Miami Beach reports 3.5 million annual trolley riders, expands micro-mobility tracking and studies water taxi pilot

City of Miami Beach officials told the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust on March 19 that the city’s free Miami Beach trolley recorded roughly 3.4–3.5 million riders in the most recent reporting period and that the city will soon expand its micro-mobility and on-demand services reporting and pursue a water-taxi pilot.

"We have about 3.4, almost 3,500,000 riders per year," Assistant Director Oney Rodriguez said during a municipal update presented to the trust. Rodriguez described the trolley’s evolution from an Alton Road reconstruction shuttle into a citywide system with four routes and five loops and a fleet of 33 vehicles (21 in operation, 12 spare).

Why it matters: Miami Beach receives an estimated $5 million in PTP surcharge distribution for FY2025 and uses those funds to support the trolley. At the meeting Rodriguez said the trolley’s current annual operating cost is about $9.3 million; the city covers the difference between PTP funds and operating costs with general fund and tourism-related revenues as well as state grants. "The current cost of our trolley service is around $9,300,000. So we get roughly the $5,100,000 from the PTP," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez described operational changes since the pandemic: pre-pandemic service included earlier start times (06:00) and more vehicles in operation (25 in service pre-pandemic vs. 21 at present), which contributed to higher daily ridership before COVID-19. The pre-pandemic daily average was about 14,500 riders; the current daily average is approximately 10,500, Rodriguez and trustees said.

The city is also increasing micro-mobility reporting. Municipal program manager Mariana Price told the trust that the county is now counting micro-mobility for the first time in ridership tallies and that the first-quarter figure exceeded 500,000 rides, with Miami Beach contributing over 400,000 of those. Price said micro-mobility data are collected from local providers such as DecoBike and local scooter programs.

On on-demand service, Rodriguez said the city experimented with a free on-demand service (Freebee) in gaps where fixed-route trolleys do not run, but the expanded area and limited vehicle capacity created long wait times. As a result the city negotiated additional vehicles with the county and expanded the Freebee area, and it now funds portions of that service itself.

Water taxi planning: Rodriguez said the city commission approved a draft RFQ for water taxi service and that the city is using a Metropolitan Planning Organization (TPO) study as the basis for possible routes connecting Miami Beach to Miami and other municipalities. "As of right now, we do not have a defined route," Rodriguez said, adding the RFQ and a consultant will inform final routing and vessel selection.

Trust members asked about performance and costs. Rodriguez said the city’s average fare-equivalent cost per passenger rose slightly from $2.25 pre-pandemic to about $2.31 under the current service model. He also noted the city negotiates additional funds, including state grants, to supplement PTP funding.

Ending: Miami Beach officials said they will continue to refine the trolley’s service model, pursue a water taxi procurement, expand micro-mobility reporting and finalize a new solicitation for trolley vehicles. The CITT asked staff to continue coordination on municipal reporting and to share follow-up details on micro-mobility methodology and Freebee performance metrics.