2019 Top 10 – #2: City Adopts Ambitious 10-Year Key West Transit Plan
Before we bring you the Top 10 Key West Bike, Walk, Transit and Streets for People Stories of 2020 we are counting down last year’s 2019 Top 10 to refresh our memories of where we’ve been. Especially as many of the 2019 stories carry over into 2020. Each day we’ll share another story until we get to 2019’s #1 on December 18. THEN we’ll build on that and begin counting down 2020’s Top 10 till the end of the year. We hope you enjoy our 2019 Recap and our new 2020 stories throughout December. Thank you.
By Chris Hamilton, Monday, December 30, 2019
Free fares. Simplified, more direct routes. Service every 15 minutes, seven days a week. Wow!
With the community’s input, Key West Transit and their consultant, Tindale Oliver, drafted a 10-year Key West Transit Development Plan that will transform the City’s bus service in the coming years. It is bold, ambitious and in line with a more environmentally sustainable, walk, bike, transit friendly city. The City Commission approved the TDP at its meeting on August 6.
The Plan calls for building upon the wildly successful Duval Loop model and adding a new series of “Loop” routes in Old Town, Midtown and New Town; adding a circulator route on Stock Island; and then linking those with a series of “Connector” routes from New Town, the airport and a new Intermodal Center (with parking) at the transit facility on Stock Island. The plan also calls for doubling the Lower Keys Shuttle service in the Lower Keys to Key West. Best of all, these new, simplified routes will span 7 days a week at 15 minutes frequency instead of every 90- or 120-minutes City routes operate on now. The plan is also including provisions for making all City bus service (except the Lower Keys Shuttle) free.
THIS is all fantastic news. Kudos to the Key West Transit Director, his staff and the City Commission for boldly moving forward. The hard part, implementation, starts now. We think this is the sleeper story of the year as it hasn’t received much press nor much talk around town. Perhaps because the City doesn’t even have this plan on it or Key West Transit’s web site. Hey guys, can you please share this wonderful plan so all can see!
Key West TDP Draft Report (Large File)
PPT Presentation of KW Transit Developement Plan TDP August 2019
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#3 New Duval Pocket Park for People Replaces Parking Lot for Cars (Dec. 29, 2019)
#4 Mall on Duval (Dec. 28, 2019)
#5 “HAWK” Signals Installed at Five N. Roosevelt Crosswalks (Dec. 27, 2019)
#6 City Implements Progressive Parking Strategies (Dec. 26, 2019)
#7 Starting the Crosstown Greenway Project (Dec. 23, 2019)
#8 Duval Street Revitalization Help Sought Via RFQ (Dec. 22, 2019)
#9 City Rebuilds Atlantic Boulevard Bike Path (Dec. 21, 2019)
#10 City Addresses Closing the Gap at Admiral’s Cut (Dec. 20, 2019)
