Key West budget proposal would cut transit routes to one island loop
Key West’s budget would replace two bus services with one hourly island loop from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., cutting Stock Island access for workers.
The City of Key West’s FY27 budget proposal would wipe out Key West Rides and Workforce Express and replace them with a single hourly loop around the island from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. For riders who rely on buses to reach Stock Island jobs, downtown shifts, school, medical appointments and errands, the change would shrink the system to one slower, less direct line.
The city replaced its old North and South Lines with Key West Rides on-demand service to connect riders to other transit routes. In May 2023, Key West Transit launched Workforce Express between Stock Island and Bahama Village, and the Key West Chamber of Commerce said the new express route and related service changes were meant to improve reliability, schedules and performance.
Key West Transit’s schedules and route maps page was last updated Oct. 24, 2025 and still listed Workforce Express, with a note that additional stops were added July 1, 2024. Key West Rides On-Demand was last updated Dec. 23, 2025. In March 2026, the city updated its 10-year transit development plan, a state-required annual update, and transit planners had already been reconsidering the route structure before the FY27 budget surfaced.
The proposal would hit the people most dependent on fixed service, especially workers on the County side of Stock Island. In July 2026, Chris R. Hamilton wrote that the city’s transit director told commissioners Key West Rides was being cut because it was “too popular” to afford. Hamilton also wrote that the Duval Loop and the Lower Keys Shuttle were the routes that bounced back after COVID, while the proposed Island Hopper would leave no service for the County side of Stock Island and end too early for people working dinner shifts.
Friends of Car-Free Key West & Duval Street/Historic Downtown said the new plan would scrap Key West Rides and Workforce Express and replace them with the Island Hopper. That would mean longer waits and fewer direct trips for workers moving between Stock Island, Bahama Village and the rest of Key West.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
