The Ocala City Council will likely accept and appropriate a $114,000 grant this week from the Florida Department of Transportation for a new Downtown Circulator Trolley that will connect multiple stops in the heart of the city.
A resolution related to a public transit service development grant agreement from FDOT will come before the Ocala City Council for final approval during its regular meeting on Wednesday, September 3.
After it is likely approved, the city will appropriate FDOT’s $114,572 of the total Transit Service Development Grant of $229,144, and will cover $114,572 in expected matching funds from the city.
In addition to the appropriation of the grant, the city will also consider an amendment to its agreement with RATP Dev USA, Inc., the company that manages SunTran services throughout the city. That amendment would increase RATP Dev’s estimated annual revenue vehicle hours in order to fund its management of the new Downtown Circulator Trolley Route.
A report prepared by city staff suggests the Downtown Circulator Trolley Route has an “estimated start date in September 2025.” The management of the route is estimated to require an additional 100 “revenue hours,” which equates to $8,261 for the remainder of this contract year.
The two contract years after that, RATP Dev estimates 1,700 in additional revenue hours, amounting to around $150,000 more each year to manage the trolleys.
The city estimates that the total increase in revenue vehicle hours to RATP Dev will be around $312,289
City officials originally agreed to submit a request for the trolley grant in May 2024.
In November 2024, the council approved the purchase of the federally-funded electric trolley bus.
The agreement with the state indicates that funds for the new trolley will be available through June 30, 2028. FDOT will not reimburse any expenses claimed after this date.
During previous discussions on the topic, the city indicated that the route will incorporate several stops between Union Station, hospitals, and the downtown corridor, including both Parking Garage One and the city’s second parking garage, which is currently under construction.
According to the grant application submitted to FDOT, the city’s proposed route would include stops at the following locations:
- Downtown Square
- Tourist Development Council
- Marion County Courthouse
- Post Office
- Advent Health Ocala Hospital
- Ocala Regional Medical Center
- Downtown Market & Chamber & Economic Partnership
- City Hall/Citizen’s Circle
- Tuscawilla Park
- Reilly Arts Center
- Downtown Transfer Station
The funds from the federal government are being made available through the Public Transit Service Development Grant Program, which provides initial funding for transit agencies to test new and innovative services, technologies, and routes to improve public transportation.
The program helps assess the viability of new transit methods before recipients commit to continuing successful projects without further state funding.
Last year, the city indicated that the new, largely subsidized vehicle would be used as a pilot to test out the route and that there were no guarantees that the city would fund the program indefinitely after tests.
Do you support the new Downtown Circulator Trolley program coming to Ocala? Share your thoughts in a comment below or, if you have more to say on the topic, submit a letter to the editor.
The Ocala City Council next gathers for its regular meeting on Wednesday, September 3, at 4 p.m. at Ocala City Hall (110 SE Watula Avenue).
UPDATE: This story originally reported the wrong date for the next regular meeting of the Ocala City Council.