Buses maneuver at JTA's Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center in LaVilla. | JTA
Published on November 4, 2026 at 3:36 pm
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Q: The JTA’s recent financial problems forced it to lay off employees and cut back on bus service. But now a Jacksonville Today reader wonders whether anyone realized what effect it could have on Election Day.
“Is anyone curious about why the Jacksonville Transit Authority discontinued several bus routes and the Skyway the day before the midterm elections?” Linda C. asks. “There were public hearings, but the date of closure was not discussed.”
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“Could they not have waited until the day AFTER their riders voted?”.
A: JTA did announce in September that bus routes would be reduced Nov. 2 and the Skyway would stop operating the same day.
JTA spokesperson Lynn Opperman says the transit authority has not received “any customer complaints or reports indicating that the November 2 service changes prevented someone from getting to their polling location on Election Day.”
In an email, she says JTA began notifying the public about the upcoming changes in July and held community meetings throughout Duval County to share the proposed changes and gather public feedback.
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That was followed by what she calls “a broad, multichannel customer communications campaign” alerting riders to changes ahead. JTA’s interim CEO also met with reporters in early September to discuss the changes, followed by a news release outlining Monday’s service cuts, she says.
“Since then, the JTA has communicated the changes extensively through multiple push notifications to users of the MyJTA app; information posted on JTA’s website; JTA’s electronic customer newsletter; digital monitors throughout the system,” her statement says.
The $39 million in cuts included:
- JTA says that halting the Skyway will save $10 million next year from operators, maintenance, parts and operations of escalators of the elevated train stations throughout the Downtown Northbank. Its future is still under study.
- The autonomous NAVI shuttle Downtown will stop operations Jan. 1, saving about $487,000 per month, JTA says.
- Bus schedules were changed, as were some routes.
- There will be one new route: Route 34. Routes 18, 25, 32 and 82 will be eliminated.. All the changes can be found here.
Signs on buses alerted riders and others to the upcoming changes, as well as signs at the JTA’s LaVilla headquarters and at Skyway stations, Opperman says.
Despite some bus route cancellations, Opperman says there are options.
“Alternative routes and connections are available for customers affected by the service changes, and the JTA has been providing information to help customers identify the best available option for their individual trips,” she says.
Customers with questions about their commute or access to a specific destination can contact JTA Customer Service at (904) 630-3100 or use its trip-planning resources for assistance, she said.
