Rod Delostrinos, the Director of Transportation for Key West, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on with traffic.
Key West Transit has been working with GPS systems to coordinate travel information.
Delostrinos said, “We’ve been working for really the last 15 years with an older system. Now we’ve been upgrading, and what’s that’s going to give us is a live map where it shows the vehicles, but you’re going to also be able to kind of hover over the bus, as you look on the map, if you’re looking at it on a computer or your smart phone, that kind of tells you the occupancy, that kind of thing, if it’s crowded, and really exactly where it is. So that really is very helpful for the community to determine, hey, the question is, where’s my bus? We haven’t gone public with it just yet. We’re predicting by the end of this month. I think they might have turned it on here and there, you might be able to see things. But our official launch will be in at the end of the month. They’re just testing a lot of the things because that’s one of the things that with any technology, you really have to do the best I can to make sure it’s providing the accurate information.”
The transit development plan has been underway with a lot of information gathering going on.
Delostrinos said, “The transit development plan, that’s our 10 year visioning plan. It helps us because it gathers information on what the community is looking for, toward transit. But it also helps us when it comes to funding because of those ideas are condensed into a document and as we apply for different programs, different grants, that type of thing, then it indicates what the community wants, not just what necessarily the agency is looking for. But we’ve completed about, in the first round of surveys, over 250, which is pretty great for a transit survey. Now we’re approaching phase two, we’re now it’s going to look at things like more capital improvements, service improvements, kind of like do you want to see more extended hours? Do you want to see more vehicles, bus stop improvements? So it’s really a total look at the service we provide here in the city of Key West, and Key West Transit.”
The on demand service is very much geared toward the customer.
Delostrinos said, “We just passed over 100,000 rides in this last month. But really, we’re becoming a victim of our own success because it’s driving down some of the availability. So what we’re doing and the staff is working hard here to try to find that balance. Probably closer to the beginning of the fiscal year in October, we’re going to probably tweak the workforce express. That way, it can take a little bit more of the passenger load, and then free up some of that availability for those on demand trips, because what’s great about this on demand is, we’re able to see where a particular individual is getting on, and when they’re getting off and what the time is. Then we’re able to build a route based on that. That’s how workforce express came about and so we’re continuing that theme of trying to really capture, look at the data, and to form the fixed route that will be more responsive to the public.”
Are most of the passengers who use the service regulars or tourists or just occasional riders?
Delostrinos said, “We definitely see a pretty big mix of passengers. But of course, during the peak times in the morning, and in the evenings, we see really some of the regular folks in our community, going to work and even going to school down here by the College of the Florida Keys. So you we really gotten to know who our ridership are. Then of course, you do have a lot of visitors. I like to say that our bus operators are really great ambassadors to our city and especially on our Lower Keys Shuttle where you have folks coming from Marathon or Sunshine Key is another big pickup spot and just really giving the folks that ride or have never ridden, kind of a glimpse into the community and really trying to get them safely to their destination.”
The city is getting ready to talk budget soon.
Delostrinos said, “The budgeting process is an annual thing where we really sit down and determine what are we going to do, it’s the plan in the next fiscal year and then trying to put the money toward it. One of the things that we’re trying to program and I think as far as funding is concerned because the park and ride was originally built through grant funding in the 90s. We are all looking toward a major renovation and if those who use it can definitely agree that it definitely needs a facelift. I think we’ve determined the funding so hopefully that project goes through without a hitch as we’re looking toward our next budget cycle which is what we approved hopefully in September. The park and ride is a great way to come into Old Town and leave your vehicle there and then you can ride any of the buses that go through there because right by the park and ride, you can get the Duvall loop, you can get the Lower Keys Shuttle if you want and of course Key West Rides. It’s really accessible to a lot of things and really even the ferry boat. We’re definitely thinking that this is going to be a great project. It’s going to be multi year because obviously we don’t want to shut down that that asset. But I think at the end of this process we’re going to come out with a great service for the community.”
How about electric buses? Are there any updates?
Delostrinos said, “Unfortunately, there is a high demand for that and I think we’re probably in the 20 month before delivery point, but really it gives us time to get our folks train. It’s really mostly on the maintenance side. The bus operation, for the most part is very similar. But we definitely need to get the staff trained, we need to get our charging station set up. So those type of things, they’re all part of that process. We’re excited to see the first electric bus. Hopefully, it’ll make an impact. I know, it’s going to make an impact as far as really emissions right off the bat, but just to kind of see how that really can play into it and we can integrate that into our bus service.”
For more information, click here: https://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/595/Schedules-and-Route-Maps