Just short of five months after a ceremonial groundbreaking for its Autonomous Innovation Center, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority held a topping-out event Oct. 24 at the Downtown facility.
The event marked the installation of the final structural beam of the $40.5 million Autonomous Innovation Center at 650 W. Bay St. near Broad and Water streets in LaVilla. The facility will be the nerve center of JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C), which is envisioned as a network of autonomous people movers that will operate Downtown and connect to Riverside, Springfield and San Marco.
“As a leader for piloting autonomous vehicle technology, this construction milestone means Jacksonville is one step closer to bringing the next generation of mobility solutions to life,” JTA CEO Nat Ford said in a news release. “The JTA and our partners recognize that integrating autonomous vehicles in our transportation system not only enhances mobility, but also plays a critical role in driving workforce and economic development.”
The two-story, 15,019-square-foot building will provide storage, servicing, monitoring and maintenance for the U2C system.
Construction is led by Balfour Beatty Construction LLC. Others involved include Superior Construction Company Southeast; Beep autonomous vehicle company; WGI Inc.; Urban SDK; Miller Electric; and Grayline.
Balfour and Beep joined JTA on May 29 for the groundbreaking ceremony.
Plans for the building show a ground floor with covered AV parking, a flex bay and lift pay. The top floor contains the control and data rooms, offices, a conference room and an exterior terrace.
A rooftop solar microgrid will supply power to recharge the electric shuttles. The center also will include an education center and electric vehicle charging stations that will be available to the public.
The U2C is scheduled to launch in June 2025 along the Bay Street Innovation Corridor, a 3-mile route on and near Bay Street Downtown. The $66.5 million Bay Street segment will include 12 stops and 14 shuttles, with plans calling for shuttles to run every seven minutes.
The shuttles incorporate radar and lidar – short for light detection and ranging – plays closed-circuit TV cameras and other technology that will interconnect with sensors along the route that provide input on pedestrian and traffic movement, weather and other conditions.
Onboard safety attendants will be stationed on the shuttles during the first nine months the system is in operation.
After the Bay Street corridor is completed, two successive phases of the U2C will involve expanding the system and adapting the Skyway elevated monorail into it, pushing the estimated cost to as much as $400 million for a full build-out.
The JTA and proponents of the U2C say it will provide convenient, inexpensive and environmentally responsible transportation.
Critics of the system say it relies on unproven technology and is too costly, pulling funding away from other solutions that would be more affordable and pragmatic. Among the critics is Jacksonville City Council member Jimmy Peluso, whose District 7 includes the Bay Street corridor.
The estimated cost of the first phase has risen since January 2022, when JTA signed a $49 million contract with a consortium headed by Balfour Beatty LLC for the first phase of the project.
