J Magazine Winter 2019

Steven Frich of First Transit dusts an autonomous vehicle as Marcus Dixon of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority helps set up a display in Hemming Park.
More progress
The next year, JTA launched the First Coast Flyer, its premium
bus rapid-transit service, speeding people to Downtown connections
from the Beaches, northern neighborhoods and The Avenues
Mall area, with the final route down Blanding Boulevard to Orange
Park Mall coming in 2020. The buses offer free Wi-Fi and news and
weather monitors. The sleek, aerodynamic Flyer vehicles are powered
by cheaper, cleaner compressed natural gas (CNG).
In 2016, JTA took over the Mayport ferry, the service that no one
else wanted because it seemed maintenance-heavy, revenue-light
and politically laden. “Everyone was, like, Nat, you lost your mind.
You’re the new guy who came into town, and they’re going to saddle
you with the ferry,” Ford said. But he found that fares covered
50-60 percent of the cost, “better than any of the bus routes that I
was running, so it’s coming closer to covering its actual cost.
“I also saw that by taking responsibility for the ferry and making
it work and making it a viable part of the infrastructure, it would
also give JTA the opportunity to really begin the journey of looking
at transportation from a holistic standpoint. So if it moves people,
be it a ferry, be it an automobile, be it public transport, and scooters
and bikes at some point, we think we have a role in that. Not
because we need to manage it, but we need to make sure that it’s
all interconnected. And it operates harmoniously.”
The next interconnection Ford wanted was the Jacksonville Regional
Transportation Center, tying together the Skyway, the bus
system, Greyhound intercity service, a pedestrian overpass
and, ultimately and ideally, more.
“From a walkability standpoint,” he said, “you don’t
want folks walking three or four blocks with a suitcase or
whatever. You want them to have close transportation
connections. That’s the only way public transportation works, having
close connections from one mode to the other.”
There already was a Regional Transportation Center plan when
Ford arrived, but it was a $130 million to $150 million plan with a
$60 million budget. He called in the planners and told them, “Give
me a $60 million project. And interestingly enough, I would say the
$60 million project is much more compact and iconic in design.”
You can see the striking building going up on West Forsyth just
north of the Prime Osborn Convention Center. It is set to open in
late March or early April.
All this relatively quick innovation and progress won Ford fans
like Jeanne Miller, JTA board treasurer as well as president and
CEO of the Jacksonville Civic Council, an influential organization
of business and civic leaders.
“He’s a visionary,” Miller said. “He’s very, very accomplished, a
stellar example of a true expert in transportation. He has a great deal
of professionalism and high standards for everyone, including himself.
He has raised the standards of excellence (at JTA) in all aspects.
“What Nat has brought to the entire organization is the broader
view of how transportation affects the daily lives of current and
future users, for example millennials … You’re carrying loved ones,
you’re carrying people to their doctors’ appointments and their
jobs. It’s a covenant with passengers that we will bring you from
point A to point B. Transportation is an integral part of everyone’s
lives, especially in Jacksonville.”
Ford’s early successes also brought national recognition. In
2016, Ford was named a White House Champion of Change in
transportation innovation. That same year, JTA won the Outstanding
Public Transportation System Achievement Award of the
American Public Transportation Association. Ford became chair
of that organization.
WINTER 2019 | J MAGAZINE 25