By Dan Scanlan
Florida Times-Union
Traveling by alternate means is part of the theme of this weekend’s “On the Road.”
Some folks may know that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority wants to take its aging Skyway Express into the future with autonomous electric people movers, not only using the overhead pathways that cross downtown and San Marco, but also designate the Bay Street corridor for them initially.
So as the authority tests versions of the autonomous people movers at its U²C AV Test and Learn track near Metro Park as part of its planned Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) project, it is asking people to fill out a survey at publicinput.com/4868/#survey on what they want to see in the system. While JTA initially plans to set up a U²C people mover along its Skyway elevated system as well as along Bay Street, future phases could see it extend north to UF Health hospital; south to the medical centers in San Marco; southeast to the Southbank and San Marco East; east to the Sports Complex; and west to Five Points.
The JTA survey has questions like: Where should the transit shuttles go, as well as how important station amenities are like interactive information kiosks, shelters, WiFi at stations and bicycle storage? The answers the JTA gets from the survey will “help us define routes and specific stops in the neighborhoods we plan to expand in,” it said.