Olustee
Olustee, FL · Traffic & Transit
First Coast News
Georgia gas tax suspension gives drivers a break at the pump
News4Jax.com
Jacksonville’s oversight committee expected to open inquiry into JTA, as the agency faces a nearly $40M shortfall
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville’s Financial Oversight and Audit Select committee is expected to launch an inquiry focusing on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority as the agency faces a projected shortfall of nearly $40 million. Council president Nick Howland said the select committee has closed it’s probe into unpaid capacity fees at JEA.
News4Jax.com
‘Hurt and blindsided’: Laid-off JTA employee says employees were given severance packets, escorted out of headquarters
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Transportation Authority is cutting hundreds of jobs to close a $39 million budget gap, and some of those employees say the impact was immediate and unexpected. News4JAX spoke with one laid-off JTA employee who said workers were blindsided by the cuts. “Employees are feeling...
The Florida Times-Union
Nat Ford will get another month of CEO-level pay amid JTA crisis
Outgoing Jacksonville Transportation Authority CEO Nat Ford will keep drawing his CEO-level paychecks for another month even as JTA deals with a financial crisis that will force up to 194 layoffs and cuts in transit services. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit board voted July 21 to hire Ford as its CEO with a starting date at DART on Oct. 26. Ford meanwhile is slated to continue working for JTA through Oct. 21 in an as-needed advisory role to interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson. Ford's pay at JTA is based on an annual $475,904 salary which translates to almost $40,000 per month. He also gets paid $1,000 per month to cover fuel, maintenance, tires, insurance and other costs for use of a personal vehicle, according to his employment agreement. City Council member Rory Diamond, who is the council liaison to JTA, said Ford should resign from JTA sooner rather than later. "I think it's time," Diamond said. "I think Nat should head on to Dallas and we can clean up this mess. We have to live up to whatever our contractual obligations are, but other that that, to me it's ridiculous." The JTA board promoted Ferguson on Aug. 27 to be interim
News4Jax.com
Jacksonville City Council approves 15 mph e-bike speed limit for sidewalks, shared paths
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An e-bike rider traveling on a Jacksonville sidewalk could soon have a new speed limit to follow: 15 mph. The Jacksonville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve new regulations for electric bicycles, ending months of debate over how the city should address the growing use of e-bikes on sidewalks and shared-use paths.
News4Jax.com
Former JTA board member says she warned officials about agency’s financial situation
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Reactions continued to pour in after the Jacksonville Transportation Authority announced plans to cut roughly 150 positions and reduce services as it works to trim $39 million from its budget. A former JTA board member and some city leaders say the agency’s financial struggles did not...