Rogelio Hernandez, the Interim Director of Transportation for Key West Transit, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about traffic.
How is ridership looking for Key West Transit?
Hernandez said, “Numbers are looking good. Preliminary numbers shows 11% increase in ridership, compared to FY ’23, ’24. What I’m really concerned about is the quality of service that we’re providing to our riders. I’m looking at improving safety and convenience. They say if you build something of value, people will naturally be drawn into it and I’m a firm believer into that.”
What is the final mile?
Hernandez said, “That is a project that our multi modal transportation coordinator Ryan over at the engineering department and his team have been working on for the past few years now, and I want to just give them a shout out for that. They’ve been working on helping us increase that quality of service and convenience and safety by adding a few features out there at bus stops. So, for example, there were 62 bus stop information holders, round card holders installed along the Keys, the Lower Keys and Stock Island and the city, that provide bus schedule information to riders as they’re waiting for the bus. We’ve added 43 solar power transit flagging devices, which is really, really convenient for those riders that are waiting early mornings or later evenings, when the sun’s down. They’ve added 121 bike racks, for a total of 242 bike capacity, 60 trash cans. The list goes on and on and on. So again, that just goes to show you, we’re more worried about the quality of service we’re providing and I think we’re doing just that.”
Key West Transit has an app where people can watch buses move around the city in real time.
Hernandez said, “It’s our new app that can be downloaded on your mobile phone, whether it’s an iPhone or an Android. Then we also have our website for those that don’t want to download another app on their phone. There you can get route information, such as arrival time, passenger load on the vehicle, what vehicle number is that you’re waiting on, along with additional information such as fares and a lot more.”
Key West Transit is also working on a project at the Old Town parking garage.
Hernandez said, “For some of those listeners that might not know where the Old Town garage is, it’s located at Carolina and Grinnell. It’s a multi level parking garage that has 300 spaces, and it’s about 32 years old, which is one of the reasons why we’re going to be doing a complete renovation of that garage, from lighting, security cameras, restriping. It’s going to look good. We were just awarded $2 million through a grant, and we expect to start doing work sometime mid year or towards the end of the year and that’s something to be excited about. I think that garage plays on important role reducing vehicle congestion in the old town, and, of course, reducing greenhouse emissions.”
What about bus replacement?
Hernandez said, “During the next four years, we will continue purchasing new busses as part of our bus replacement program. We were awarded $5,000,000 two years ago as part of our bus replacement program. I mentioned previously that we received our first 30 foot bus back in November that is getting ready to go on the road. We are getting ready to receive our first full electric bus, hopefully towards the end of the year. It was going to be a two year wait, but we’re expediting that. Then we’ll be placing additional orders towards the end of the year to hopefully receive it mid year 2026, so there’s a lot going on.”
What about Key West Rides?
Hernandez said, “There’s several ways to book a ride for those that might be interested, one is downloading the Key West rides app on your mobile phone. For those that are old school, you can always give us a call at 305-809-3910, and our trip planning agent will be more than happy to walk you through the steps and even book your ride over the phone. The ridership continues to increase, and we’ll continue to provide service.”
What is the cost to ride on public transportation throughout Key West?
Hernandez said, “If you’re within the city limits and including Stock Island, it can be as cheap as free. So if you’re 60 and over and you have an ID that says you’re a local from Key West, it’s free. If you’re a student, you pay $1 each trip. A regular fare cost $2, so you cannot beat the prices. If you’re traveling up the Keys between Key West and Marathon and vice versa, it’s $4 each trip, unless you qualify for the reduced fare. Again, it can be as low as $1 per trip.”
To check out the bus routes, click here: https://kwtransit.passiogo.com/