Rogelio Hernandez, Director of Transportation for Key West Transit, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on in the city.
Public transportation is a great way to alleviate congestion in the city.
Hernandez said, “We do have the Lower Keys shuttle that operates between Key West and Marathon, so that would be a great service to utilize. Sit back and relax while we do the driving.”
The website is the best place to go for information.
Hernandez said, “We made it that much simpler. So kwtransit.com, and you can get all the information on the Lower Keys shuttle service, such as schedule time, bus stop locations, real time information and more. Or you can always give us a call at 305-809-3910, and we can help with the trip planning.”
How did the budget go this year?
Hernandez said, “The city of Key West has approved their budget, and part of that was a $6.1 million budget for transit. Now that funding ensures that we continue to provide essential service, such as the Lower Keys shuttle, the workforce route that operates in Key West between Bahama Village and Stock Island, that services residential areas, schools, doctor’s office, shopping centers, and of course, the Key West rides are on demand and pre booking service, so that $6.1 million budget will allow us to continue running these essential service for the next year. Now, I want to give a quick update on the Duval loop, because that has been kind of a controversy on Facebook lately. The Duval loop will continue operating for the next several weeks, actually the next several months. However, due to the lack of funding from both state and federal, the service will be suspended on January 1. So last day of service is December 31 for the Duval loop and between now and then, we’ll be doing some public meetings, which is required by federal government, to inform riders of the suspension and alternate transportation options once the Duval loop is suspended. It’s not goodbye with the Duval loop. It’s more of a see you later. The Duval loop will return, and when it does, it’ll be better than ever, but for right now, we will be suspending the Duval loop beginning January 1.”
The Key West Rides continues to break records as far as users and riders for that service.
Hernandez said, “It does. It’s been a slow couple of months, but I think that was expected, but the ridership is starting to pick up, and we’ll continue providing service seven days a week, between the hours of 6am and 8pm on the Key West rides. Again, riders and local residents can use the app Key West rides on your app store, whether it’s Android or iPhone, or they can give us call again at 305-809-3910, to schedule a booking.”
Key West Transit also helps with festivals, like Fantasy Fest and Goombay Fest.
Hernandez said, “It’s right around the corner and during these events and Goombay and Fantasy Fest events we will continue operating our regular service hours throughout the entire event. However, on parade night or Saturday, October 25 we will be running extended hours up until midnight. So for example, the last bus departing Key West heading to Marathon would be at midnight, 12am and that applies as well to the Key West ride service that we will be extending hours on that particular day. We will be participating in Children’s Day, as we do every year. We’ll be there with bus 8311, one of the newer busses we recently procured. We will be there, providing a nice cold AC environment, because we do know it gets hot out there, so if you’re at Children’s Day, come on by.”
What’s going on with the electric bus?
Hernandez said, “It’s still on the pipeline to arrive at the end of the year, first week of January, and when it gets here, it’ll take several weeks to get all the peripheral devices installed. But we’re excited to get that bus out in the public and have the local residents and riders utilize it. So again, it’s going to be our first battery electric bus, and we’re going to be keeping a close eye at the pilot program, but we think it’s going to be a great addition to our fleet. In addition to that, we’re also looking at upgrading our point of sale systems, kind of like cash registers for each bus, so when riders board the bus, they’ll be able to utilize credit card, debit card payments, Apple Pay, Google pay, all sorts of different forms of payments, as opposed to currently just cash on board the bus. But we’re looking at rolling that out early spring of 2026, so again, right around the corner, lots of projects going on, and the listeners and our writers in stay up to date with these projects on kwtransit.com. Along with the cash fare only on board the bus, we do have a way that our riders can pay with a credit card and debit card, and that’s utilizing token transit app. We’re going to simplify that process by allowing passengers to pay on board here in the next coming month using our credit card, debit card. But yes, using public transportation is the most economical way to get around town and we’re here just to do that.”
For more information, click here: https://kwtransit.passiogo.com/