J Magazine Winter 2019

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“The way I look at it, we’re living in that same type
of transformative time frame, where we went from
a horse and buggy to the horseless carriage ...
but the changes are happening much faster now.”
– NAT FORD –
Bay across from the sports complex. Other companies
are coming in to participate, and state and federal transit
officials are following JTA’s research and testing.
“I’m sitting back here and saying, is this the next Uber
that’s happening?” Ford said. “That’s where we are as the JTA.
We’re not on the bleeding edge of technology, but as we make
our decisions, we are recognizing that transportation is transforming,
technology is advancing. Artificial intelligence is advancing.
Electrification is advancing. So as we are making our infrastructure
decisions now or planning decisions now, we incorporate that in.”
The technological innovation doesn’t stop with the U2C. It will be
part of the Bay Street Innovation Corridor, a smart-cities project that
will embed technology along Bay from the sports complex to the JRTC,
providing a constant stream of real-time data to ease traffic flow.
Take the people to transit
Now that, hopefully, you’ve gotten your head around U2C, what
might be next on Ford’s plate is TOD, which stands for transit-oriented
development. That idea is to take public transit to the places
where people want to, and likely will, live and actually facilitate the
housing development — rather than have transit later chase the development
in a catch-up.
Right now, JTA is trying to sell or lease five “lazy” parcels around
Downtown, with more parcels to come when the Rosa Parks Transit
Station on West Union Street moves to the JRTC. The way Ford sees
TOD: “If we increase this density and increase residents Downtown,
we will at some point be charging fares on the U2C, so we
pick up the fare revenue, and our system becomes more efficient
and effective because of people riding it … and we are priming the
pump for more density and more ridership and fare revenue.”
Ford says developers already are watching what JTA does and
considering that in their plans. “On First Coast Flyer routes, if you
look in within a quarter-mile of each one of those lines, you’d be
surprised that the level of development or permits that are being
pulled and anticipated already on the east line, the north line and
the southeast, but on the (upcoming) southwest line, we are actually
already seeing where people are kind of handicapping the development
that will occur along our BRT lines.”
Taking transit to the people
Ford’s technology ambitions go beyond Downtown. As part of
what it calls its Agile Plan, JTA already has talked about deploying autonomous
vehicles with Jacksonville University and FSCJ and plans
to approach the Mayo Clinic and maybe even St. Johns Town Center.
“The idea is, one, there is a transportation need,” Ford said, “but
two, that would continue with our learnings as it relates to these vehicles
and how they operate in pedestrian environments and in different
environments where AV technology deployment may make sense,
because eventually in the long run you’re looking at the JTA having a
fleet of autonomous vehicles.”
While the U2C ultimately would extend through Brooklyn and on
to Riverside, the demand is already there. Brooklyn alone has more
than 1,000 new apartments built, under construction or credibly
planned, but accessing the Skyway requires hiking over to LaVilla
across the Park Street viaduct.
But wait! Remember that large control center and maintenance
facility is in Brooklyn. Ford has his staff looking at opening a Skyway
station at that facility so Brooklynites could hop on the monorail for a
free ride to the Central Station and connect to the rest of the system.
“A quick immediate step,” he said. “What would it take? We have
the maintenance leads (rails) that are used to bring the vehicles out
in the morning and back in the evening. Is there a possibility that
those leads can be leveraged in the interim? Just to provide that
connectivity?”
The ultimate vision
If you think those plans and ideas are pretty radical for a city that
is pretty much defined by the automobile, Ford has some perspective
for you:
“I think at one point, it might have been defined by horse and
buggy, and then the automobile showed up. The way I look at it,
we’re living in that same type of transformative time frame, where
we went from a horse and buggy to the horseless carriage. Did you
know, at some point, automobiles had to have a flag person actually
walking in front of them with a little sign that it was coming? There’s
going to be a change similar to the transformation that occurred
then, but the changes are happening much faster now.
“We need to embrace these new modes. We need to embrace
our customers’ demands. Our customers are looking for door-todoor.
When we talk about the U2C and autonomous vehicles expanded
to 10 miles, the sky’s the limit, because we can at some
point start talking about door-to-door service, where we actually
pick you up at your door and get you on the main line and take you
where you need to go. We’re looking at 24-hour service.
“If we’re now looking at operation that has less manpower requirements
in terms of operators, you’re talking about a service that
is much more cost-efficient, so I could provide many more vehicles
at a lower cost.
“And so we’re just trying to be visionary and try to embrace the
technology we know is coming.”
FRANK DENTON is retired and the former editor of
The Florida Times-Union and J magazine. He lives in Riverside.
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J MAGAZINE | WINTER 2019