JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center officially opened Monday in LaVilla with the first bus driving through the facility just after 4 a.m.
The transportation center offers Wi-Fi, new security cameras, real-time passenger info displayed on monitors and a new indoor waiting room.
"It seems pretty fast and swift," said rider Jennifer Nations
As Jacksonville's main bus transfer facility it will bring together JTA bus routes, the First Coast Flyer, the Skyway, regional shuttles, Greyhound, and more.
It will also connect people from all over the city of Jacksonville and St. Johns, Clay, Nassau and Baker Counties to downtown.
The $57 million project was 30 years in the making and it was supposed to open on March 30, but because of the pandemic it was delayed.
Nat Ford, CEO of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority said they wanted to determine that everyone was safe before they opened.
“We wanted to make sure that we really took the time to really outfit this facility and ensure social distancing, made sure that we had enough masks and PPEs for our operators,” Ford said.
They did put decals on the floor and on some of the seats.
The decals are spaced six feet apart to remind their passengers to practice social distancing.
We also noticed employees disinfecting the buses at the transportation center.
We asked several riders if they felt safe at the new transportation center even with social distancing in place.
Odom Ebb told me he didn’t mind traveling.
Faye Tuner told me she feels a lot safer.
Jennifer Nations said she feels comfortable riding the bus now.
Not everything is opening up again, as Ford told me they’re not ready to reopen the Skyway just yet.
They want to wait until more jobs begin reopening downtown and ridership goes up.
The pedestrian bridge is expected to open up by early June.
It will connect the Jacksonville Regional Transportation Center to the intercity bus terminal.