As the Jacksonville Transportation Authority prepares to launch its autonomous Ultimate Urban Circulator system, the City Council member whose district includes Downtown is seeking details from the JTA about the project’s cost.
During an April 10 meeting of the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization board, Council member Jimmy Peluso asked for such information as estimates of daily ridership and the cost per trip for the system. He also asked how such data would compare with the JTA’s bus passenger service.
JTA administrator Greer Johnson Gillis told the TPO board that the U2C, as the JTA sometimes refers to the system, is set to be activated in June after a scheduled April 17 opening of its control building, the Autonomous Innovation Center.
In the initial phase of the project, autonomous shuttles will operate with human attendants at the wheel along the 3-mile Bay Street Innovation Corridor. That phase will cost an estimated $66.4 million, with an $8 million annual operating cost.
Peluso, who represents Council District 7 and serves on the TPO, did not immediately get answers to some of his questions about the new system, with Johnson Gillis telling him the JTA would provide them later.
“We’re about to go live on a project that we’ve been talking about for about a decade now, and the fact that we don’t have projected ridership nor do we know the cost per ride is just interesting to say the least,” Peluso said during an interview after the meeting.
“I’m hopeful that we do have good ridership. I’m hopeful we have some excitement for this project. But I’m in awe of having no idea yet what it could look like. Nor do we know what alternatives we could have paid for instead of this.”
Johnson Gillis said phase two of the system involved adapting the Skyway platform to become a roadway for the autonomous vehicles, with ramps to surface streets. Phase three will build-out the system to 10 miles, connecting Springfield, the Southbank, Brooklyn and Riverside.
The estimated cost of the completed system has been estimated at up to $400 million.
At the outset, the system will operate with Ford E-Transit vans retrofitted with autonomous vehicle technology. The vans will carry up to nine passengers, travel in the same lanes as surface traffic and be limited to a top speed of 35 mph.
Eventually, JTA plans to switch to vehicles from German autonomous-vehicle maker Holon, which announced plans to build a $100 million manufacturing facility in Jacksonville.
The system will be controlled at the $40.5 million Autonomous Innovation Center, which is nearing completion at 650 W. Bay St. near Broad and Water streets in LaVilla. The two-story, 15,019-square-foot building will serve as the technological control center and provide storage, servicing and maintenance for the vehicles.
In response to a question from Peluso, Johnson Gillis said a two-month pilot program in 2024 drew about 200 riders. During the pilot, known as the Brooklyn AV Circulator, shuttles operated from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday on a six-block row of restaurants along Riverside Avenue.
“I don’t know if that’s telling for what ridership is going to look like Downtown, but we’ll see,” Peluso said.
Peluso has criticized the U2C and questioned whether cheaper alternatives would have been preferable. He said he had previously asked for ridership numbers and cost-per-ride figures but had yet to receive them.
However, he said he hoped the system would benefit Downtown.
“I think what’s going to be interesting is if on game days, when I would hope that this would be most used, if we’re going to see people using those bike rickshaws or scooters rather than the U2C,” he said.
The Council approved $247 million for the Ultimate Urban Circulator in 2021 funded by the Duval County local option gas tax.