Jacksonville is looking at a 6-cent increase to the city’s gas tax. If passed by the City Council, the tax would be used to fund nearly a billion dollars in transportation improvements throughout the city.Items on the city’s wish list include drainage system repairs along with a host of sidewalk and roadway upgrades, including expanding the Downtown Skyway system from 2 miles to 10 miles.
The existing monorail trains will be replaced over time with new autonomous electric shuttles, called the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U2C), which would run on the Skyway's current elevated routes as well as at ground level.
City Councilman Matt Carlucci – who is also a mayoral candidate - supports the expansion. He told First Coast Connect host Melissa Ross Monday that the Jacksonville Transportation Authority needs to sell the concept.
“We all need to give it an open mind. I’ve done a lot of research and homework on the People Mover and you know, that’s been an easy punching bag over the years, I get that, but this is different and I think it looks to the future of our community.”
Carlucci also addressed Sunday night’s 60 Minutes piece on Florida's vaccine rollout and whether some well-connected residents were given priority. To hear the entire interview with Carlucci, listen to Monday’s First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross, which encores at 8 p.m. on WJCT News 89.9.
Michelle Corum can be reached at mcorum@wjct.org, 904-358-6308 or on Twitter at @MCorumonME.
