Homestead council approves revised Freebee service zone and new trolley routes after transit study

The Homestead City Council voted Tuesday to approve a revised service area map for the city’s Freebee on-demand shuttle and to submit a redesign of the city trolley network developed in a trolley efficiency study.

Public Works Director Cairo Kangas told council the Freebee service, launched Dec. 13, 2023, operates three vehicles with weekday commuter-hour emphasis and weekend service. Kangas said the service completed 21,850 rides in calendar year 2024, carries roughly 29,000 passengers annually, and currently shows an average cost of about $15.57 per rider. He also reported an average app cancellation rate near 50 percent and an average wait time of roughly 27–28 minutes.

Kangas said the city has executed an FDOT grant (identified in the presentation as $20,989) that will reimburse roughly half of monthly Freebee expenditures; staff provided a monthly example reimbursement of $14,173.03 if monthly spend totaled $28,346.06. Kangas said the city is piggybacking on an existing contract with Freebee at an illustrative rate of $34.47 per vehicle hour and that the Freebee service is funded with CITT/ETP transit funds under an interlocal agreement with Miami‑Dade County. He recommended a revised “transit zone” map that better aligns with the interlocal’s intent by defining a zone roughly a quarter‑mile either side of the South Bay Transit Way and other transit hubs while preserving practical routing to popular destinations such as downtown U.S. 1.

Council members pressed for more detailed origin‑destination data and for changes to hours to better serve downtown businesses and evening activity. Vice Mayor Fletcher asked staff to explore matching Friday hours to the Saturday schedule (10 a.m.–10 p.m.) so Freebee would better support evening trips; Kangas said staff could do that. Councilman Roth and others questioned utilization numbers and urged staff to pursue driver and app reliability and more granular trip logs from the vendor.

After discussion, Vice Mayor Fletcher moved and Councilman Davis seconded a motion to adopt the revised Freebee map and transmit it to Miami‑Dade County for review. The council approved the motion by roll call (Councilman Cannonball: yes; Councilman Davis: yes; Councilman Roth: yes; Councilwoman Bailey: yes; Councilwoman Avila: yes; Vice Mayor Fletcher: yes; Mayor Lawson: yes).

Following the Freebee discussion, consultant John Lafferty of Kimley‑Horn presented the trolley quality and efficiency study, which recommended three reorganized routes (rebranded in the presentation as Western, Central and Eastern) to improve east–west connectivity, serve gaps in the southeast portion of the city, better align stops with Miami‑Dade Transit locations and reduce transfer needs. The study included proposed stop locations, estimated cycle times and an implementation target of fall 2025, subject to county review and approval. Lafferty and staff said the Lucy/Central route would see minimal change because it performs best; Western and Eastern routings would be expanded to improve coverage of employment, retail and medical destinations.

Council members suggested edits before county submission: investigate routing into the Waterstone shopping area, restore a stop serving Fico Williams Community Center (including safety measures at the stop), consider northern extensions to access Keysgate/Publix and review potential gated-community access with Waterstone leadership. Councilwoman Bailey asked that staff retain Fourth Street service near community centers where after‑school programs and seniors use the stop; staff agreed to explore minor route adjustments that preserve school and community center access and said the small changes would add roughly 10 minutes to a cycle time in one scenario.

Councilwoman Avila moved and Councilwoman Bailey seconded a motion to submit the revised trolley route map to the county for preliminary review and to return to council with any required edits; the motion passed by roll call (Councilman Davis: yes; Councilman Cannonball: yes; Councilman Roth: yes; Councilwoman Bailey: yes; Councilwoman Avila: yes; Vice Mayor Fletcher: yes; Mayor Lawson: yes).

Staff said they will conduct extensive public outreach and HOA briefings before implementation, coordinate with businesses for loading/unloading permission at key stops (Pharmacies, Walmart, Homestead Pavilion, hospitals), pursue shelter installations to improve boarding comfort, and continue to seek origin‑destination heat‑map detail from the vendor to refine routes. The council also asked staff to return with cost estimates for special‑event extensions and options to increase vehicle availability if demand justifies it.

No amendments to funding were adopted at the meeting; council action authorized the revised Freebee transit zone map and the submission of the trolley route redesign to Miami‑Dade County for review and subsequent council consideration.