Key West Mobility Shifts Favor Bicycles, Strain Bus Services

A local transportation review released December 21 documented a year of contrasting trends in Key West mobility. Cyclists saw concrete gains in 2025 with new bike lanes across the city, completion of a new bike bridge, and upgraded bike racks on buses. The review also highlighted a local Safety Action Plan aimed at making cycling safer and more convenient for residents and visitors.

Those micromobility gains came alongside severe setbacks for public transit. City and county budget decisions led to service reductions, and the popular Duval Loop circulator was scheduled to end service on December 31, 2025. The county also concluded its transit program, and several bus routes experienced declining ridership even as a few routes posted modest increases. The combined effect left Key West with a fractured transit network and a growing reliance on nonmotorized travel for short trips.

The immediate impact falls hardest on bus dependent residents. Workforce housing residents, shift workers, and others who depend on regular bus schedules face longer commutes and fewer reliable options for travel to jobs, schools, and healthcare. Service reconfigurations and funding shortfalls were identified as primary causes for the drop in transit resilience, while investments in cycling infrastructure proceeded without an equivalent plan to sustain essential bus service.

Key takeaways from the review are clear. Several services have been suspended or will end at year end, short term bicycle improvements have raised the quality and safety of cycling, and the transit network is now fragile and underfunded. Restoring sustainable funding streams, improving interagency coordination between city and county transit planners, and creating targeted service subsidies for workforce routes were cited as necessary steps to prevent recent bicycle gains from coming at the expense of essential bus service.

Residents seeking more information can consult the City of Key West calendar, Monroe County Commission agendas, and materials posted by Key West Transit for meeting times and plan documents. Elected officials face a policy choice in early 2026 about whether to rebuild a coordinated transit backbone that serves all residents while preserving the progress made for cyclists.