JTA CEO Nat Ford said the five alternatives are not a reversal from plans that have been discussed for years \u2014 an autonomous system linking the Northbank with San Marco, Brooklyn and Riverside.<\/p>\n
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The JTA\u2019s proposed renovation of the exiting 2.5-mile Skyway would join the new NAVI system along Bay Street in Downtown. | JTA<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no, not at all. This is professional project development,\u201d Ford told Jacksonville Today at the first town hall.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always have a vision of an optimal solution, then you have to deal with the physics of finance, cost, our partners and also public acceptability,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was never going to be a single option going forward. That is not the way you develop any major transportation infrastructure project. By statute, you have to look at multiple options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former commuter Karen Hannah reviewed the five proposals. She said she makes sure her children know how to use the bus and Skyway. She hopes the Skyway does not become a walking trail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do love the autonomous vehicles, making sure everyone receives reliable transportation to get where they are going,\u201d said Hannah, a resident of Northwest Jacksonville. \u201cMake it very accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skyway plus NAVI <\/p>\n
The JTA got more than $23 million<\/a> in federal funds in 1985 to start the Skyway. The first 0.7-mile length opened in 1989, and by 1998, it ran from James Weldon Johnson Park to Florida State College at Jacksonville, and across the Acosta Bridge to San Marco. Its original 10-car fleet is down to two, JTA said.<\/p>\n NAVI is the transit authority\u2019s first step into the bigger Ultimate Urban Circulator<\/a> plan, which would replace the Skyway and link the Northbank to San Marco, Brooklyn and Riverside at an estimated cost of $400 million.<\/p>\n Begun in June,<\/a> it currently uses 14 autonomous electric Ford E-Transit vans<\/a>, taking passengers to multiple stops between LaVilla and EverBank Stadium. Each van uses cameras, lasers and guidance systems to navigate around cars and pedestrians. An attendant will sit on board for the next few months as an observer.<\/p>\n The current NAVI system costs $65 million. Holon Urban EVs will replace the Ford vans sometime in 2027, to be built at the company\u2019s first autonomous vehicle factory<\/a> in Florida, planned for Zoo Parkway on Jacksonville\u2019s Northside.<\/p>\n U2C Phase II<\/p>\n The original U2C proposal included converting the 2.5-mile Skyway system in Downtown and San Marco into an elevated roadway for the current NAVI vans, then Holon vehicles. JTA then decided to offer more for the public to consider.<\/p>\n The main reason is that it has been at least a decade since the first suggestion of repurposing the Skyway with the autonomous vehicles, Ford said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd part of what drove that was the federal payback \u2014 up to $100 million in federal payback if we didn\u2019t leverage the existing Skyway structure,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this case, 10 years have passed by, and we have launched NAVI \u2014 autonomous vehicles are actually operating. So we do believe examining multiple options is in the best interest of the taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n JTA has begun discussions with the Federal Transit Administration about the complications.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to end up in that same situation years downstream because we went for a one-of-a-kind system that is not common for parts, vehicles and things of that nature,\u201d Ford said. \u201cAutonomous vehicles and that technology gives that opportunity to future-proof, and if we can leverage the aerial structure, there\u2019s time-savings and federal investment that still has to be determined whether we would trigger that payback.\u201d<\/p>\n The Skyway options<\/p>\n The most radical proposal would convert the Skyway tracks into something like New York City\u2019s Highline<\/a>, which renovated unused elevated subway tracks into linear parks. The multiuse trails would connect to the city\u2019s Emerald Trail network<\/a>. The cost to renovate and maintain the trails is an issue, JTA said.<\/p>\n Another proposal would rehabilitate the existing Skyway trains still in service. The existing monorail-style track would be upgraded. The proposal has the least possible impacts, but JTA officials said it may be difficult to rehab the existing trains.<\/p>\n Buying new Skyway trains would bring newer, more reliable transportation and more frequent service. But any new systems would require removal of the Skyway\u2019s current center guide beam and \u201csignificant infrastructure upgrades,\u201d the JTA proposal states.<\/p>\n The original proposal would rebuild the existing overhead rails to handle current and future autonomous vehicles, with expansion to three Skyway stations in San Marco and the bus hub at the Regional Transportation Center at LaVilla.<\/p>\n That would include three new ramp connections so they could travel to and from the current and expanded street routes. This would require major structural modifications, but it expands \u201ccommuter connectivity,\u201d the JTA said.<\/p>\n A final alternative would involve the JTA tearing down all overhead Skyway tracks, with new street-level stations built. NAVI would operate on all existing Downtown streets, with flexibility for future growth.<\/p>\n JTA will use public feedback from the town halls over the next few weeks to come up with final proposals, then submit them for more public review in May.<\/p>\n The JTA board would review a final Skyway rehabilitation proposal and vote in June, then it would go into a planning and design study.<\/p>\n No cost estimates or construction dates are available yet, but an extension of the local option gas tax was originally slated to partly fund the Phase II cost, JTA officials say.<\/p>\n The next town hall meetings are:<\/p>\n 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. March 24 at FSCJ\u2019s Downtown\u2019s Advanced Technology Center at 401 W. State St.\u00a0<\/p>\n 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. March 26 at the DoubleTree Jacksonville Riverfront, 1201 Riverplace Blvd.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1000071104.webp.webp\")
People looked at five proposals for a new or revamped Skyway system at a town meeting Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026. | Dan Scanlan, Jacksonville Today<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1000071075.webp.webp\")
One of the JTA\u2019s five Skyway proposals would see the existing overhead tracks converted into landscaped multi-use trails that would connect with the Emerald Trail. | JTA artist conception <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1000071080.webp.webp\")
An illustration shows a possible new Skyway train system. | Jacksonville Transportation Authority<\/p>\n