2021 emails show FDOT concerns over Jacksonville Transportation Authoritys autonomous vehicle plan [Video]

Action News Jax has uncovered damning emails about the viability of a major multimillion-dollar transportation project. They show the state had significant concerns about the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s plan to bring autonomous vehicles downtown.

Those concerns date back at least as far as three years ago. They raise questions about the viability of the program, the cost, the scope, and the way it was bid out. They also show JTA continued forward with the project anyway.

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The project is called the Ultimate Urban Circulator, or U2C, and it’s the pet project of JTA CEO Nat Ford. On paper, the plan is to bring autonomous vehicles into downtown, to Bay Street first, and then eventually convert the Skyway into an elevated roadway for them. The first portion, known as the Bay Street Innovation Corridor, was set to be completed by May of next year and was originally slated to cost $44 …