JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville Transportation Authority plans to roll its Connexion Plus service into its broader paratransit system, called Connexion \u2014 a cost-saving move that could affect seniors and people with disabilities who depend on door-to-door rides.<\/p>\n
According to JTA, Connexion is the agency\u2019s shared, destination-to-destination transportation service for individuals who cannot use fixed-route buses or trains. Connexion Plus is a premium private ride van for eligible riders, including seniors and people with disabilities.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n As JTA looks to cut costs, people who depend on Connexion Plus fear they could be the ones paying the price.<\/p>\n Some city leaders are questioning the decision. Jacksonville City Council member Rory Diamond said JTA\u2019s priorities are backwards.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone needs to wake up. We are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on autonomous vehicles no one wants to ride \u2014 and on the other side, we\u2019re going to cut services for the disabled,\u201d Diamond said during a finance committee meeting.<\/p>\n We met Timothy Fussell Jr., a senior citizen, outside City Hall. He said many older adults rely on specialized transportation to stay independent.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a little help to try to get from point A to point B. We do need a little help,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n According to JTA\u2019s website, beginning Feb. 1, 2026, Connexion Plus will be rolled into the Connexion service. JTA says the change is part of a pilot program.<\/p>\n But some council members say efficiency can\u2019t come at the expense of people who rely on the service most.<\/p>\n \u201cMy concern is looking at things to cut,\u201d City Council member Will Lahnen said. \u201cI know my residents, I have family members that use the program. I just want to make sure that if we are talking about cutting, we\u2019re cutting what we think will have the least impact on the average Jacksonville resident.\u201d<\/p>\n Action News Jax asked JTA why millions are being invested in autonomous vehicles while Connexion Plus \u2014 which many people rely on \u2014 is being phased out.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n In a statement, JTA said rising costs are driving the change: \u201cDue to the rising cost of the private service, Connexion Plus, JTA is looking at more efficient ways to provide paratransit shared ride services to our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n Some riders say they see both sides. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a double-edged sword. As long as we\u2019re taking care of our seniors, so be it,\u201d Jacksonville resident Leroy Gordon said.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n The change comes as the city auditor reports JTA went about $19 million over budget last year.<\/p>\n Diamond said helping people with disabilities should remain the agency\u2019s core mission.<\/p>\n \u201cJTA should have one purpose only \u2014 to help disabled people and our neighbors get to school, get to work, and need help with care,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whole idea of making someone\u2019s life with a disability harder just blows my mind. Makes me very angry.\u201d<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville Transportation Authority plans to roll its Connexion Plus service into its broader paratransit…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":506730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[12189,13030,5229,12878,13816,68233,18018,226221,48495,3188,723,226895,7310,18708,425,22597,226898,226897,14081,13824,28496,226896,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,213469],"class_list":{"0":"post-506729","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-action_news","9":"tag-action_news_jacks","10":"tag-america","11":"tag-beach_boulevard","12":"tag-ben_becker","13":"tag-city_hall","14":"tag-connection","15":"tag-connection_plus","16":"tag-councilman","17":"tag-fl","18":"tag-florida","19":"tag-jack_jonah_gavvino","20":"tag-jacksonville","21":"tag-jta","22":"tag-local","23":"tag-navi","24":"tag-navvy","25":"tag-pablo_creek_public_library","26":"tag-plus","27":"tag-rory_diamond","28":"tag-tanika_hughes","29":"tag-timothy_fussell_jr","30":"tag-united-states","31":"tag-united-states-of-america","32":"tag-unitedstates","33":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","34":"tag-us","35":"tag-usa","36":"tag-yona_gvino"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=506729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/506729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=506729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=506729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=506729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}