JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) leaders are moving forward with a pilot program that includes fare increases for Connexion Plus, the authority\u2019s premium, private transportation service widely used by the elderly and disabled. <\/p>\n
The changes come as the city auditor reported that JTA went nearly $19 million over budget last year.<\/p>\n
Connexion Plus, a door-to-door service often described as \u201cUber-like,\u201d has been subsidized by JTA for years. <\/p>\n
According to spokesperson Taniel Koushakjian, JTA has absorbed more than 75% of the costs since launching the service in fiscal year 2020, when it cost just over $1 million annually. <\/p>\n
By 2026, expenses are projected to exceed $8 million. \u201cWe wanted to provide that relief as long as possible for the community,\u201d Koushakjian said, \u201cbut costs have skyrocketed, and we had to examine what we can do to continue offering the service.\u201d<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n The fare changes, set to take effect February 1, will raise the cost of a one-way trip from the current $6 for the first 15 miles (plus $2 per mile thereafter) to $10 for the first 8 miles and $3.50 per mile beyond that. <\/p>\n A maximum of 40 trips per month and an 8-mile limit per trip will also be implemented.<\/p>\n JTA CEO Nat Ford emphasized that Connexion Plus provides more than just transportation. \u201cMobility is freedom,\u201d Ford said. \u201cFor those who are disabled, blind, or physically impaired, this service is critical. We\u2019re proposing a reasonable compromise while continuing to monitor and adjust over the next six months.\u201d<\/p>\n Riders like Tyre Singleton, who has high myopia, a condition that leaves him partially visually impaired, he relies on Connexion Plus to get to work and says he is already counting up the costs. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s expensive because that\u2019s the main way I get to work,\u201d Singleton said. \u201cTen dollars per one-way trip is kind of expensive\u2026 that\u2019ll be about $400 a month for me.\u201d Singleton says he wishes JTA had provided a grace period to allow riders to adjust to the new costs.<\/p>\n While Connexion Plus costs rise, JTA\u2019s newer $65 million autonomous shuttle program, known as NAVI, will remain free. <\/p>\n The program has struggled with ridership but is slowly improving. Some community members have questioned the fairness of raising prices for a long-standing, successful service while maintaining a free, less-utilized program.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/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 Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) leaders are moving forward with a pilot program that includes fare…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":205360,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,20344,18708,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-515310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jacksonville-transportation-authority","13":"tag-jta","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115893070977962994","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515310","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=515310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205360"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}