{"id":967184,"date":"2026-07-29T16:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/967184\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T16:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:56:19","slug":"board-to-discuss-future-of-jta-after-departure-of-ceo-nat-ford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/967184\/","title":{"rendered":"Board to discuss future of JTA after departure of CEO Nat Ford"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\"><strong>JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 We\u2019ll likely start getting an idea of the future of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority after their regular board meeting Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The JTA Board is expected to discuss the future after the recent resignation of chief executive officer Nathaniel Ford, who has accepted the job as president and CEO of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Under Ford\u2019s leadership, the JTA said, the agency reached several milestones that helped raise Jacksonville\u2019s national profile in public transportation, including:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 etvbxt font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>developing the First Coast Flyer bus rapid transit system, the largest BRT network in the southeastern United States;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>constructing the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center, an award-winning multimodal mobility hub;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>winning more than $400 million in federal discretionary grants and supporting a local option gas tax extension that generated $1 billion for regional infrastructure;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>completing JTAMobilityWorks, a 27-project road-building and complete streets initiative, two years ahead of schedule;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>implementing the Route Optimization Initiative, the first complete redesign of JTA\u2019s transit system in 34 years;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>expanding JTA\u2019s regional footprint across Baker, St. Johns, Clay and Nassau counties, including restoration of the St. Johns River Ferry;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>launching the Ultimate Urban Circulator, the nation\u2019s first deployment of an autonomous vehicle service in public transit; and<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Stack-vJ7SwH7U__StackBase-sc-1m5bkhd-0 evEXvX dsnUCb\">\n<p>attracting HOLON\u2019s first U.S. autonomous vehicle manufacturing facility, a $200 million investment projected to generate $87 million annually for Florida\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Mayor Donna Deegan praised Ford\u2019s tenure, saying his leadership helped make the authority a model for innovation and a catalyst for economic growth. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cNat has been a dedicated partner to the City of Jacksonville, and his vision and collaborative spirit helped move our community forward in meaningful ways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">Board Chair Aundra Wallace thanked Ford and JTA staff for advancing mobility solutions for Northeast Florida.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">\u201cUnder the leadership of Nat, JTA has built a national reputation for innovating, particularly in the autonomous vehicle space at the same time the JTA team remains true to the core of what we do best \u2014 providing safe, reliable and affordable public transportation to our community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Box-_wrDxHtU__Box-sc-10sa3ie-0 Text-nO2aZ44r__TextBase-sc-s2hv5x-0 jJNfBD fSvavs article-text\">The JTA Board\u2019s meeting is at 4 p.m. at their headquarters at 100 LaVilla Center Dr. Wallace said the board plans to discuss next steps for the CEO position at that meeting.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 We\u2019ll likely start getting an idea of the future of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority after&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":910599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,18708,275644,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-967184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-america","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-jacksonville","tag-jta","tag-nat-ford","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117004323253834712","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967184","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=967184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/967184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=967184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=967184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=967184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}