JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — (Note: The video above was originally published May 26.)
The transportation industry's first airless tire and wheel assembly is set to roll out on the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's autonomous vehicles.
JTA announced the new technology developed by Goodyear at a news conference Tuesday morning. For the past three years, Goodyear and Local Motors have been testing an Olli shuttle with the airless or non-pneumatic tires at Goodyear testing facilities, JTA said in a news release.
They also tested several performance targets, such as load, speed and durability, beginning on-road testing in 2019, the release says.
The airless tires may offer more sustainable, maintenance-free and longer-lasting options, according to the release.
"The urban transportation environment provides an ideal testing scenario for the alternative tire architecture given its lower speed and less variable travel paths," the release says. "Goodyear and Local Motors will gather experiential data from the JTA, looking for viewpoints on ride comfort, noise and other variables."
Goodyear is hoping to introduce the first "completely sustainable and maintenance-free tires" by the end of the decade, the release says.
Earlier this year, JTA and the City of Jacksonville announced plans to expand and improve the Skyway to include adding autonomous vehicles on Bay Street, a project called the Ultimate Urban Circulator. The 10-mile system is planned to connect various neighborhoods to Downtown Jacksonville, at a cost of more than $300 million.
Much of the funding for that project is proposed to come from a gas tax increase proposed by Mayor Lenny Curry. The city council approved the increase in May in a 14-to-5 vote.
The so-called “Jobs for Jax” program will provide funding over the next 30 years for several items including the Emerald Trail and JTA’s long-criticized Skyway-to-U2C conversion.
The measure will add an extra 6 cents per gallon to Duval County's existing 6 cents per gallon fuel tax. The proposal would extend the current 6-cent tax through 2046, and implement the additional 6 cents for a 30-year period.
On top of the big-ticket items including Skyway and Emerald Trail, some of the gas tax revenue could also fund the phase-out of septic tanks in Jacksonville.
The timeframe for the Skyway conversion project is estimated to take five to seven years.