{"id":215965,"date":"2026-04-02T12:21:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/215965\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:21:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:21:07","slug":"jta-connexion-plus-fares-rise-affecting-thousands-of-riders-with-disabilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/215965\/","title":{"rendered":"JTA Connexion Plus fares rise, affecting thousands of riders with disabilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Thousands of riders who rely on JTA\u2019s Connexion Plus service woke up Thursday to higher fares, as the Jacksonville Transportation Authority implements its first price increase for the service since 2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The private, on-demand service, which serves people with disabilities for work, school, and medical trips, now costs $10 for the first 12 miles and $2.50 for each mile beyond that. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Previously, riders paid $6 for the first 15 miles and $2 per additional mile. Most trips fall under 12 miles, meaning most riders will pay the $10 base fare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The service also no longer has a monthly trip limit, a change welcomed by advocacy groups after earlier proposals had suggested restricting rides to 40 per month.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">JTA says the fare adjustments are necessary to stabilize operating costs and help close a budget shortfall caused by lower-than-expected sales-tax revenue. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The agency plans to run the new pricing as a six-month pilot program, after which a task force will review whether the structure will become permanent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Of the more than 7,900 Connexion customers, 52% use only Connexion, 32% use only Connexion Plus, and 16% use both services. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">In 2025, Connexion logged more than 284,000 trips, while Connexion Plus riders took just under 203,000 trips, underscoring the scale of people who rely on these services daily.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Since its launch in 1971, Connexion Plus has increased fares five times. The service remains a lifeline for many of Northeast Florida\u2019s residents who require private, accessible transportation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Riders with questions or needing to schedule a ride can call JTA at 904-404-0848, with trips available from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Thousands of riders who rely on JTA\u2019s Connexion Plus service woke up Thursday to higher&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":215966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[62827,116,118,117,799,5436,729],"class_list":{"0":"post-215965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-connexion-plus","9":"tag-jacksonville","10":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","11":"tag-jacksonville-news","12":"tag-jta","13":"tag-morning-show","14":"tag-traffic"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=215965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/215965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/215966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=215965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=215965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=215965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}