JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Transportation Authority held its second meeting discussing plans for the second phase of the Skyway expansion project.
Today, community members gathered at JTA headquarters downtown to offer their input on the future of Jacksonville’s Skyway.
The meeting marks the beginning of phase 2 of the ultimate urban circulator program, which is essentially introducing autonomous vehicles to Jacksonville public transit customers.
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During the meeting, members of the public saw no build and build options for the Skyway as part of its project development and environmental study.
The five build options include fixing the current Skyway vehicle, getting new vehicles, converting the current Skyway track and system to autonomous vehicles, removing the Skyway altogether and just using autonomous vehicles on local streets, or using the Skyway as an extension of the long-awaited Emerald Trail.
“I think it’s really important that we have a transportation system in downtown Jacksonville that can move people around. As you know, we’re developing a lot in Downtown Jacksonville,” Alex Sifakis, President of JWB Real Estate Development Company, said.
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The money dedicated to autonomous vehicles – also known as U2C - has been the subject of an Action News Jax investigation.
We asked JTA how much the entire project would cost and where the money is coming from to fund it.
“It’ll be a combination of sources. The cost estimates are too early to tell at this point. We’re at the phase of the project where we’re presenting options to the community,” Taniel Koushakjian, Director of Communications, said.
Given the low ridership numbers of the current shuttles, also called NAVI, I also asked whether it’s worth JTA potentially investing in a completely autonomous skyway.
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“It’s up to the people to decide what they want to do with the system,” Koushakjian said.
Alex Sifakis is the President of JWB Real Estate Development Company. He agrees the Skyway needs to be upgraded, but he thinks it’s too soon to fully replace it with autonomous vehicles.
“For us converting the Skyway to the automated NAVIs is going to take a long time and costs a lot of money and we don’t think downtown development can wait,” Sifakis said.
JTA says phase two of the PD&E study is expected to be complete by August 2026.
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