JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man is desperate for help when it comes to JTA buses.

Darius Bynum tells First Coast News that his buses are often delayed or no shows, and the JTA app doesn’t provide real time updates.

The transportation agency is aware of the ongoing issue, says they are working to address it.

For the last 14 months, Darius Bynum’s been relying on JTA buses to get him around town. However, in the last few months, Bynum said the buses have not been so reliable.

“It’s been a horrific situation,” Bynum said. “Buses are not showing up. If they do show up it’s extremely late. The app is not current. There are times when you use the app. you’ll be looking for your bus but it’s not appearing.”

After dealing with delayed buses and an improperly working app, Bynum tells us he eventually lost his job and missed job interviews, due to being late from buses not showing. “They eventually got tired of me being late and claiming the buses were the reason.”

This resulted in Bynum making his concerns known in this Feb. 3 email sent to not only JTA, but also council members, Mayor Deegan and even the governor.

“It’s a very uphill battle,” he said, “I just would really like some accountability.”

JTA says they have been in contact with Bynum on multiple occasions.

First Coast News obtained a letter JTA sent him on Feb. 1, where they apologized for hardships he’s endured and recognized the impact public transportation can have on maintaining employment and meeting basic needs.

JTA also conducted an investigation and has begun implementing changes to customer service and to the JTA app.

Customer service teams will immediately report information and issues to transit operations and if a customer is late for work JTA will help them with other means of transportation, something they’ve already done once for Darius Bynum.

Regarding the app improvements, they are working with the developer of the app to correct issues that prevent riders from seeing real time updates. Daily audits will also be conducted.

When asked about JTA’s response, Bynum said he just wants to see change.      

“All you’re getting is a bunch of apologies and it’s really not an improvement of service,” said Bynum. 

JTA also sent First Coast News this statement on Wednesday:

“The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) is committed to providing customers with reliable and timely transportation. Across the more than 2,000 fixed-route trips that the JTA provides to approximately 22,000 customers each weekday, our team works quickly to identify and provide an alternative transportation solution should an immediate issue arise. We are dedicated to every customer, ride and route while continuously improving to meet the transportation needs of our community.”

Their customer service team also completed a retraining session on February 6th to inform employees of these changes, so they are better equipped to address customers needs.