Jacksonville Launches Autonomous Vehicle Public Transport Service
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) has launched a new autonomous vehicle (AV) service, NAVI – short for Neighbourhood Autonomous Vehicle Innovation.
This marks the start of what is being described as the first autonomous vehicle public transport revenue service in the United States.
Operations began on Monday, 30 June 2025, with AVs running Monday to Friday, from 7am to 7pm, along a 3.5-mile stretch of Bay Street in downtown Jacksonville. The service corridor links Pearl Street and EverBank Stadium, and is intended to improve access between residential areas, commercial centres, and the city’s sports and entertainment district.
NAVI Ribbon cutting
© JTA
The NAVI vehicles stop at 12 dedicated stations, serving locations such as the Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts, the Florida Theatre, the Naval Museum, and a range of hotels, restaurants and venues. The service will be fare-free until the end of September 2025.
Initially, the fleet consists of 14 modified electric Ford e-Transit vans equipped with Oxa’s automated driving system. Each vehicle accommodates up to nine passengers and is ADA-compliant. The JTA has also confirmed plans to introduce HOLON autonomous shuttles in future phases, with availability expected from 2027.
JTA CEO Nat Ford said:
Jacksonville is making history in Florida and the nation by fully deploying the first revenue service autonomous vehicle for public transportation.
Shared mobility will help solve transportation challenges and build communities by maximising independence and improving accessibility. Today, we are putting another stake in the ground that makes Jacksonville a great city and leader in North America.
The JTA emphasises that NAVI is not only a local project but part of a wider effort to test and integrate AV technology into existing transport systems in a practical and publicly accessible way.
The NAVI project forms part of the broader Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C) initiative, which aims to upgrade Jacksonville’s existing Skyway infrastructure for AV use over the next decade. Phases 2 and 3 of the U2C plan will link the downtown core with other neighbourhoods, including Springfield, Brooklyn, Riverside, and San Marco.