normandy
16 Riverside / Wilson
17 St. Augustine
18 Atlantic / Monument
19 Arlington
21 Boulevard/ Gateway
22 Avenue B
23 Townsend / Southside
24 Mayport
25 San Jose
27 Philips / Avenues
28 Southside / Sunbeam
30 Cecil / Blanding (renamed from 30 Cecil on December 5, 2016; sections replaced by ReadiRide Southwest on December 3, 2018)
31 FSCJ Kent Campus/Argyle Village
32 McDuff
50 University
51 Edgewood
53 Commonwealth / Cassat
80 NAS Shuttle
81 Dinsmore Shuttle
82 Amazon Shuttle
102 First Coast Flyer Green
105 First Coast Flyer Orange
107 First Coast Flyer Blue
109 First Coast Flyer Red
Express routes
Clay Express Select
Nassau Express Select
St Johns Express Select
202 Mayport Express
Ferry routes
500 St Johns River Ferry
Former routes
2 Lem Turner (converted to First Coast Flyer and renamed route 102 First Coast Flyer Green on December 7, 2015; local stops served by extended route 12 and new route 21)[23]
7 Philips (converted to First Coast Flyer and renamed route 107 First Coast Flyer Blue on December 5, 2016; local stops served by new route 27)[24]
9 Arlington / Beach (converted to First Coast Flyer and renamed route 109 First Coast Flyer Red on December 3, 2018; local stops served by routes 8, 10, and new Coastal Cab Southside service, which was replaced by ReadiRide Southside on July 1, 2019)[25]
15 Post/Normandy
26 Collins (service west of Rampart Road replaced by ReadiRide Oakleaf on December 2, 2019)[26]
31 Talleyrand (Replaced by ReadiRide Talleyrand on December 2, 2019)[26]
33 Spring Park / Philips
34 Blanding / Edgewood (mostly merged into route 30 on December 5, 2016; rest discontinued)
35 Sunbeam / Baymeadows (combined with part of route 23 to form new route 28 Southside / Sunbeam on December 3, 2018)
70 Beaches Trolley (Discontinued in September 2016; only ran from May-September each year; replaced by Beachside Buggies service)[27]
71 Riverside/Avondale Night Trolley (only runs the first full weekend of the month, on Friday and Saturday from 6pm until 2am)[28]
83 Soutel / Pritchard (Replaced by ReadiRide Pritchard on December 2, 2019)[26]
84 Philips / Gran Bay
85 Highlands / Busch Drive
86 Northside
200 Mandarin Express
201 Clay Regional Express
203 NAS Shuttle (renumbered route 80 on December 5, 2016)
204 Dinsmore Shuttle (renumbered route 81 on December 5, 2016)
205 Beaches Express
300 Dunn / Pritchard Community Shuttle (replaced by new route 83 Soutel / Pritchard on December 3, 2018; rest covered by route 81)
301 Oakleaf Community Shuttle (replaced by new route 26 Collins on December 3, 2018)
302 Southeast Community Shuttle (replaced by new route 84 Philips / Gran Bay and new ReadiRide Southeast on December 3, 2018)
303 Beaches Community Shuttle (replaced by ReadiRide Beaches on December 3, 2018)
304 Mandarin Community Shuttle (discontinued on December 3, 2016 due to low ridership; restored on May 8, 2017 as Coastal Cab service; this service was replaced by ReadiRide Mandarin on July 1, 2019)[29]
305 Highlands Community Shuttle (replaced by new route 85 Highlands / Busch Drive and new ReadiRide Highlands on December 3, 2018)
306 Heckscher Community Shuttle (merged into route 305 in August 2015)
307 Northside Community Shuttle (replaced by new route 86 Northside and new ReadiRide Northside on December 3, 2018)
308 Arlington Community Shuttle (replaced by Coastal Cab service on December 3, 2018; this service was replaced by ReadiRide Arlington July 1, 2019)
Fleet
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority bus fleet is composed mostly of 35 or 40-foot Gillig BRT Plus buses, used on local routes, while some Gillig BRTs and Low Floors are used as contingency spares.[30] Most of the standard Gilligs are painted in the same livery, with CNG units distinguishable by CNG stickers on the sides.
First Coast Commuter Rail is a proposed commuter rail system serving Jacksonville, FL and northeast Florida. It is currently in the planning stages, having completed the first step of a feasibility study and currently pursuing an alternatives analysis.
A feasibility study was completed in November 2009 for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA). James Boyle, JTA's regional transportation planner, has since said that there are no fatal flaws in the study.[32]
JTA hired a consultant to conduct a feasibility study in early 2008 at the cost of $400,000. It was completed in November 2009.[34] The study looked into 7 routes, most along existing freight rail right of ways. Three of these, north to Yulee, FL, southwest to Green Cove Springs, FL and the southeast to St. Augustine, FL were selected for in depth study.[33] In the Summer of 2010, JTA allocated $1 Million for an Alternative Analysis study on the proposed system. This is a required step to participate in the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts program.[35]
In May 2013, St. Augustine City Commission voted in a resolution supporting the proposal of a commuter train service on the southeast corridor. JTA says that the federal government could fund half of the southeast corridor project, estimated to cost about $193.3 million. The proposal still needs approval from St. Johns County, The North Florida Transportation Planning Organization board, and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority board.[36]
As of 2023, First Coast Commuter Rail is still in the planning stages and no funding has been identified for its implementation.[37]
All routes in the in-depth study start in downtown Jacksonville and head out in one of three directions: North (to Yulee), South (to Green Cove Springs), and Southeast (to St. Augustine).
The North Corridor originates in Downtown Jacksonville, and heads North along the abandoned S-Line to the CSX Kingsland division line to Yulee, FL. The Kingsland division line is a remnant of the Seaboard Air Line's mainline. The route passes two miles (3 km) from Jacksonville International Airport.
The Southeast Corridor originates in Downtown Jacksonville, and heads Southeast along the Florida East Coast Railway's main line to St. Augustine, closely following U.S. 1, known as Philips Highway in Jacksonville and Ponce de Leon Boulevard in St. Augustine . The proposed 38.4-mile (61.8 km) route would share the railbed with the northernmost part of a 368-mile (592 km) freight rail line to Miami. The heavily trafficked corridor already serves 17 regularly scheduled interregional freight trains per day, a figure which does not include Amtrak service, unscheduled freight trains, and other services. The 2009 feasibility study estimated that this route could carry an estimated 5,469 passengers in 2020 on trains between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. Travel time is estimated at 51 minutes end to end, comparable to travel time by car.[38] Notable proposed stops along the route include the J. Turner Butler Freeway, The Avenues, Race Track Road/Nocatee, the massive mixed-use residential/commercial development at Palencia, West St. Augustine, the Northeast Florida Regional Airport (not to be confused with the much larger and busier Jacksonville International Airport almost 50 miles to the north), the St. Johns County Government Complex, and its terminus in Downtown St. Augustine.[36][38]
By 2023, planning for the Southeast Corridor had progressed to the planning phase with a potential of four stations along the route: the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla, Avenues Walk, Racetrack Road, and St. Augustine.[39]
