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For decades, downtown Jacksonville moved on the Skyway, a monorail-style people mover that covered just 2.5 miles of the urban core. The system connected a handful of stops but never expanded to match the growth happening around it, and it ran on technology that was aging out of step with a downtown ready for something bigger. The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) set out to change that with the Ultimate Urban Circulator (U²C), a full conversion of the Skyway into an autonomous transit network that would eventually span 10 miles. WGI joined the Vision 2 Reality (V2R) team as lead infrastructure designer and architect to deliver the program's first phase.
From Monorail to Autonomous Network
The Bay Street Innovation Corridor (BSIC) reimagines three miles of Downtown Jacksonville's primary east-west route as a fully integrated, multimodal autonomous transit system. Twelve modern, branded stations now serve a fleet of all-electric autonomous vehicles. Adaptive traffic signals, connected-vehicle technology, and a dedicated private 5G network keep the system running in real time, while comprehensive ADA and mobility upgrades make the corridor accessible to every rider.
WGI's Transportation team led the corridor-wide design, integrating autonomous vehicle movements into active urban traffic and coordinating safety measures for pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders sharing the same streets.
At the system's center sits the Autonomous Innovation Center (AIC), a two-story, 18,798-square-foot facility WGI designed from the ground up. Maintenance bays service the AV fleet, covered parking includes charging stations, and a command-and-control center oversees daily operations. Rooftop solar panels offset the building's electrical demand, and battery backup keeps operations running through power disruptions. WGI led architectural, structural, civil, and MEP design for the facility and secured every construction, building, and environmental permit needed to bring it online, all under a Progressive Design-Build-Operate-Maintain delivery model that let the team make real-time decisions alongside JTA and design-build contractor Balfour Beatty.
A System Riders Can See and Use
JTA and the V2R team cut the ribbon on the AIC in April, unveiling "AutonomOUS," the new branding for the autonomous vehicle service now running through Downtown Jacksonville. The corridor is now the largest urban autonomous vehicle transit system in the country, laying the groundwork for additional miles to come.
The recognition followed quickly. WGI earned its seventh consecutive ACEC Florida Engineering Excellence Grand Award in the Transportation category for the BSIC and AIC, and the project went on to win a National Recognition Award at the ACEC Engineering Excellence Awards Gala in Washington, D.C. The International Parking & Mobility Institute also awarded the project a 2026 Honorable Mention for Innovation in a Mobility, Transportation, or Parking Program. With the U²C program still expanding toward its full 10-mile vision, WGI's work on this first phase has set the standard for what's ahead.
See the Impact WGI Can Make
The Bay Street Innovation Corridor shows what's possible when infrastructure design keeps pace with the technology it supports. Jacksonville now has a transit system built for autonomous vehicles from the ground up, with room to grow into the 10-mile network JTA envisioned from the start.
Learn more about how WGI approaches transportation projects with real community impact and connect with our team today.