NAVI shuttles in downtown Jacksonville designed be driverless, but they’re often riderless (Courtesy of the Florida Times-Union — The new autonomous transit shuttles circulating through downtown Jacksonville are designed to be “driverless” but another description for them right now often is “riderless.”
The Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation service — NAVI for short — is off to a slow start since the Jacksonville Transportation Authority launched it June 30, even during a promotional period when rides were free on the blue-colored vans.
The shuttles averaged 137 riders per day over the first couple of months of service, equating to around 12 riders per hour during the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekday schedule, according to a Times-Union review of ridership statistics.
The empty seats on the NAVI shuttles were evident when a Times-Union reporter used the NAVI service five times at different times of the day on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. The reporter rode the entire 3.5 mile loop that has 12 stops along it.
On four of those loops, not a single passenger boarded the van. On one of the loops, one passenger got on board.
JTA said in a statement it expects ridership will build as more development occurs along the route between the office towers of downtown and the sports complex.
“We expect our NAVI ridership to continue to grow with the new development happening along the Bay Street corridor,” the statement said. “In concert with this growth, our community engagement team is introducing the new service to those who live, work and visit downtown so they may more easily access key destinations along this corridor and throughout downtown Jacksonville.”
City Council member Jimmy Peluso said the ridership numbers show that while Jacksonville needs a high-performing mass transit system, the NAVI shuttles aren’t the way to do it.
“That is about as close to pathetic as you could ask for given the amount of investment we put into it,” Peluso said of the ridership.
JTA spent $65 million using a mix of local, state and federal funding for creating the Bay Street loop and constructing a central command center.
JTA also awarded a five-year contract for up to $36.3 million for Orlando-based Beep Inc. to handle operations and maintenance of NAVI on that Bay Street service.
Peluso said he questions what will happen to ridership after it’s no longer free. JTA started charging $1.75 per trip on Oct. 1, the same fare for its buses.
JTA plans to bring custom-designed shuttles made by Holon into the autonomous vehicle system in 2027. But until then, the NAVI service is using retrofitted Ford E-Transit vans originally designed to carry cargo.
“I think JTA is really banking on Holon coming in and creating a vehicle that looks more appropriate because right now, it’s a creepy passenger van,” Peluso said.
JTA is first-in-nation with fare-paying autonomous shuttles
NAVI is the first public transit service in the nation using autonomous vehicles in its regular fare-paying service, putting Jacksonville on the cutting edge of that expanding technology.
The electric-powered NAVI vans are equipped with cameras, lidar sensors, radar and dedicated satellite receivers that communicate with high-tech equipment embedded along the route. The vans also communicate with the central command center.
The system eventually will operate without any driver on board, but for this opening phase, an attendant sits at the front of the shuttle so it switches between being autonomous and driver-controlled depending on traffic conditions such as road work.
JTA ridership data shows that over a two-month period from June 30 to Aug. 29, the shuttles provided a total of 6,036 trips. NAVI operates Monday through Friday so it was in service for 44 days over that period, which equates to average daily use by 137 riders.
The services operates from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. so an average of about 12 riders per hour were on the shuttles, far below capacity.
The Bay Street service is the first leg of what JTA calls the Ultimate Urban Circulator, which will cost several hundred million dollars. The next piece of the system will involve converting the elevated Skyway in downtown so the rubber-tired NAVI vans can go on both it and at ground-level on streets.
The city put $247 million for converting the Skyway system into a long list of transportation projects funded by doubling the local gas tax to 12 cents per gallon. City Council approved that gas tax increase in 2021.
JTA also plans to extend the Ultimate Urban Circulator into neighborhoods surrounding downtown by using the autonomous vehicle technology on those streets so the service covers 10 miles. The neighborhood extensions do not have funding identified for them.
The NAVI service on the Bay Street leg has had different ridership projections. In March 2021, JTA said a Transit Concept and Alternative Review Plan projected daily ridership would be an average of 1,000 to 3,500 per day by 2035 and then 1,200 to 4,000 rides by 2045.
JTA says according to a model approved by the state Department of Transportation and the North Florida Transportation Planning Organization, projected ridership wll be 280 per day by 2035.
“These are conservative projections that do not include the full 10-mile route or take into account the planned development coming to Bay Street,” the JTA statement said.
JTA says it has not done any calculations for what the service’s cost per ride was during the period when passengers could use NAVI for free.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said Oct. 1 in Jacksonville his scrutiny of spending by the city of Jacksonville might review the NAVI system.
“It doesn’t sound like it’s a great use of taxpayer funds,” he said when fielding questions from reporters at an event with Gov. Ron DeSantis about local government spending. “We would have to delve into that more specifically, but what we’re finding is that a lot of the stuff we’re seeing is not a great use of taxpayer funds.”
The technology powering NAVI is cutting-edge but Jacksonville has always been a tough city for mass transit to generate ridership.
On the convenience factor, JTA operates several NAVI vans on the Bay Street loop so a van is scheduled to arrive every seven minutes at a stop. Each stop is covered to provide shelter from rain while passengers are waiting. An electronic board posts the next arrival time for a shuttle.
NAVI gives passenger a way to pay fare the same they typically pay at stores. JTA accepts debit and credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and the MyJTA App for covering the fares. Passengers cannot pay by cash when boarding the vans.
JTA says seniors with a valid Florida drivers license, college and trade students registered through MyJTA, and Duval County Public Schools students with valid ID can ride NAVI for free as they do regular buses. A JTA video on its online site for NAVI provides information about payment options.
The NAVI service stops close to the Skyway and regular bus stops for people who want to switch from one transit mode to the other for longer trips. JTA displays maps of the route at the NAVI stations and also online.
The NAVI shuttles go within blocks of office buildings where thousands of people work. They pass by The Elbow entertainment district anchored by the Florida Theatre with its restaurants and bars. The loop passes through the sports complex with its venues for games and concerts.
NAVI’s operating hours don’t cover the time when the sports complex is busiest at night, however, since the shuttles stop running at 7 p.m. on weekdays and don’t operate on weekends. The Elbow district also is busiest at night, though its restaurants do serve lunch.
The shuttles go by the strip of land between Bay Street and the river where future plans call for construction of the Shipyards West park and new Museum of Science and History building.
In terms of drive time, NAVI vans are able to accelerate in the autonomous mode so they are traveling at the same speed as regular traffic. But the length of time the vans wait at the NAVI stops before proceeding on their routes makes for a longer drive than a regular car trip.
NAVI riders also need to be prepared for occasional jarring stops during the rides. JTA officials have said the rides will become smoother as they make adjustments while still putting a premium on safety.
Photo courtesy of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority