JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – At its final meeting of 2025, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority board of directors approved a six-month pilot program to lower fares for JTA’s bus systems and remove all costs to ride its Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation shuttles Downtown, as reported by our news partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.
Those moves came shortly after JTA recorded an $18.99 million budget shortfall and amid a drop in ridership for the NAVI program, a Jacksonville City Council auditor’s report shows.
At the Dec. 11 meeting, JTA board members removed all ridership fees for NAVI effective Dec. 15. Members also voted to reduce fares for 10 fixed-fare options and both Connexion fare options. Rates were cut as little as 6% and as much as 55%, with fare reductions for non-NAVI service scheduled to take effect Feb. 1.
The deficit was reported during a Jan. 6 Jacksonville City Council Finance Committee meeting, as Council auditors presented findings from the end of the fiscal year for the city and independent authorities such as JTA, city utility JEA and the Jacksonville Aviation Authority.
JTA’s reported budget deficit represented a swing of about $23 million, as JTA had reported a $3.94 million budget surplus for the first nine months of its 2024-25 fiscal year. The authority reported the $18.99 million deficit at the end of the fiscal year. JTA’s fiscal year, like the city’s, is from Oct. 1-Sept. 30.
JTA’s total budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year was $186.62 million.
A JTA spokesperson did not answer a question from the Daily Record asking for an explanation for the budget deficit. Council members did not directly question JTA administrators during the Finance Committee meeting.
“The first thing that caught my eye is $19 million over budget ... 10% over is a pretty big overage,” Council member Will Lahnen said.
“It’s a pretty big shift, projected to be under budget and now nearly $20 million over budget for the year. I don’t think it’s anything we’re going to solve here. ... I’m hoping to get an answer.”
Council Auditor Kim Taylor said $7 million of the cost overruns came from NAVI operational costs, while a smaller portion stemmed from collective bargaining agreements that had not been included in the budget.
The NAVI program began in July 2025 without fares for riders. JTA initiated a fare of $1.75 per ride Oct. 1.
After the fee went into effect, JTA recorded a drop of 978 monthly riders from September, the last month of free ridership, to November, the last full month of paid ridership, according to records provided to the Daily Record.
JTA reported 1,797 riders in September and 819 riders in November.
After the JTA board adopted the pilot program of reduced fares in December, JTA said the program was designed to improve affordability for riders and to improve their experience.
“As part of our Better Together campaign, we wanted to say thank you to all of our riders, and what better way to say thank you for riding than reducing fares,” JTA spokesperson Taniel Koushakjian wrote in an email.
“The JTA is committed to putting our community first and ensuring transportation remains accessible and affordable for everyone.”
JTA did not directly answer a question from the Daily Record about why NAVI fares were cut 48 days before other JTA programs. JTA did not respond to questions asking if it had calculated the impact the fare reductions would have on revenue.
“The purpose of a pilot is to gather real data. During those six months, we’ll monitor ridership trends, customer feedback, and overall financial impact to guide future decisions,” Koushakjian wrote.
“We view this pilot as an investment in the community, one that could generate long-term benefits through higher ridership and broader mobility access.”
Cheryl Scott, a lifelong Jacksonville resident, said transportation needs to be more accessible for people who need it. She said lower fares are a good thing.
“If we have the money to do other things, we can give people transportation to get back and forth to where they work, and have some type of basic transportation, especially for people who don’t have cars and stuff like that is limited,” Scott said.
Scott visits her daughter in Seattle and has seen how accessible their public transit system is.
“They let people ride free, people that are homeless, don’t have money, seniors and stuff like that, and it’s more available to them. They have more buses available to people that need it. My daughter lives there and she couldn’t live here because of the transportation system, and it does not come once an hour, it comes like every few minutes, you get on the bus and go,” she said.
Robert Isley has lived in Jacksonville for five years. While he hasn’t needed public transit himself, he also believes JTA’s testing of lower fares is a positive step.
“There’s a lot of people that need transit, especially some of the older people, some people that would like to make medical appointments and things like that. So having something that’s going to be a little bit more reasonable for them to be able to get to where they need to be. I think that’s a perfect opportunity to bring more people to the city,” Isley said.
When asked about lowering fares amid a budget deficit, Isley said, “Well you know sometimes it can seem like when you lower a budget and make something free it’s a bad thing, but if it’s going to cause more people to come to the city to spend money it could also be a good thing possibly as well too.”
NAVI is the first portion of JTA’s Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) program. The first phase, which cost $65 million, runs autonomous vehicles along a 3.5-mile stretch mostly along Bay Street. NAVI vehicles are operational weekdays from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The second phase of the U2C, which includes renovations to the Downtown Skyway tram to accommodate autonomous shuttles, is expected to cost $247 million.
The third phase, which would expand the U2C into Brooklyn, San Marco, Springfield and San Marco, is expected to cost $95 million.
News4JAX contacted JTA with several questions about the fare reductions and the budget shortfall. A representative sent us these answers:
Q: How long will NAVI be free for?
A: The Neighborhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation (NAVI) is fare-free through the end of the Fare Modification Pilot Program.
Q: What is the agency hoping to figure out with the pilot program? Is the hope to increase ridership?
A: The Fare Modification Pilot Program is an opportunity for the JTA to give back to the community, to examine the effect of fare reduction on ridership, collect and examine ridership data and trends, give some cost savings back to our customers, and gather feedback from the community. We believe public engagement about our services is important and it enables us to make informed decisions in the future. Based on transit research and our own internal analysis, lowering fares typically encourages more people to ride. We expect to see returning riders who may have left during or after the pandemic, as well as new customers who find the reduced fares more affordable.
Q: The city finance committee reported a $19 million budget deficit for JTA from last year. They mentioned part of that was waiting on grant money but I’m wondering how fare reductions will help with that budget deficit.
A: The JTA’s Fare Modification Pilot Program will not impact the budget, as any possible reduction in revenue will be paid for through operational efficiencies. Our fare reduction pilot program allows us to assess our rates, the impact of those rates on ridership, and gather feedback from the community to guide future decisions. The JTA is committed to putting our community first and ensuring transportation remains accessible and affordable for everyone. Reducing fares for 6 months is one of the many actions we are taking to upgrade the rider experience, in addition to new fleet vehicles, service enhancements, and upgraded infrastructure in 2026.