{"id":68737,"date":"2025-12-02T23:27:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T23:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/68737\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T23:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T23:27:10","slug":"liberty-city-lacks-saturday-trolley-service-prompting-equity-concerns-local-news-updates-the-miami-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/68737\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty City lacks Saturday trolley service, prompting equity concerns | Local News & Updates | The Miami Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

On weekday mornings in Liberty City, the City of Miami Trolley is a vital service, transporting seniors with carts, children in school uniforms, and workers transferring to Metrorail or Metrobus. But when Saturday arrives, the green and orange buses vanish.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cI use the trolley every day. It\u2019s the best thing they could have come up with, except we need it on Saturdays,\u201d said longtime Liberty City resident Mary Williams. \u201cI catch the trolley so I can go to the Publix Supermarket or Ross in Downtown, also to go to Winn Dixie, which is very important because a lot of people like myself don\u2019t have transportation.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

Liberty City, a historically Black neighborhood, is one of only two trolley service areas in the City of Miami, along with Overtown, that lack Saturday service.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a trolley on Saturday. It\u2019s a necessity. It\u2019s not a luxury,\u201d emphasized resident and advocate Mary Washington.\u200b<\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mary Washington is a Liberty City resident and advocate who is pushing for Saturday trolley service in the neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

Ridership is up, but still no trolley<\/p>\n

The Miami Trolley Management program is run by the City of Miami\u2019s Department of Resilience and Public Works\u2019 transportation unit. The system includes 13 routes stretching across about 112 miles.<\/p>\n

Liberty City’s trolley launched late, in 2019<\/a>, despite the program having started in early 2012. The route uses just two trolleys, looping from the Allapattah Metrorail Station along Northwest 62nd Street and Northwest 7th Avenue before connecting to other trolleys and buses. For years, community advocates have pushed for more responsive routing, clearer signage, and Saturday service.<\/p>\n

Washington began digging into the issue in 2021 after hearing that the city was considering cutting Liberty City\u2019s trolley service due to low ridership.<\/p>\n

\"Annie<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Annie McGregor relies on the trolley to get to the Carrie P. Meek Senior Center, doctor appointments, and Winn-Dixie. When the weekend arrives, she struggles.<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I looked online at the trolley map for Liberty City and Overtown, in my opinion, it looked like a fifth-grade drawing,\u201d Washington recalled, comparing it to other maps.<\/p>\n

She also discovered missing stop signs, which contributed to the perceived low ridership.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople don\u2019t know to ride the trolley because they don\u2019t know that\u2019s a trolley stop,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

After repeated requests from advocates, the city installed temporary \u2014 and later, permanent \u2014 signs and redesigned the map. Washington said ridership subsequently increased by 10,000.<\/p>\n

According to data shared with Washington by the transportation department, Liberty City’s ridership is now higher than in some service areas that already have Saturday trolleys.<\/p>\n

\"FY<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A chart logging City of Miami Trolley ridership during FY 2023\u20132024.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Mary Washington)<\/p>\n

In FY 2023\u20132024, the Health District recorded 40,822 riders, Coconut Grove had 83,796, and Liberty City had 90,291. In FY 2024\u20132025, as of May 2025, the pattern continued: the Health District reported 29,072 riders, Coconut Grove 61,050, and Liberty City 64,771.<\/p>\n

Overtown, which also lacks weekend service, has seen ridership tick up as well, from 22,985 rides in 2023\u20132024 to 23,193 by May 2025.<\/p>\n

\"FY<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A chart logging City of Miami Trolley ridership during FY 2024\u20132025.<\/p>\n

(Courtesy of Mary Washington)<\/p>\n

Despite the clear data, Washington says her requests for Saturday service are met with the same answer: the city needs to \u201clook at the master plan\u201d or hold a citizen focus group, a conversation she says has been ongoing for months without resolution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who ride the trolley are not people who can get to a place where you\u2019re gonna have a citizens focus group,\u201d Washington said. \u201cThose people have to go to work; they can\u2019t just go out to a focus group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Miami Times contacted the City of Miami\u2019s Department of Resilience and Public Works several times but did not receive a response by the time of this publication.\u200b<\/p>\n

Barriers to services and health<\/p>\n

For many, the trolley is a connection to life’s necessities. Annie McGregor relies on it to get to the Carrie P. Meek Senior Center, doctor appointments, and Winn-Dixie. When the weekend arrives, she struggles.<\/p>\n

\"Washington<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(L\/R) Mary Washington and Annie McGregor rallying for Saturday service at one of the trolley bus stops.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Amelia Orjuela Da Silva for The Miami Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI have two daughters, but they work. You can\u2019t bother them all the time,\u201d she explains, noting that without the trolley, she is often stuck at home.<\/p>\n

Washington said she has met seniors who are afraid to cross wide, dangerous streets and instead rely on the trolley to get to nearby grocery stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some seniors who live in the senior buildings; they will get on the trolley at 7th Avenue and 62nd Street. They will ride that trolley all the way down to the Allapattah Metrorail station and come back around and get over to El Presidente (621 N.W. 62nd St.).\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

The weekend service gap is also considered a public health issue. Berlinda Dixon, a complex-case manager with Dade County Street Response and the Doctors Within Borders\u2019 free clinic, described the trolley as serving an essential role for her patients. The clinic, located at New Covenant Presbyterian Church, offers free medical care, hot meals, and groceries from the “Village (FREE)DGE.” The clinic is open Thursdays through Saturdays, the one day with no trolley service.\u200b<\/p>\n

“If you have to come get groceries on Saturday at the food pantry, there\u2019s no trolley for you to take,” Dixon said. “We\u2019re talking about people who only have a certain amount of income.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

Beyond medical access, Dixon noted, the trolley doubles as a cooling station amid extreme heat and a temporary shelter during cold snaps for the unhoused community.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will ride the trolley to seek shelter and have air conditioning and to take a nap,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For a neighborhood with a median household income<\/a> of around $40,964, the cost difference between a free trolley and other public transit options is a heavy burden. A $5 round-trip bus fare \u2014 or even more, for connecting routes \u2014 every Saturday can be financially crippling.<\/p>\n

\"Trolley<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The route for City of Miami Trolley service in Liberty City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(City of Miami)<\/p>\n

\u200b\u200b\u201cYou\u2019re out there and waiting for the bus for about an hour or something, and then you have to catch more than one bus,\u201d Williams explained. \u201cLike myself, I would have to catch two buses to get to Winn-Dixie, when I can catch a trolley and get one route for free.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equity concerns and solutions\u200b<\/p>\n

Advocates feel their community is being disrespected and overlooked. The disparity is blatant when comparing Liberty City to tourist-heavy areas.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can go to the casino on Saturdays because there are lots of trolleys that go to the casino. There are lots of trolleys that treat our tourists, but what about the residents? These people need free transportation just to go about their daily lives,\u201d Washington said.<\/p>\n

Dixon didn\u2019t mince words.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a blatant discrimination, putting the low-income population at a higher risk of lacking the services and not being able to get to the services they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The route also suffers from poor infrastructure and maintenance. Nancy Dawkins, a retired educator and Liberty City leader, described how broken lifts prevented elders and disabled riders from boarding, forcing them to wait hours for the next trolley. Washington recalled a time when she says a dead dog was left on a trolley bench near a school for weeks, suggesting a lack of city accountability.\u200b<\/p>\n

Washington says she has observed other service areas running four or five trolleys on Saturdays, while Liberty City has none. She suggests reallocating a couple of those trolleys for a modified Saturday route.\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one has told me why we can’t get a trolley on Saturday in Liberty City,\u201d Washington said, \u201ceven though our ridership numbers are higher than the Health District, which has a trolley. Liberty City can’t get one, and no one has told me why.\u201d\u200b<\/p>\n

She has sent city staff her suggested Saturday routes and schedules, designed specifically around community needs \u2014 stopping at grocery stores, Liberty Square\u2019s new businesses, clinics, and senior centers \u2014 but has yet to receive a substantive response.\u200b<\/p>\n

Washington’s core message to officials is simple:\u200b<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you know how much money the people in this 33127 ZIP code make? Do you know how much money they make in the ZIP code where you got five trolleys? The trolley is free, $2.50 for the bus, $3.50 for STS (Special Transportation Service). We make the free trolley. That in itself is dropping the mic.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On weekday mornings in Liberty City, the City of Miami Trolley is a vital service, transporting seniors with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[40028,40043,40033,40026,40035,40031,40045,40022,40019,40037,40024,40041,40017,40039,40029,123,40023,125,124,40021,40036,40038,40030,40040,40042,40046,40034,40027,40018,40032,40025,40044,40020],"class_list":["post-68737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-liberty-city-community-advocates","tag-liberty-city-community-solutions","tag-liberty-city-free-transportation","tag-liberty-city-grocery-access","tag-liberty-city-low-income-residents","tag-liberty-city-public-health-transportation","tag-liberty-city-public-transit-affordability","tag-liberty-city-ridership-increase","tag-liberty-city-saturday-transit","tag-liberty-city-senior-center-access","tag-liberty-city-seniors-transportation","tag-liberty-city-transportation-barriers","tag-liberty-city-trolley","tag-liberty-city-winn-dixie-access","tag-mary-washington-liberty-city","tag-miami","tag-miami-department-of-resilience-and-public-works","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miami-public-transportation-equity","tag-miami-trolley-accessibility-issues","tag-miami-trolley-cooling-station","tag-miami-trolley-discrimination","tag-miami-trolley-equity-concerns","tag-miami-trolley-master-plan-debate","tag-miami-trolley-neighborhood-impact","tag-miami-trolley-ridership-data","tag-miami-trolley-routes","tag-miami-trolley-service","tag-miami-trolley-signage-improvements","tag-miami-trolley-weekend-gap","tag-miami-trolley-weekend-service-disparity","tag-overtown-trolley-service"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68737","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=68737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}