{"id":111816,"date":"2026-01-09T13:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/111816\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T13:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T13:47:07","slug":"martin-county-bus-ridership-jumps-after-free-fares-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/111816\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin County bus ridership jumps after free fares launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">Martin County residents are increasingly turning to the Marty bus  to get to work, school and daily appointments as the county <a class=\"Link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wptv.com\/news\/treasure-coast\/region-martin-county\/martin-county-makes-public-transit-free-after-commission-approval\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">continues its free-fare program<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Richard Brown, a Martin County resident, said the bus plays a major role in his daily transportation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">WATCH: County data shows ridership increased by 35% after fares eliminated <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI rely on it, I would say about 70% to 80% of the time,\u201d Brown said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">The county eliminated bus fares in early November. December marked the first full month of the program, and county data shows ridership increased by 35% during that period.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI have noticed a lot more people using the bus,\u201d Angela Braconni, another Martin County resident, said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Braconni said free fares have helped reduce costs while she searches for employment and manages family responsibilities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cPart of the reason I started using it is the free fare, because I\u2019m able to get a job and get my daughter from day care or from school,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">County officials say the increase in ridership reflects a broader community need for accessible and affordable public transportation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cTransit is the life blood of every community,\u201d said Ash Beecher, transit administrator for Martin County. \u201cThat\u2019s what Marty provides\u2014it provides access to essential resources.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Operating the Marty bus system costs about $3 million annually. According to the county, the system is fully covered by state and federal funding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Martin County makes public transit free after commission approval<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Brown said the free fares have influenced how often he rides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cSince it\u2019s free I have used it a little bit more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Felix Cabrera, another rider, said he recently learned about the free-fare system while boarding the bus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cWell, I was getting ready to pay the fare, but I realized I didn\u2019t see nobody paying the fare,\u201d Cabrera said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Cabrera said he welcomes the savings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI think that\u2019s a good thing because a lot people right now are suffering with unemployment. They don\u2019t have enough money to put gas in their car,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Martin County officials expect ridership to continue rising as more residents become aware of the free-fare program.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Portions of this story were assisted by artificial intelligence tools and reviewed by a WPTV journalists to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to editorial standards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2026 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martin County residents are increasingly turning to the Marty bus to get to work, school and daily appointments&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[56220,3633,56222,56219,7642,171,173,172,56221],"class_list":["post-111816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-car-insurance","tag-geico","tag-geico-denies-claim-after-car-crash","tag-geico-denies-familys-claim","tag-michigan","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-young-children-on-insurance-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}