Minerva Onate enjoys taking the Freebee to all of her appointments around Miami Lakes.
“It’s very, very good,” Onate, 95, said on Oct. 10 while leaving her dentist’s office near Main Street.
“It’s comfortable,” she said. “And we have a good, good driver!”
The west side resident was referring to Edwin Gonzalez, her regular Freebee driver.
She ticked off on her fingers where she takes the free, on demand electric vehicles: “CVS, Publix, the dentist, doctors…”
“And the hair salon,” said Gonzalez.
Since 2018, Miami Lakes has offered the service that can be summoned via an app or phone call.
The town replaced its two open air modified golf carts with luxury Tesla sedans in September.
The fleet has two vans that can transport wheelchair users and two Tesla X model cars, according to the town.
It has allocated $407,000 for the Freebee program in the current fiscal year.
Fifty percent of funding for the program comes from a $203,500 grant awarded by the Florida Department of Transportation for Teslas, the town said.
The rest of the Freebee program is paid for with $6,000 in advertising revenue; the town’s share of money from the county half-penny sales tax and the town’s projected carry forward fund balance.
The Tesla that Onate rode in has driver-controlled “falcon wing” doors that automatically rise to the sky. The feature allows elderly passengers to get in and out of the car without having to push or pull a door.
Dottie Wix, chair of the Miami Lakes Elderly Affairs Committee said, “I haven’t heard one negative thing from our seniors. They feel like they are being chauffeured.”
The town reports an uptick in use.
“Ridership varies month-to-month for the Freebee,” Olivia Shock, the town’s transportation coordinator said in an email. “But comparing the past few months to those same months in 2022, we see a 5-to-20 percent increase each month compared to the year prior, and this is a consistent upward trend.”
Shock provided these statistics:
June 2023: 2,930 riders June 2022: 2,393 riders;
July 2023: 2,612 riders, July 2022: 2,360 riders;
August 2023: 2,893 riders;
August 2022: 2,770 riders;
Sept. 2023: 2,965 riders; Sept. 2022: 2,463 riders.
Factors that increased use in September were upgrading from low speed, open air golf carts to air-conditioned cars, said Jason Spiegel, Freebee managing partner.
“Just the efficiency and the fact we can go 35 mph instead of 25 mph, we can accommodate many more riders, increase service, cut down wait times and the in-car time, you’re there much quicker,” Spiegel said.
“It’s a success story, absolutely.”