The German company plans to build a factory to produce autonomous shuttles capable of ramping up to the Skyway; the Skyway will suspend operation on November 2.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville city council member is calling into question the future of autonomous vehicles in Jacksonville.

Council Member Jimmy Peluso asked about the plan to order autonomous vehicles from HOLON at a meeting with Jacksonville Transportation Authority Thursday in light of the agency announcing the Skyway and NAVI will suspend operation in the next few months.



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Last November, city leaders filled James Weldon Johnson Park to give folks a look at HOLON – an autonomous shuttled plan to replace the NAVI with the ability to ramp up to the Skyway.

With both the NAVI and Skyway taking a hiatus as part of JTA budget constraints, it had Jacksonville City Council Member Jimmy Peluso wondering if it’s too late to ask for a refund at a meeting Thursday.

“The Holon contract, has that been, are those dollars already spent with HOLON, or can we pull those dollars back,” said Peluso.

First Coast News took Peluso’s question to a JTA spokesperson, who said JTA had a reservation for 14 HOLON vehicles to be delivered two years after the company broke ground on its plant on the Northside.

That spokesperson said JTA is working to reallocate the $2 million for now to pay for part of the current operations cost of the NAVI program.

The spokesperson added the pause of the Skyway and NAVI has not impacted plans for the HOLON shuttles as part of the Ultimate Urban Connector, saying “This was always part of the next phase of the U2C and we are still finishing the PD&E study for that phase.”

“Maybe the HOLON vehicles can go to Nevada, Texas, other places, but I don’t see it being on the streets of Jacksonville any time soon, at least,” said Peluso. “I don’t want us to put more money into that, when I’d rather have the buses we do have operating well.”

While he doesn’t want to see them on Jacksonville streets, Peluso isn’t opposed to still seeing the Holon vehicles built here.

“If they open up that factory and they’re able to do some high-tech devices and vehicles, sounds great,” said Peluso. “You know, I hear there’s a new guy in the Dallas transit authority. Maybe he wants to pay for our Holon vehicles.”

A city spokesperson told First Coast News HOLON received a one year extension on its development agreement for a factory construction at Eastport Exchange Industrial Park.

Now, the city of Jacksonville is requiring Holon to invest $80 million in this factory site by the end of next year and create 100 jobs by the end of 2028.