Rogelio Hernandez, Director of Transportation for the City of Key West, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about traffic.
The holidays are a busy time for travel in the Keys, but the employees at the Department of Transportation in Key West will have Christmas Day and New Year’s Day off.
Hernandez said, “It’s just three days out of the year that we don’t operate. That’s Thanksgiving Day, which we just enjoyed, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. So again, we will not be operating any service at all, including the Lower Keys Shuttle, and that’s for the drivers and the team and the staff to spend time with their families and loved ones. But rest assured that the following day, we’re back at it, providing service throughout the city and in the Lower Keys.”
New Year’s Eve will see extended hours with the safe ride program.
Hernandez said it’s “very similar to the program we offered for Fantasy Fest, except that we’re going to be running even later into the morning hours or evening hours. We hope to put some extra busses out there, cutaways run throughout, run additional service throughout the day and night. That way, anyone that’s participating in these facilities can just leave the driving to us. We’re looking at adding additional trips northbound and southbound trips on the Lower Keys Shuttle throughout the day and evening, which would help a lot with the traffic on US 1, which seems to be getting worse and worse and worse. As the day goes by and the last bus departing northbound from Key West to Marathon, which is very important to note, is at 1:30am. All that information can be found on our website. The Duval loop will run that evening, later into the morning hours. So will the Key West ride service. So again, we’ll be running extended service hours on the Lower Keys, the Workforce, the Duval loop service, and the Key West ride on demand service.”
The Duval loop will be suspended in January 2026.
Hernandez said, “We talked about it, I believe in October and time has flown, and here we are at the end of the year. And unfortunately, the Duval loop will be suspended beginning January 1. Again, we will operate on New Year’s Eve, but shortly after, the Duval loop will be suspended until further notice. We hope to bring it back in the future, but currently there is no return date. But I do want to mention in the meantime, there’s still other services that our riders and visitors can use, and that’s the Lower Keys Shuttle to get around even the downtown area. And, of course, the Key West rides.”
What is the Key West rides?
Hernandez said, “It’s an on demand service, and you can also pre book, but it’s very similar to Uber and Lyft, where you download an app, and it’s very user friendly. You select the location where you want to get picked up at and your destination, and it will give you options for trips, and it’s as simple as hitting the trip you want, and leave the rest to us. The bus will come pick you up at the bus stop nearest to your pickup point, and drop you off at the bus stop nearest to your destination. Again, it’s very user friendly. We also have another option for those that aren’t very tech savvy. You can always call the office at 305-809-3910, and we’ll do the booking for you. It’s one of the most popular service we currently offer now, alongside with the workforce fixed route service. But I encourage those that haven’t used it before to give it a try.”
Passio Go is the app.
Hernandez said, “I do encourage and recommend riders that are going to continuously use our transportation service to download Passio Go because there’s a lot more features involved. But really KW Transit, it’s one of the most recommended option, as far as being able to get the latest, up to date information on any of the services we provide. You can go on there, see where the bus is at. You kind of already know based on the schedule what time the bus is arriving. Traffic down here can affect arrival times so people can actually go on there, see exactly where that bus is at. They’ll know if they have a minute or two to grab a coffee before they run out the door. It’s a good way to stay on track.”
There were public meetings in November for Key West Transit.
Hernandez said, “Those two public meetings went very well. We had a pretty good turnout on the second meeting, and we’re looking at having another meeting here in the near future. We got a lot of good feedback, and that’s really what we wanted, is we wanted to provide an overview of the service, future improvements, and also get feedback from the riders and the residents themselves. That’s not the only way that the public can’t provide any feedback or recommendation. The door is always open Monday through Friday, 8 to 5. We’re on College Road. Or even an email to us works as well too. But it was a good turnout. We had two meetings in November. We’re hoping to have another one here in the near future. We work hard to make getting around easier for everyone around town, and we look forward to doing that in the new year.”
For more information, click here: www.kwtransit.com