Freebee riders in Coral Gables, Doral set records

Coral Gables and Doral are seeing Freebee ridership records, as numbers continue to grow.

This year, Coral Gables has reported more than 62,000 rides were booked on the service and the Freebee fleet is being upgraded to Tesla vehicles to improve service. The rideshare service was initially launched in 2017 and offers free, on-demand rides in electric-powered vehicles to those requesting it within the service area.

The new Freebee fleet will operate seven days a week to maximize ridership patterns. Freebee offers connections to the Coral Gables Trolley system as well as to five municipal parking garages and 12 surface lots, providing an opportunity for all to discover downtown Coral Gables, said Kevin Kinney, the city’s parking and mobility services director.

Funding is provided by the City of Coral Gables and is augmented by paid advertisements on Freebee’s app and vehicles. The upgrade to Tesla vehicles is being made possible through a grant from the State of Florida Department of Transportation Public Service Development Program.

Another transportation service currently operating in the city is Miami-Dade County’s MetroConnect, a free on-demand service operating in 11 zones in the county. Two zones currently include Coral Gables, with the Dadeland North Zone being the largest. It offers residents and visitors easy connections to and from the Douglas and University Metrorail stations.

“Providing those that live, work and visit Coral Gables alternative transportation solutions is important to our mission and makes for a stronger, more viable community and central business district,” Mr. Kinney said.

Doral is reporting about 51,000 passengers have also used the Freebee service this past year. This month, a senior on-demand six-month pilot was launched. The pilot program will provide first-last mile door-to-door on-demand transit service with two Tesla Model X vehicles for senior citizens.

The Freebee vehicles, which launched in 2019, cover areas bounded by Northwest 25th Street to the south, 87th Avenue to the west, 58th Street to the north, and 79th Avenue to the east, as well as the 8800 AMLI Residential Building. The electric vehicles also serve the retail center, Doral Square, on the southeast corner of Northwest 87th Avenue/36th Street, which includes World of Beers and Marshalls.

“This improvement of the Freebee service helps our residents and commuters travel easily to more areas of our city for free,” said Mayor Christi Fraga of Freebee’s coverage expansion, “and in a sustainable manner that is more friendly for our environment.”