JTA's Interim CEO Withdraws From Permanent Job and Says the "Buck Stopped" With the Ex-CEO in a $39 Million Shortfall

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The interim head of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority told his board Wednesday that he is withdrawing from consideration for the permanent CEO job and that responsibility for the agency's financial crisis rests with the leader who ran it before him. Cleveland Ferguson III, who has worked at JTA for more than 11 years, said he wants to focus on "rightsizing" the agency and will stay until the board names a permanent chief. The agency is dealing with a budget shortfall of about $39 million, according to Jacksonville Today.

Ferguson said he is "accountable for everything that has happened on my watch from Aug. 27, 2026," the day he took over as interim CEO. He added that "from December of 2012, the buck stopped with the CEO of this agency." He did not name Nat Ford, who led JTA during that period and now runs Dallas Area Rapid Transit, but the dates match Ford's tenure.

What went wrong, according to Ferguson

Ferguson pointed to several causes. He said the NAVI autonomous vehicle program was deployed in a rush, and that efforts to stretch the life of the downtown Skyway went beyond what was workable, both reportedly against the advice of senior executives. He also said grants that were counted on to cover budget gaps never came through. The agency has gone through three CFOs and three CEOs in three years, which he said made it hard to build a clear picture of its finances.

A report from current CFO Randall Barnes shows deficits in nearly every 2026 expense and revenue category, with the largest in services and labor costs. JTA laid off 200 employees in September and has cut nearly $24.9 million in contracts. It has also changed and cut bus routes and suspended NAVI and Skyway service. The fiscal 2027 budget stands at $139.3 million.

Pay, loans and an outside review

Ford left JTA in September, but his contract kept him on the payroll in an advisory role at $475,950 a year through an official end date of Oct. 21. Ferguson said the board chair and the city's general counsel told him Ford was "asked to take a step back and allow me to lead."

City leaders have allowed JTA to use an interest-free $30 million loan from local option gas tax revenue to pay off a line of credit. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to pause Skyway and NAVI service, and it unanimously approved a process to hire an independent firm for a financial assessment, governance review and recovery consulting. No firm has been selected yet. Board Chair Aundra Wallace said that seeing actual numbers and not getting that information "is what has pissed me off."

Calls for resignations and investigations

Board member Daniel Vallencourt issued an open letter Oct. 26 calling for Ferguson and two senior executives who served under Ford to resign. In the letter, Vallencourt also acknowledged that he fell short in his own oversight duties as a board member. Ferguson's decision to withdraw from the permanent job came at the start of Wednesday's meeting.

Several inquiries continue. The Jacksonville City Council's Audit and Financial Oversight Select Committee is holding hearings, and a subpoena has been issued to compel Ford to testify. The Florida Attorney General's Office is also investigating, and News4Jax reported on Sept. 29 that JTA received a subpoena from the office.

What happens to the Skyway and NAVI

The Skyway is slated to be replaced by the Ultimate Urban Circulator, estimated at $500 million to $600 million, with about $247 million expected from a 2021 gas tax approved by the council. JTA has been reluctant to shut the Skyway down for good because it might have to repay federal grant money used to build it in the 1980s. NAVI is supposed to use vehicles from Holon, whose $100 million Jacksonville plant has faced delays. Ferguson said NAVI "wasn't supposed to be just public (dollars)," adding that private investment "needed to occur in order for this to work." The article did not list a date for the next board meeting or for the selection of the outside firm.

Source: Jacksonville Today and News4Jax reporting, reviewed by Jax Times.