Dunedin Pilot Shuttle Service To Pick Up Residents, Visitors From Remote Parking Lots

DUNEDIN, FL — Faced with more and more visitors and increasingly limited parking space, the city of Dunedin has contacted with Freebee LLC to operate a six-month pilot program to shuttle visitors, residents and those who work in Dunedin to the places they need to go without the hassle of finding a parking apace.

Freebee co-founder Jason Spiegel said it will take about three more weeks to put everything in place to launch the new shuttle service, which uses electric eco-friendly vehicles that can accommodate people with disabilities.

He said Freebee will launch the Dunedin service with two vehicles and then add more as demand picks up.

He noted that the city can choose either a fixed-route service that picks up people from common parking areas or the city can offer on-demand service in which people needing a ride simply lets Freebee know through its app.

Spiegel said the company started a shuttle service in St. Pete Beach in 2017 with just one vehicle. Now Freebee operates four shuttles in St. Pete Beach, providing rides 10 hours a day. Last year, 87,000 people road the St. Pete Beach shuttle.

Dunedin Mayor Julie Ward Bujalski noted that, although the city has purchased land to build a parking garage, it could be years before the garage is completed. She said Dunedin needs relief now, especially since the city is losing the parking spaces it now leases at the former Ocean Optics building because a new development is planned for the site.

Spiegel said he hopes to have 4,000 riders a month using the free city-subsidized service by the end of the pilot program. At that time, the city commission can decide whether to make the service permanent.

"I'm excited about the program," said Dunedin Vice Mayor John Tornga. "They've got a great app and users get a receipt showing how much carbon they saved by not using their car. I think it's a great service."

Transportation is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions.

Although Tornga said he personally likes the idea of an on-demand service, he said either an in-demand service or a fixed route service would serve the purpose of eliminating the search for parking spaces.

"I'm willing to go whatever way the community prefers," he said.

"It's a first step," said Commissioner Mo Freaney. "At least we're doing something that can actually solve a few issues for us — like parking."

Related: Parking Or Pool: Dunedin City Commissioners Weigh Capital Priorities

Bujalski wondered if people will take advantage of the service, noting that Dunedin already offers the privately operated Jolley Trolley and Local Tiki Rides shuttle services, and those services have problems getting enough riders.

Commissioner Jeff Gow said a fixed-route shuttle service that requires residents and visitors to drive to a parking lot to catch the shuttle isn't taking cars off the road.

"And we're still going to have people who will try to park downtown, so we're still going to have traffic downtown," he said. "I don't see where this is going to benefit us. I won't vote for just a looper. We need to find ways to keep cars at home. Still being car-centric is not solving anything."

The commission voted 4-1 to contract with Freebee for the pilot looper service. Gow was the lone dissenting vote.

The city will use $127,830 in American Rescue Plan Act funds to finance the pilot program.