JTA asks for public input at Fleming Island Library

JTA and county officials addressed a mostly empty meeting room at the Fleming Island Library to ask for the public’s input on the agency’s transportation plan for Clay County.

JTA took over the county’s public transportation routes in 2018 after the Council on Aging discontinued operations due to insolvency.

The Jacksonville-based agency mostly kept intact the Council on Aging’s existing routes, including a route from Keystone Heights to Gainesville.  In October, JTA offered free rides to the public on its Clay County buses and hosted Clay County Commissioners on one of its shuttles in November.   

During the Tuesday, Nov. 30 meeting at the library, officials said they were updating the Clay County Transit Study and wanted public input on the update.

“The primary purpose of the study is to address the changing conditions in Clay County and identify the transit needs not only of today but look into the future,” said a JTA official.

He added that the study aims to develop a system-wide vision for the county’s transit assets, not only within Clay County but how the system connects to other surrounding counties.

“Part of this will be performing operational analysis of the existing system,” the official said, “to look at opportunities for improving the existing service and then develop a recommended service framework for both the near and longer term.”

The official added that planners will look at costs associated with different scenarios and develop an action plan to help improve public transit in the county.

JTA plans to conduct four additional meetings in the county’s other commission districts throughout December and then bring its final transit plan to the board of county commissioners during the board’s Jan. 24 meeting.