Autonomous Florida, a program of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, is proud to announce that one of its Steering Committee partners, Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) received the Local Government Award for the Americas at the 2021 ITS World Congress in Hamburg, Germany. The Award recognizes local governments from across the world for mobility innovation and collaboration.
“Now is the time to prepare Florida for the next generation of transportation, and Florida’s business community is at the forefront of autonomous mobility advocacy and action,” said Florida Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Mark Wilson. “To grow Florida’s economy from the 15th largest to the 10th largest in the world, we must unite the business community to connect all of Florida for the 21st century, and a vital part of that is mobility innovation. With an additional 3 million drivers expected on our roads by 2030, partners like Nat Ford and his team at JTA are assuring that growth is an opportunity, not a challenge.”
With the vision to make Florida the mobility innovation capital of the world, Autonomous Florida is working to ensure that Florida continues leading the way in connected and autonomous vehicles. The program brings together businesses, industry experts, and policymakers to secure Florida’s autonomous future by focusing on five key areas: a globally competitive regulatory and legal climate, business community awareness and support, consumer deployment, research and development, and building the industry ecosystem.
“As we work towards becoming the mobility innovation capital of the world, it is encouraging that Florida’s local government agencies are being recognized on the global stage,” said HNTB Corporation Vice President and Autonomous Florida Chair Beth Kigel. “JTA’s innovative work such as the Ultimate Urban Circulator(U2C) program and testing ‘airless’ tires on autonomous vehicles have helped move the needle forward and provide exposure for Florida in the mobility innovation space.”
The last three recipients of the Local Government Award for the Americas have been Florida entities: the Florida Department of Transportation in 2018, the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority in 2019, and now the Jacksonville Transportation Authority in 2021. There was no award in 2020 due to the pandemic.
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About Autonomous Florida
Autonomous Florida is an initiative of the Florida Chamber of Commerce with the goal of making Florida the mobility innovation capital of the world. With its favorable regulatory climate and more than 116 million annual visitors, Florida is uniquely prepared to be at the cutting edge of this revolution. The Florida Chamber of Commerce’s Autonomous Florida program brings together businesses, industry experts, and policymakers to secure Florida’s connected and autonomous future. Autonomous Florida is dedicated to focusing and unifying the business community’s voice to ensure that this goal becomes reality. Learn more about the autonomous revolution by visiting https://autonomous-florida.com