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Sweetwater officials seek origin–destination study, app integration as trolley ridership rebounds
Summary
Sweetwater finance director told the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust on June 25 that the city’s three-trolley system has recovered ridership to roughly 50,000–54,000 a year and that the city wants an origin-and-destination study, a GoMD app connection and improved shelters to shorten 90‑minute headways.
Scott Mendelsberg, finance director for the City of Sweetwater, told the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust on June 25 that Sweetwater’s trolley program has returned to roughly pre‑COVID ridership and that the city is planning studies and infrastructure changes to make the service more useful.
Mendelsberg said Sweetwater’s trolley reported about 54,225 riders last year, the city owns three trolleys (two in service and one spare) and current headways are about 90 minutes. "Most people that I talk to in the transit business agree that 90 minute headways are too long," Mendelsberg said, urging an origin‑and‑destination study to identify where riders board and how routes could be split to shorten waits.
The study would test whether to change the single east‑west route into two intersecting routes (one north–south and one east–west) to reduce the time between vehicles, Mendelsberg said. He also described plans to integrate a Sweetwater trolley tracker with the county’s GoMD app, add dynamic schedule displays at stops, replace aging contractor‑owned bus benches and add modern shelters with ADA voice annunciation.
Why it matters: Shorter headways, more-accurate arrival information and improved stops could increase ridership and connectivity with Miami‑Dade Transit routes at major stops such as Dolphin Mall and International Mall, which Sweetwater identified as anchors for its service.
Mendelsberg also reviewed capital and public‑works items funded or anticipated from surtax and other local sources: a historic pedestrian bridge repair ($50,000) to restore the only immediate crossing for students, streetscape and curb/sidewalk improvements on Fifth Street and Fifth Terrace, and a major widening of Southwest 100th/12th Avenue with a revised engineer’s estimate of about $21,000,000. He said the widening would be funded with road impact fees and is intended to relieve congestion as new residential development comes online.
Members pressed for more data. Mayor Peggy Bell and Member Robert Ruano asked for ridership counts and stop‑level boarding and alighting figures; Member Ruano observed that a rider who just missed a trolley at some stops could wait 90 minutes for the next vehicle. Mendelsberg acknowledged the city does not currently maintain a detailed origin‑and‑destination ridership matrix and reiterated the city’s plan to commission the study and to pursue partnerships with neighboring systems (Doral) and with Florida International University’s free shuttle to coordinate connections.
Ending: The trust did not vote on Sweetwater items at the meeting; Mendelsberg said the city would return with outcomes from the planned origin‑and‑destination study and with follow‑up requests for bench and shelter procurement and app integration.
