Miami-Dade advocates raise concerns over high costs of free trolley services - CBS Miami

Oct 16, 2024

By Larry Seward

Updated on: October 15, 2024 / 10:30 PM EDT / CBS Miami

SWEETWATER - Advocates for better public transportation in Miami-Dade County are raising concerns about the high costs associated with free municipal trolley services.

According to an analysis by Transit Alliance Miami, the cost per rider in some cases exceeds $78.

The group graded every part of the Miami-Dade County public transit system in its latest scorecard.

"The municipal trolleys, we gave them an "F," said Nicholas Duran, Public Affairs Manager for Transit Alliance Miami.

A half-cent tax on every purchase in the county goes into a transportation trust that pays for trolley services in 23 municipalities. Riders do not pay fees to ride.

However, the Transit Alliance's analysis of county data found ridership so low and wait times for service so long that it cost an average of $10 per rider in half of the municipalities with trolleys.

"It costs $23 per passenger in Sweetwater," Duran said. The analysis found that the Homestead Trolley costs more than $78 a rider.

A spokesperson for the City of Homestead said that the city added an extra trolley to their route to speed up service and lower wait times.

It is a move designed to make the service more attractive to riders like Oscar Toro. He used to ride the trolley in Sweetwater to appointments and stores.

"Service is very, very bad," Toro said.

The Sweetwater Trolly takes an hour and a half to complete a route, according to the city's website. That wait is such a turnoff for Toro that he and two others use trolley stops to catch rides from friends with cars.

"I do not use any public transportation," Toro said in Spanish.

"What we want to see really is some accountability on the trolley service from municipalities and then we want to see accountability from the citizens' independent transportation trust," Duran said.

The trust manages the sales tax that funds trolley services. The trust's executive director emailed a statement to CBS News Miami.

"The CITT is not aware of this study by the Transit Alliance, but will certainly reach out to them to learn more. We are equally concerned with any current or future transit budget shortfalls at the County, and strongly encourage the County administration and policy makers to enhance transit's budget as needed to meet any potential funding shortfalls. We should be working to expand transit infrastructure and ridership by any means necessary, as supported by the nearly 80% of voters that lent their support to a recent straw ballot measure on transit expansion.

The municipal trolley and circulator systems are meant to complement, not compete, with the County's system, and provide critical 'first-and-last mile' connectivity to and from the larger system. The County and its municipalities, as well as other transportation entities, such as Tri-Rail and Brightline, should all be working together to provide a seamless, inter-connected transit system that serves all of the County's diverse neighborhoods, and the varied transportation and mobility needs of its residents, in an efficient and equitable manner. The County's inter-local agreements with each of the municipalities, managed by the County's Department of Transportation and Public Works, provides a process for the County and its municipalities to discuss and address these issues in a coordinated and collaborative fashion.

There are always improvements and enhancements to the system that can be made, and we look forward to continuing to work with our transportation partners and the community in ensuring that we meet Miami-Dade County's critical transportation and mobility needs."

Larry Seward joined CBS Miami in February 2023. He brings to South Florida more than a decade of experience telling stories.

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