By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Coral Gables commuters will have a new way to move across the city starting Monday, Nov. 3, when the Southern Loop Trolley officially begins service. The one-year pilot, jointly funded by the City of Coral Gables and the Florida Department of Transportation, adds a long-anticipated east-west route designed to connect neighborhoods, transit hubs, and community institutions from Douglas Road Metrorail Station to Red Road (SW 57th Ave.).

Free to ride and integrated with the existing trolley network, the Southern Loop extends service to some of Coral Gables’ most-traveled corridors—including the University of Miami, Lennar Foundation Medical Center and the South Miami border—filling a gap in the city’s public-mobility map.

How the route works

The Southern Loop operates primarily along Ponce de Leon Boulevard, running parallel to U.S. 1 and intersecting the city’s two existing trolley routes: the main Ponce Loop and the Grand Avenue Line. Riders can transfer seamlessly between routes or connect to Metrorail for longer commutes.

The pilot’s 13 stops mirror many Metrobus locations and key destinations: the Coral Gables Passport Office, medical offices along Ponce, West Lab Elementary School, UM’s main entrance and its Alex Rodriguez Park (the baseball stadium). Test runs indicate a 30- to 40-minute end-to-end travel time, making it a practical circulator between university, business, and residential areas.

According to Matt Anderson, the city’s assistant director of Mobility and Sustainability, the Southern Loop should initially serve about 3,500 passengers per month, reaching roughly 150 daily riders within the first year—more than 50,000 total rides if the trend holds.

Funding and future evaluation

The route’s $400,000 start-up cost is shared almost evenly between state and local funds—a $196,000 FDOT grant matched by $204,000 in city dollars. During the pilot, staff will track ridership, schedule adherence, and community feedback to decide whether to make the line permanent.

“The goal is to improve sustainable transportation options while strengthening connections between existing systems,” Anderson said at the September Transportation Advisory Board meeting. “We’ll be monitoring closely to see how residents and students use it.”

Part of a broader mobility strategy

The pilot comes amid a larger push to modernize Coral Gables’ transportation network. City Manager Peter Iglesias has directed staff to prepare a new Trolley and Mobility Master Plan—the first comprehensive review since 2013—to evaluate routes, ridership, and infrastructure.

Upgrades are already underway at dozens of trolley stops. As part of a $1 million ADA grant, the city will add benches, shelters, and accessibility improvements at 40 to 50 locations—though these upgrades will remove roughly 40 on-street parking spaces along Ponce. Members of the Parking Advisory Board voiced concern earlier this year about the parking loss, but officials said accessibility and service quality must come first.

Parking and Mobility Services Director Monica Beltran reminded the board that the city’s trolley carried over one million passengers last year, easing parking demand citywide and justifying its continued investment.

Regional integration on the horizon

City officials see the Southern Loop as a cornerstone for a regional Transportation Management Association (TMA) now in planning between Coral Gables, South Miami, and the University of Miami. The TMA would coordinate cross-jurisdictional transit around U.S. 1, potentially linking the Coral Gables trolley, South Miami’s shuttle, and UM’s internal routes.

“The loop ties together community assets—education, health care, and small business—in a single corridor,” Anderson noted. “It’s a model of what local connectivity can look like.”

Final preparations ahead of launch

Installation of stop signage begins this week, and a public-awareness campaign is underway in partnership with UM and area employers. The city plans on-campus outreach, social-media reminders, and station-area flyers highlighting that the new trolley—like all Coral Gables routes—is free.

While total trolley ridership dipped about 10 percent over the past year, officials hope the Southern Loop’s convenience will help reverse that slide. With improved integration and the addition of air-conditioned Freebee Tesla shuttles, Coral Gables aims to surpass one million trolley rides again in the coming year.

A step toward a more connected City Beautiful

City officials say the Southern Loop underscores Coral Gables’ commitment to public mobility and sustainable planning. If ridership meets expectations, the route could become a permanent east-west fixture linking downtown to Red Road, expanding access for residents, students, and employees.