Richard Clark, executive director of Monroe County Transit, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on with travel in the county.
It looks like the Department of Transportation could be eliminated in the county.
Clark said, “We’re not immune. Nobody’s really immune at this point to some difficult budget times, and people behaving cautiously with how the budget worked out in Tallahassee, and then potential even with getting out ahead of things, with looking internally at auditing our own stuff here, you kind of anticipate in the future that both the state DOGE efforts will eventually reach out and touch everybody. Government really isn’t built for quick change. So it’s a little more difficult, but we’re managing. I mean, we have really good people and those services, all of our handicapped services and CTC service and all those things will continue to operate as usual as they have for many years. We will move forward certainly, and we’re in a very, very good place for the future when they want to pick the ball up and run, that’s one of my many charges is to make sure that everything is ready to go when you want to turn it back on.”
Will there be any planning?
Clark said, “We do transportation planning and growth management and planning through our planning department. So those efforts will continue, and FDOT has been a great partner in those efforts there. They’ve helped us with the bus stop study that’s still going, and we’ll have other efforts. FDOT continues to be a great partner with the county, we formally submitted our new priority projects list to the district secretary. We will begin as FDOT starts looking at its future five year work plans, look to hopefully get through as many of those priority projects as we can.”
Conch Connect will stop as of the middle of August. Does that apply to Freebee in the Upper Keys?
Clark said, “That would be Islamorada. They made a decision a few weeks ago to continue that service this year. I haven’t heard that they’ve changed their minds. But they’ll take a look at the landscape and take a look at their own budgets internally, and make those kind of decisions.”
What about partnerships with Dade Monroe express?
Clark said, “Miami Dade, the 301 and 302 routes have been around for since 2003 and they are managed by Miami Dade, who has a partnership with FDOT and they’re continuing to operate that service. They move close to a half a million riders a year. I can’t predict what their budget’s going to look like going forward. I know it’s a service that costs about 4.4 million a year to run those two routes. They do have great ridership. We’ll see what happens to them in the future, but right now, everything is going to run at business as usual.”
The Department of Transportation in Monroe County will no longer be in existence after September 30.
Michael Stapleford of KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM said, “We very much appreciate all of your diligence and knowledge and progress you’ve made. Transportation has been listed as one of the top concerns for citizens along with cost of living here in the Florida Keys, and it was being addressed, it would seem very effectively, but that funding and that focus seems to be going away for now.”
Clark said, “People adjust their schedules and their transit problem, how they get to and from work. Change is tough, but this is the Keys. We’re pretty resilient and I think it’ll work out in the long run. These short term things happen as administrations and priorities change, and we’ll look to the future. It’ll all turn around for the better.”
Stapleford said, “We appreciate your time and your expertise and your service to our county.”
Clark said, “I appreciate it, and make sure everybody stays safe.”