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Meet the Island Hopper. You Won’t Meet It Often.

Chris R. Hamilton

Streets for People  |  Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown  |  Chris Hamilton  |  July 25, 2026 | Short-version crossposted at The Keys Citizen

Key West’s FY27 budget proposes scrapping Key West Rides and the Workforce Express for one island-wide hourly loop — the latest in a decade of transit overhauls.

The City held its FY27 budget meeting on Monday, the 20th and it’s like déjà vu all over again as they cite budget constraints in proposing yet another huge change to the public transit system. For the umpteenth time since 2020 Key West Transit will completely overhaul local service in the name of greater efficiency and better service. Each change, examined in a vacuum perhaps made sense in its time and place, but taken together, the 2020’s have been a mess of changes that make existing riders roll their eyes and potential riders say no thank you.

The City will continue to keep the Duval Loop on hiatus. Who didn’t see this coming? And after just three and a half years of operation, the City is proposing to eliminate both the Key West Rides on demand service and the 3-year-old Workforce Express route and replace it with a new Island Hopper that traverses the island, every hour, 12 times a day in both a clockwise and counterclockwise direction.

The County, which eliminated its transit department and the popular Conch Connect on-demand service last summer has a modest proposal on the table to add 4 in-bound and 3 outbound trips a day on the Lower Keys Shuttle. If the County Commission wants to raise taxes. Color me skeptical. 

What’s maddening is both the City and the County at this time last year promised to explore using tourist tax dollars for tourist serving transit along with seeking other local revenue sources. They’ve put nothing significantly new on the table this budget season in terms of revenue, save for the usual feint toward Federal and state transit grants, so we seemed to have wasted a whole year.

Walk with me as we get into the gory details. We’ll explore the pros and cons of the proposed Island Hopper, learn why Key West Rides on-demand is disappearing, figure out if the Duval Loop is or is not coming back, chronicle all the changes or churn over the last decade, learn what the County has or has not been doing, and look into why a whole year has passed with no new money to be found. Yea, that’s a lot. So maybe fetch a cup of strong Cuban coffee, or better yet a cold beer, and then let’s dive in together…

Proposed Island Hopper service would replace Key West Rides on-demand and Workforce Express. Click to enlarge.

Big Changes Proposed for Local Transit Service

If the new Island Hopper was being offered in addition to the existing services, I’d be intrigued. The Hopper routes are vaguely similar to the North and South lines that were eventually phased out in late 2023, almost a year after Key West Rides was introduced. They also look an awful lot like the North and South Connector routes the City proposed as adding in its updated Transit Plan unveiled in March. 

The Island Hopper is a giant one-hour-and-45-minute loop around the entire island, covering downtown and the Historic Seaport, the beaches, airport, most of the residential enclaves in New Town, the hospital and college, much of the retail on N. Roosevelt and parts of Truman and White Street. So, there’s “coverage”  and that’s good. But does it hold together when it represents the entirety of the local public transit system, replacing both Key West Rides and the Workforce Express? 

The whole “clockwise” and “counter clockwise” thing isn’t intuitively easy to follow. An hour between buses isn’t “frequent.” And we asked if a stop is being served in both directions would mean getting 30 minute service – just different directions and the answer was no – both buses leave together and chase each other around the loop. So, you get hourly service.

The span of service seems to have constricted too. Key West Rides service hours are 6 am to 8 pm. The Island Hopper’s last buses out of downtown northward are about 5:45 and 6:04. Here’s what some folks on Facebook said about this:

Theresa – “6a-6p doesn’t support workforce in a tourist/hospitality driven community. We are not a 9-5 workforce.”

Micaela – “Maybe employers will suddenly start closing early to fit the bus schedule.” 

And the most glaring deficiency is not serving the County side of Stock Island. That’s where most of the residents on Stock Island live and it’s a huge part of our workforce. And on the Stock Island gap:

Valerie — “Why did they skip the West side of stock island where most people live.”

Key West Rides: Killed for Being Too Popular

At the Budget Meeting Commissioner Kaufman asked “What about people who have been relying on Key West Rides? What are their options now, someone who lives in New Town and goes to work in Old Town? How will they now be able to get transportation?”

Transit Director Rogelio Hernandez answered:

“I want to start off by saying we still have Key West Rides. Okay, the Key West Rides are very popular service. What you are not seeing is also the amount of unmet demand. So, it’s so popular that we are unable meet that demand. We’d have to actually add more vehicles and more manpower, its expensive to operate Key West Rides and throughout the year we have noticed that so, what we’re doing as the City Manager mentioned, we’ve looked at the ridership and collected that data and identified a service that will better serve the community and our current riders. So, the Key West Rides will be eliminated. But it will be absorbed by a route that would meet the current rider’s needs.”

In other words a victim of its own success. But contrast this with then Transit Director and now Assistant City Manager Rod Delostrinos explanation in late 2021 for proposing to do away with the then existing North and South fixed-route lines with on-demand:

“This course of action eliminates running empty buses, reduces fuel use, and lowers environmental impacts such as continuous noise pollution and bus emissions along the same small area. One of the features of an on-demand transit system is an increase in system efficiency by maximizing bus capacity. This may lead to reassignment of operators to other routes such as the Lower Keys Shuttle. On-demand transit will better serve the public by reducing wait times, trips times and expanding area coverage.”

In a follow-up explanation after the budget meeting via email, Mr. Hernandez on behalf of Mr. Barroso said: 

“Key West Rides initially took the place of the Northline and Southline fixed-route services, which themselves had replaced the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green fixed-route services during the pandemic’s period of significant uncertainties. At that time, On-Demand service effectively met the needs of existing transit users and residents. However, as we look at the present, the service is unfortunately experiencing a high number of “no-shows,” unmet demand, and issues with reliability. The requirements of our current riders and residents have evolved, and consequently, it is essential that we adapt and continuously enhance our transit service while remaining within our financial capabilities.”

Every reinvention seems to be justified by money, never by “this will get more people on the bus.” 

Wait – Is the Duval Loop Back or Not?

Here’s an exchange at the budget meeting that had us confused:

Commissioner Kaufman: “It was surprising to me to see that what was proposed is the elimination of Key West Rides and no return of the Duval Loop which I thought was the plan of management to bring back to us. Can we get an update and report from transit on what the plan is?” 

City Manager: “Commissioner Kaufman you seem to be inaccurate with your statement, the proposed route (the Island Hopper) is to incorporate the Duval Loop. We provided that to you, and we actually articulated that that was the reason why. But yes, we do have Rogelio to come up and field and possibly correct any errors in the statement.”

Transit Director Hernandez: “The Duval Loop is very popular, when it went away, I believe you saw a lot of feedback on that. The plan is to bring the Duval Loop back once when we can find dedicated local revenue. Until that is done there is no way to bring that route back and maintain it. What we don’t want to do is bring a service that we would then eliminate a year later. So, hopefully that answers the Duval Loop question. We’re always looking at identifying grants, those grants are available; however, we need the local revenue to support it.”

No, the Duval Loop isn’t incorporated in the Island Hopper, nor is it proposed to come back yet.

Our confusion lies with the fact that although the Island Hopper does follow part of the Duval Loop route along the Historic Seaport and eastward on Whitehead Street, that’s just a third of the Loop route. And then the Loop, is supposed to be every 15-20 minutes and the Hopper is hourly and would take an hour and 45 minutes to make that Loop around the island. So, no, the Hopper doesn’t really “incorporate” the Loop, any more than the current Lower Keys Shuttle, which follows those same streets, would.

Mr. Hernandez clearly states yes, the Duval Loop was popular, and “there is no way to bring that route back” until they find local matches for grants. Which they haven’t. So, no Loop proposed in this budget. The sad thing is we were here exactly one year ago, precisely because the City said they were losing Federal and state transit grants to cuts from the administrations in Washington, D.C. and Tallahassee. So, the mystery is why they didn’t use this past year to find local sources for everything, including looking at tourist dollars? Mr. Kaufman’s question still hasn’t been answered satisfactorily. 

Churn Baby Churn: Plans Written in Disappearing Ink

Churn. That’s what happens when an agency reinvents its network every few years – riders can’t build their lives around a system that keeps disappearing. Every overhaul resets ridership to zero and asks people to learn the bus all over again. 

Businesses don’t like churn. And it doesn’t work in transit either. Yes, Covid cratered ridership in 2020. But look what recovered and what didn’t. The Loop – the one service they mostly left alone until they killed it – had been coming back. The Lower Keys Shuttle – no changes, same as the Loop, came back. But the core routes, churned over and over, never did. That’s not Covid, that’s the churn.

Chronology of Transit Changes in Key West:
Top: Original and revised Duval Loop. Original and revised Workforce Express. Center: Orange, Red, Blue and Green routes on one map, North and South Lines, and 2020 Plan for Loops and Connectors. Bottom: Current 10-Year from March 2026.

In the ridership chart look at the (KW Rides)/City Routes column as it represents the riders on those Orange, Red, Blue and Green routes, the North and South Line routes, and the current Key West Rides. Add in the Workforce Express. These are the City’s “core” routes for workers and residents. The past four post Covid years show about 71,000, 88,000, 100,000 and 89,000 rides. That’s some up and down churn. Now compare that to the two fiscal years prior to Covid of 172,000 and 186,000 rides and tell me the constant changes are good for business. 

A Year to Find the Money…

Here’s that déjà vu thing, because we are here a year later and the City is once again saying it can’t afford better transit and is making changes as a result. And this seems to happen year after year. But “can’t afford” is a choice about priorities. 

At Monday’s budget meeting in response to Commissioner Kaufman’s concern about the loss of Key West Rides to our “lowest income residents, retirees and workforce” the City Manager responded: “…this department is operating in a $3M deficit and so unless we increase taxes and fund it straight to transportation we had to come up with different revenue ideas and we believe what we are presenting to you is the best possible scenario…You can approve it or not.” We asked the City Manager what the “$3 million deficit” he cited represents. The response, from the transit director, didn’t address it.

What we do know is that the March update to the 10-Year Transit Plan anticipated a cost of $6.275M just to maintain existing service in FY27. The proposed budget is $6.9M. So, this isn’t a cut, it’s essentially flat. But instead of maintaining service, they’re rearranging it. We’d still like to know what the Manager is referring to as that same plan said that on top of that $6.275M for existing service bringing the Duval Loop back would cost $1.5M and new North and South Connectors would each cost $880,000 for a grand total of $9.5M.

At Monday’s meeting Commissioner Lissette Carey asked what it would take to add an additional route to the Hopper, so the service would be every 30 minutes instead of every 60. The Transit Director responded that staff had run two scenarios. One for 60 minutes frequency and one for 45-minute frequency, but only the 60 minutes was presented. The Manager told the Commissioners they’d follow up with that information. In response to our emailed question, Mr. Hernandez told us the 45-minute service would cost $2.8M versus the $2.19M for the Hopper as proposed. That means an additional $600,000 would add some frequency nearly every rider is asking for.

Something to think about. The Transit Fund (page 165), pays the General Fund $713,000 for overhead, PILOT, and franchise fees, and gets nothing back. The frequency upgrade costs less than what transit already hands the General Fund. The money isn’t missing. It’s flowing out. 

While on the subject of money, a year ago, both the City and the County said they’d look into using tourist tax dollars and cruise ship disembarkation fees to help fund tourist serving transit. One year later? Nothing on the table in either the City or County’s proposed budget. 

…The Lever They Never Pulled – Tourist Dollars

What happened? We talked about this last August. In October we shared the City Manager and his finance team signaled a willingness to look at these funds. At the first City Commission meeting in January Commissioner Monica Haskell asked the question “Should the City seek tourist tax funds to support tourist-serving transit like the Duval Loop?” Nearly every commissioner said some version of yes. The City Manager said he was already on it. And TDC President and CEO Kara Franker sent a letter saying she wasn’t opposed “in principle” – while calling for a countywide study before any money moved. We flagged at the time that a study could become a way to run out the clock. Seven months later, here we are. Tick. Tick. Tick. 

The City’s proposed transit budget clearly has none of these funds allocated. But here’s two things we can glean from the County’s recently released budget documents:

The City and County had a whole year. Multiple people said they’d be looking into this. The County Administrator’s principle states shifting money can be done and there’s an extra $26 million dollars in TDC funds this year. Tourist-serving transit got none of it. And that’s a choice.

The County’s Half of the Hole

Monroe County dismantled their fledgling transit department last budget cycle and eliminated the popular Conch Connect on demand service on Stock Island and Key West. They also left some pretty good plans for future service, including 30-minute trunk line service along the entirety of the Overseas Highway supplemented by similar Conch Connects in communities throughout the Keys, on the cutting room floor. 

In their first budget session on July 14, County Administrator Christine Hurley presented (pg. 20) a modest proposal to increase the frequency of the Lower Keys Shuttle by 4 inbound and 3 outbound trips a day for 7 days a week at $180,180 or weekdays at $128,700. The catch? The Commission would have to raise the millage rate. Not quite the 60-minute or 30-minute all day headways we were hoping for and that this workhorse of a route deserves– they’re currently between 90 and 120 minutes between buses, but it is a start.

In March we brought you the story that in addition to addressing frequency on the Lower Keys Shuttle that they’d be bringing “a separate workforce bus service for Stock Island residents to Key West to connect with buses to inner Key West locations. This bus would go through the residential areas of Stock Island to pick up riders.” As we didn’t see this in the proposed budget we asked Administrator Hurley about the Stock Island service. She said she couldn’t answer by our deadline and directed staff to respond. We’ll let you know what they say.

With the City seemingly pulling out of the County side of Stock Island by eliminating Key West Rides and the Workforce Express, that leaves a whole lot of workers and residents without any alternative but to drive.

Don’t Build a Bus You’ll Cancel Next Year

“What we don’t want to do is bring a service that we would then eliminate a year later.”

That’s what Transit Director Rogelio Hernandez said in response to a question about why the Duval Loop wasn’t slated to be brought back in FY27 as previously planned. And he’s right. But let’s apply that to Key West Rides. The Workforce Express. The North and South Lines. The colored Orange, Red, Green and Blue lines. The City keeps churning through routes, eliminating one thing and replacing it with another. And that’s exasperating.

Imagine workers living on the County side of Stock Island who’ve seen the Conch Connect and now potentially the Workforce Express and Key West Rides disappearing leaving no public transit to be had. Or the line cook in New Town who works past 6:00 pm and can’t get a Hopper out of downtown. Or the hotel that can’t keep staff because the bus doesn’t support people who do shift work. Think of the human cost in terms of those people who can least afford to live here and are forced to pay to own and operate a car on top of increasing rent. As Rebecca told us on Facebook — “Clearly (the Hopper is) meant for tourists… does not support the local working community.”

Why not this? A single hourly loop doesn’t have to be the whole system. Keep a slimmed-down Key West Rides — or a service like it — to fill the gaps the Hopper can’t: the evening shift-worker heading home at 11, the Stock Island resident the loop doesn’t reach, the neighborhood a long way from the nearest timepoint. Fixed route for the spine, on-demand for the edges. That’s not either/or. That’s how good transit systems actually work.

But even short of that, these are draft budgets. We’ve got till late September to fix them. At the very least the City Commission should have the 45-minute Island Hopper on the table and put tourist dollars toward reviving the Loop. In addition, work with the County to figure out something for their side of Stock Island. That and the County needs to fund more help for the workhorse Lower Keys Shuttle. None of this requires raising taxes; it requires deciding transit matters. So, talk to your commissioners and the candidates.

The City and County, if their budgets are a guide, seem to have wasted most of the last year by not figuring out how to properly fund public transit. Let’s not waste the rest of the summer and fall. Let’s stop the churn and use of disappearing ink on planning documents and promises.

Public transit isn’t a nice to have. It’s a public service. Just like roads, schools and clean water. When we have frequent, reliable, easy-to-understand public transit it benefits our workers, our businesses, residents and tourists. Our economy and downtown flourishes too. Everybody wins. 

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Chris Hamilton is the founder of Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown, a local advocacy group championing sustainable mobility and vibrant public spaces. Subscribe to the blog and follow on Facebook, Twitter, and Substack for updates. All stories are cross posted at KONK Life News. Originally from Washington, D.C., Chris spent over two decades leading nationally acclaimed initiatives in transit, biking, walking, and smart growth for Arlington County, VA’s DOT. Since moving to Key West in 2015, he has embraced a car-free lifestyle downtown, dedicating his time to non-profits and community projects. Explore all Streets for People column articles here.

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