Construction has started on making Jacksonville the first city in the nation where self-driving vehicles pick up passengers as an everyday fixture of the transit system, but when riders board those shuttles in summer 2025, they'll ride in retrofitted Ford E-Transit vans originally designed to carry cargo.
The juxtaposition of cutting-edge technology guiding shuttles that are made from cargo vans shows the still evolving nature of the autonomous vehicle industry in the United States.
That ability to get the latest technology from made-in-America vehicles could be changing. Holon, a global manufacturer of autonomous vehicles, is considering Jacksonville for its first plant in the U.S.
If Holon builds the plant, JTA and other transit agencies would be able to buy "American-made" autonomous vehicles designed specifically to carry passengers. But that plant wouldn't be open until after JTA kicks off the first leg of its Ultimate Urban Circulator in downtown.
Gregory Crandell, the general manager for Holon in the United States, said Friday at the second annual Autonomous Vehicle Day, co-hosted by JTA and Guident, that Jacksonville would be a good fit for the 15-passenger vehicles Holon intends to roll out at the manufacturing plant.
Crandell said Holon also has looked at other cities where its parent company Benteler already has operations in the United States for supplying automobile parts.
"But as I can see from working with the city of Jacksonville and also with JTA, and with us being here today, Jacksonville's a great place to be, I think," he said. "Plus, the city seems very welcoming for autonomous vehicles."
Jacksonville and state would offer incentives to Holon
The state and the city would provide incentives for Holon to build a $100 million plant in Jacksonville. Legislation filed Tuesday with City Council puts the city's offer for incentives at $7.5 million in property tax rebates over 10 years and $200,000 in training grants for up to 200 employees who would be hired at the plant code-named "Project Link."
The state's incentives would be an $8 million high-impact performance award and a capital investment tax credit covering 100% of the state corporate tax liability for the company.
A manufacturing facility in Jacksonville would bolster the state's growing involvement in the autonomous vehicle industry. The state Department of Transportation opened the $150 million SunTrax center in June 2023 in Auburndale for testing emerging automotive technology.
But even if Holon decides to build that manufacturing plant, it wouldn't be in operation until the end of 2026. JTA is on track to start operating shuttles on Bay Street by mid-2025 to comply with the deadline for a $12.5 million federal grant that is helping to pay for the $65 million loop that would be the first leg of the Ultimate Urban Circulator, or U2C for short.
That federal grant also requires JTA to use American-made vehicles for the transit shuttles, preventing the purchase of vehicles made abroad.
Ford E-Transit van will get makeover for U2C transit shuttle
Faced with that constraint, JTA will install passenger seats and autonomous vehicle technology in Ford E-Transit cargo vans for trips on the three-mile loop called the Bay Street Innovation Corridor. The battery-powered vans will travel in the same lanes as other traffic on a route connecting the office tower district of downtown with the sports complex.
Renderings provided by JTA show the vehicles painted red and silver-grey like the color scheme for JTA buses. They will have the U2C logo on them.
The vehicles will have side windows for passengers to look out during their rides and JTA will install charging ports for riders to use. Individual seats for passengers will go around the inside perimeter of the vehicles. Each seat will have seatbelts.
The vehicles will be equipped to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act so passengers with disabilities can ride them. Technology will keep the vehicles from moving after a stop until all passengers are seated and buckled before continuing on the route.
"So it's not only about a cargo van that's being upfitted," said Eduardo Rosa, senior vice president of operations for Beep, one of the companies working with JTA "It's carrying a lot of technology and we are trying to make this as close to a real passenger van as possible."
JTA CEO Nat Ford said the vehicles fit what JTA needs to start service in mid-2025 on the Bay Street Innovation Corridor.
"It's about mobility and it's about functionality, reliability and safety," Ford said. "We want to have a vehicle that's safe. That's the number one priority, and it allows us to use autonomous technology to move people."
Construction starts on command center for U2C system
Ford said Jacksonville is "on the cusp" of landing the manufacturing plant and he's hopeful City Council will approve the incentives for Project Link.
"Can you imagine the interest that they (company officials) have in the U2C project and Jacksonville to consider us for launching those vehicles for the Western hemisphere and to export those vehicles back to Europe?" he said. "So that shows a great deal of support for this project."
Other transit agencies have done pilot projects and short-term test demonstrations using self-driving vehicles, but JTA will stake out a claim to be the first agency that goes all-in on the vehicles as a daily part of its transit system.
After the Bay Street Innovation Corridor is up and running, JTA plans to convert the elevated Skyway for the next phase of the U2C. The Skyway uses trains. By switching to rubber-tired autonomous vehicles, the U2C would make the elevated portion the centerpiece for a system that radiates to outlying neighborhoods because the self-driving vehicles could go above-ground and at street level.
Over the next year, JTA will be building a two-story command center for the U2C system. Other work for the initial loop along Bay Street will build 12 passenger stops and install the network that will communicate with the sensors and cameras on the autonomous vehicles.
Manufacturing vehicles:$100 million automated vehicle plant could go to Jacksonville
U2C development:A $6.5 million contract will begin design of converting Skyway structure in downtown
"We're going to have cameras watching the full route," said Kevin Wishnacht of Balfour Beatty, the company building the system. "We're going to have cell coverage for the whole route to ensure the vehicles have no delay in receiving signals."
The E-transit vans modified for the U2C system will have advanced technology that meets the standards that would allow them to operate without any attendant on board, but for the first year, JTA will have attendants in the shuttles.
By then, JTA officials will know whether Project Link has panned out for Jacksonville. In contrast to the retrofitted Ford E-Transit vans, Holon shuttles would be designed with passengers in mind. Windows would wrap entirely around the vehicle. A shuttle would have seating for 10 people and room for five more passengers to stand. The vehicle could travel at a maximum speed of 37 mph and would have level 4 automatic vehicle technology.
JTA board Chairwoman Debbie Buckland said the agency's partnership with Florida State College at Jacksonville already is training students for jobs in the autonomous vehicle industry "and with a little luck, those jobs will right here in our city."
