The St. Johns River Ferry no longer runs the same hours every day of the week. Until this month the Jean Ribault crossed between Fort George Island and Mayport Village from 6:15 a.m. to 8:45 p.m., seven days a week. Since October it runs 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends, according to the Florida Times-Union's reporting republished by the Bradenton Herald and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority's service change page.
For anyone north of the river who drives Heckscher Drive to reach Mayport and the beaches, the cuts didn't land evenly. A Saturday dinner across the river works about the way it did before. A Tuesday crossing after work has lost close to two hours. The cost of riding often is also climbing in two steps, and the second step arrives January 1, 2027.
The Schedule Now Depends on the Day
The ferry still leaves every half hour. Boats depart the Mayport Village side on the hour and half hour, and the Fort George Island side at quarter past and quarter to, according to JTA's ferry page. What changed is when that rhythm starts and stops.
| Direction | Before October 2026 | Weekdays now | Weekends now |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall service span | 6:15 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. daily | 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. | 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. |
| Mayport Village departures | Within daily span | 6:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. | 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. |
| Fort George Island departures | Within daily span | 6:15 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. | 8:15 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. |
Coverage of the change has been muddled. When the JTA board approved the cuts on Aug. 27, Action News Jax reported that weekday ferry hours would drop by 90 minutes. The same story described 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. as the hours the ferry "currently" ran. JTA's own page lists those hours as the new schedule beginning October 2026, and the Times-Union report gives 6:15 a.m. to 8:45 p.m. as the old one. If you remember a later weekday boat, you're right. It's gone.
Weekend Evenings Came Through Intact
On Saturdays and Sundays, the last boat from Fort George Island still leaves at 8:45 p.m., the same end point the old daily schedule had. The last weekend departure from Mayport Village is 8:30 p.m. That means a Northside household can still cross for an evening in Mayport Village on a weekend and come home by water.
The weekend cut falls in the morning. The first boat now leaves at 8 a.m. instead of 6:15 a.m., so an early weekend run to the beach or the fishing piers now means driving around through town or waiting for the ferry.
Weekday Evenings Lost the Most
On weekdays the first departure moved slightly earlier, to 6 a.m., but the evening end moved up by about two hours. The last boat from Fort George Island now leaves at 6:45 p.m., and the last from Mayport Village at 6:30 p.m. Before October, an after-work crossing for dinner in Mayport and a ride home around 8:30 p.m. was routine. Now a weekday evening on the far side means going out by ferry and coming home the long way, or skipping the ferry entirely.
How much ferry access matters to the Mayport side has come up before. When the ferry shut down for maintenance in early 2024, News4JAX reported that staff at Singleton's Seafood Shack, next to the Mayport dock, saw fewer customers because people had to drive around. That story covered a temporary closure, not the 2026 cuts, and no reporting yet shows how the new hours are affecting those businesses.
Regular Trips Get More Expensive in Two Steps
Hours were only part of the August package. JTA's fares page says mobile discounts were eliminated effective Oct. 1, 2026. On the ferry, those MyJTA discounts were sizable. JTA's older fare table showed 70 cents off the $7 weekday car fare, 80 cents off the $8 weekend car fare, and a 20-trip car ticket book for $100 instead of $120.
The second step comes January 1, 2027, when the new ferry fares take effect. Here is what a car under 20 feet pays in each period:
- Before Oct. 1, 2026, with the app: $6.30 weekdays, $7.20 weekends, and a 20-trip book at $100, or $5 a crossing.
- Now: $7 weekdays, $8 weekends, and a 20-trip book at $120, or $6 a crossing.
- From Jan. 1, 2027: $8 weekdays, $10 weekends, and a 20-trip book at $140, or $7 a crossing.
From summer to January, the per-crossing cost of the ticket book rises 40%, from $5 to $7. The book still makes sense for anyone who crosses often, and it makes the most sense on weekends. Ticket books cover 20 trips and work any day of the week. Starting in January, a book crossing costs $1 less than the weekday cash fare and $3 less than the weekend fare. A weekend round trip by car that cost $14.40 with the app this summer will cost $20 at January cash prices.
Some fares aren't changing. Pedestrians and cyclists still pay $1, now and after January. Riders on foot or bicycle with a valid Senior or Reduced Fare ID STAR Card, or a Paratransit E-STAR Card, pay 50 cents. Motorcycles go from $6 to $7. Vehicles 20 feet or longer go from $14 to $16 on weekdays and from $16 to $19 on weekends, and semitrailers aren't allowed.
Why the Ferry Ended Up on the List
The ferry cuts were one piece of an agency-wide budget correction. According to the Times-Union report, more than half of JTA's operating money comes from sales tax revenue. That revenue climbed from $60 million in 2020 to a peak of about $111 million in 2023, and JTA projects $80 million for the fiscal year that began Oct. 1. JTA's operating budget fell from $178 million in the last fiscal year to $139 million for 2026-27. At the August board meeting, JTA chief operating officer Jeffrey Smith told Action News Jax that the approved changes were expected to save $12,164,000 a year. None of the reporting breaks out how much of that comes from the ferry.
At a Sept. 17 briefing, interim CEO Cleveland Ferguson described the approach this way, as quoted by the Times-Union:
"We are going to make the tough decisions now, protect our core mission and stabilize today to restore tomorrow."
The ferry kept its half-hour frequency and its weekend evenings. The downtown Skyway is suspending service entirely on Nov. 2.
The Second Boat Is Still in Design
The cuts didn't stop plans for a new vessel. Ferguson said JTA is still moving forward with a new, modern ferry so the current boat can become the backup. JTA's new ferry vessel project page says the plan is to replace the 1995 Jean Ribault with a boat of similar capacity, funded by a $15.6 million Federal Transit Administration Low-No grant received in 2024. Design began in 2025 and continues through 2026, and the project status is listed as planning.
The page gives no construction or delivery date. In December 2024, News4JAX reported a projection that the second ferry would be running by fall 2028. JTA's current project page doesn't repeat that date. Backup capacity matters on this route. After the ferry hit the Mayport boarding ramp in May 2025, service stayed suspended until JTA resumed it on June 13, 2025.
Planning a Crossing Around the New Clock
Most of the ferry's evening hours that remain fall on weekends, so plans across the river now line up best with Saturday and Sunday.
On the Mayport Village side:
- Singleton's Seafood Shack is at 4728 Ocean St., near the ferry landing.
- Safe Harbor Seafood runs a restaurant in Mayport.
- On a weekend, boats leave Fort George Island every half hour from 8:15 a.m., and the 8:30 p.m. boat from Mayport is the last ride home by water.
On the Fort George Island side:
- Riders coming off the ferry from Mayport reach Kingsley Plantation and the Ribault Club on Fort George Island past the landing, according to the National Park Service's Kingsley Plantation directions and Ribault Club directions. Check current visitor access before you go, since the Ribault Club page was last updated in 2015.
- Big and Little Talbot Island State Parks sit on State Road A1A between Amelia Island and the ferry, as Jacksonville Today notes.
On weekdays, the deadline to plan around is 6:30 p.m. That's the last departure from Mayport Village, and missing it means driving home through town.
Ferry hours and fares are the kind of everyday cost that shapes how a Northside address works day to day, and they usually don't show up on a listing. At Plenti Realty, we track details like the new crossing schedule because they matter to people who live along Heckscher Drive and A1A, and to anyone weighing a home there. If you're curious how this corner of the Northside affects what your home is worth, request a free home valuation and we'll walk through it with you.
