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Written by Genevieve Bowen on December 3, 2025
Three new trolleys are set to hit Miami streets, thanks to a million-dollar boost in state funding supporting the city’s efforts to modernize its fleet and streamline transit service.
The Miami City Commission accepted the $1,100,626 from the Florida Department of Transportation on Nov. 20 to fund the purchase of the new vehicles. The trolleys will help upgrade the city’s transit system, reducing vehicle downtime and enhancing service for riders across all routes as the city plans to completely refit its aging trolley fleet over the next decade.
The first trolleys appeared on the city’s streets in 1906 and were powered by an electronic streetcar system. Services thrived through the ’20s and ’30s until operations sputtered out in the fall of 1940.
The city reinstated the trolley program in 2012 to alleviate the growing problem of traffic congestion and provide free mass transit to underserved areas. Over the past decade, the city has been upgrading the fleet and exploring electrification as part of its broader Miami Forever Carbon Neutral plan, which aims to achieve a fully electric public vehicle fleet by 2035.
The latest funding follows a series of studies and investments to modernize the system. In December 2023, the city completed the Trolley Efficiency Plan Study, prepared by Kimley-Horn, which included a fleet condition overview, an assessment of alternative fuel technologies, a replacement plan, and facility and infrastructure requirements, as well as potential grant funding sources.
At that time, Miami’s fleet comprised 56 trolleys averaging about 25,971 miles per year per vehicle, with 14 cars from 2012, 17 from 2013, 10 from 2017, 12 from 2020 and 3 from 2022. The study recommended transitioning to battery-electric buses over fuel-cell-electric buses due to cost efficiency, proven performance and widely available charging infrastructure.
The city currently operates 57 trolleys, running all routes Monday through Friday, with reduced service on weekends.
The upgrades are part of broader efforts to reduce vehicular congestion, improve pedestrian mobility and enhance transit service as Miami continues to grow, while steadily transforming the trolley fleet into a more reliable, sustainable network.
In May 2024, the state also contributed $1.8 million to replace four aging trolleys, moving forward the city’s plan to fully refit its vehicle fleet over the next decade at a projected cost of $56 million. The newly accepted state funding builds on that effort, supporting the long-term phased replacement strategy and advancing Miami toward a fully modernized, energy-efficient trolley system.