JACKSONVILLE, FL. — October 31, 2023 — The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) will expand the St. John’s ferry service hours, and logs ridership increases across many of its services. The ridership growth can be attributed to a greater awareness and utilization of JTA services.
The popular St. Johns River Ferry, which transports guests between Mayport Village and Ft. George Island, will expand its operational hours beginning November 1. Funded, in part, by a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) grant, the Ferry will run from 6 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., extending two hours during the week and one hour during the weekend.
“I am thrilled to see our St. Johns River Ferry service expand its hours,” said JTA Board Chair Debbie Buckland. “The JTA team works hard to include customer feedback in its initiatives, and we look forward to continuing to serve the community by giving commuters more chances to take advantage of the ferry service.”
Fixed route ridership, which includes the First Coast Flyer Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, increased 12.6% year over year. ReadiRide, the on-call transportation service that operates in 14 Jacksonville neighborhoods, saw a 21% increase this year with significant use by senior citizens and those commuting to and from work. The Connexion and Connexion Plus paratransit services also increased ridership by 20%.
“There is no question that this has been a successful year for JTA,” said JTA CEO Nathaniel P. Ford Sr. “We strive to provide the Northeast Florida community with multimodal services for any of their needs, and our ridership increases across all service modes is a testament to our successes.”
The MyRide2School program provides free rides to Duval County Public School middle and high school students. Students can now use the service any day of the week and have generated 33,202 trips this month.
The JTA also became the first transit agency in the country to provide CashApp as a payment method aboard any of its services. Since its release, there have been nearly 5,000 transactions, providing patrons with more flexibility in purchasing JTA passes.
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About the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA)
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is an independent state agency serving Jacksonville, Florida and Northeast Florida with multi-modal responsibilities. The JTA provides varied mass public transit services and builds roads, bridges and other infrastructure to enhance mobility in Jacksonville. Public transportation services include BRT and regular bus service, paratransit, the St. Johns River Ferry, Skyway APM, and other mobility and on-demand services in Duval, Clay, Baker, Nassau and St. Johns counties. To learn more, visit www.jtafla.com.