FMBGN-BIZ-LeeTran-Ride The Beach Without The Traffic

Parking is shrinking on Fort Myers Beach, traffic is still a reality, and a lot of people are wondering what “better transportation” can actually look like in Southwest Florida. We sat down with Dominic Gemelli, Director of Lee County Transit (LeeTran), to talk about what’s working now and what’s next for public transportation in Lee County, from fixed route buses to ADA paratransit and newer Mobility On Demand service.

Dominic explains how LeeTran covers a huge, sprawled county and why reliability is the real benchmark, especially for riders who depend on transit for medical appointments and daily essentials. We dig into the tools that make riding easier, including real-time arrival info, transfer center displays, and the Leafair app for tracking and fare payment. We also talk honestly about a big local misconception: many riders here aren’t choosing transit as a trendy alternative, they’re using it because they don’t have another option, which makes service quality and safety non-negotiable.

Then we get specific about Fort Myers Beach. We cover the seasonal beach tram, the Route 490 park and ride trolley, and the Route 410 trolley stretching from Bowditch to Lovers Key, plus practical rider questions like what you can bring onboard for a beach day. Dominic shares updates tied to Hurricane Ian recovery, new shelters and benches, and how redevelopment may shape future routes and ridership. If you care about traffic congestion, affordable travel, and a safer way to get around Lee County, this conversation is packed with useful details and local context.

If this helped you see transit differently, subscribe, share it with a neighbor, and leave a review so more Southwest Florida listeners can find it. What would make you try the bus or trolley this month?

LeeTran- Lee County Transit
Dominic Gemelli
3401 Metro Parkway, Fort Myers, FL 33901
(239) 533-8726
rideleetran@leegov.com
rideleetran.com

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Transcript

Welcome And LeeTran Services

"Cabo" Jim 0:33

Welcome, Fort Minds Beach. Good neighbors. Today we have the honor of having uh the director of Lee County Transit, Dominic Gemelli with us. Welcome.

Dominic Gemelli 0:42

Thanks, Jim. Glad to be here this morning.

"Cabo" Jim 0:45

Yeah, no, pleasure to share your story a little bit with our listeners and help them understand transportation here in Southwest Florida a little bit more, right? Absolutely. Yeah. So I've so let's start off. For our listeners not familiar with Lee Tran, uh what what do you guys do here in Southwest Florida?

Dominic Gemelli 1:04

So we provide a few different services. I mean, one of our largest services is our fixed route bus service or our city bus service, where we run during season 25 routes. Um, out of season we run 22 different routes. Um, and that we run from all the way into Collier County all the way up into North Fort Myers, as far east as Lehigh Acres, and as far west, obviously, as Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral. We also have our complementary um paratransit service that must parallel our fixed route service or ADA services. Uh we have our transportation disadvantaged services, and those are all done by our passport division. And our third um um service, I should say, is our mobility on demand. So we have two mobility on demand areas. One's in Bonita Springs, which actually goes all the way up to Lovers Key and down into Bonita Springs, and the other service is actually located in Lehigh Acres. So those are our three main services that um or areas and types of services that we provide.

"Cabo" Jim 1:59

Very nice, very nice. So, what does good public transportation mean for a community like ours beyond just getting somebody from point A to point B?

Dominic Gemelli 2:07

Well, I mean, reliability of getting from point A to point B when you want to be from point A to point B is probably one of the largest things. Um, a lot of our um our bus schedules are obviously published schedules. Uh, we have not just our obviously a paper schedule that's available, but we also have an application called Leafair that also will give you all real-time bus arrival information. All of our transfer centers have real-time bus arrival information. Um, but one of the big things that we do have is our paratransit service, which largely serves um medical needs for a large part um of our community. And those are usually ones that are very timely, needing to get to doctor appointments on time kind of service. So I think making sure that our reliability is there and that we are delivering on you know the promise of getting you where you need to be when you need to be there, is as important as just getting you there.

"Cabo" Jim 2:57

Absolutely. So, what makes transportation needs a little bit different here in Southwest Florida than other places in the country?

Dominic Gemelli 3:05

Well, I think that we have a little bit older population here in Southwest Florida than in some other parts of the country per se. A lot of retirees come here, and our services, especially our paratransit type services, are pretty widely used. Um, we are a very urban, sprawled community, obviously, you know, going from Lehigh Acres to Cape Coral, North Fort Myers to Benita Springs. We're very sprawled out, a very large 800-square mile county. So we do cover the entire county uh with our services when it comes to our paratransit style of services, whether it be those ADAs that follow our fixed routes or it be the transportation disadvantage type of trips that we do.

"Cabo" Jim 3:40

And and what what are some of the biggest misconceptions people have about you know local transportation here in Southwest Florida?

Growth Pressure And New Options

Dominic Gemelli 3:48

Well, one thing that I think that's very very big here is a lot of people don't use us for commuter type of travel as as as they do in larger cities, right? So I think a lot of our our passengers, and you know, we'll do uh probably 1.8 million passengers this year on our fixed route. A lot of those folks are folks that don't have an alternative means of transportation. So, in other words, like in big cities where people will leave their cars at home, here in Southwest Florida, people like to use their cars. So a lot of our passengers are passengers that probably do not have an alternate source, like a vehicle of their own. So they utilize us for their transportation needs, whether it be fixed route services or paratransit or mobility on demand services.

"Cabo" Jim 4:29

And growth is being a big issue down here as well, too. But you know, what is one of the biggest challenges for you as the area grows, as we expand, the area gets bigger, more people come in.

Dominic Gemelli 4:41

Congestion management is one of the things that the transit is uh plays a large part in. One of our things here is to get as many other vehicles off the road, you know, utilizing our fixed route services that hold, you know, 30 to 40 folks on a on a vehicle rather than everybody out there in their own individual vehicle. So traffic mitigation is probably one of the largest things that we can help Southwest Florida with by people utilizing our services.

"Cabo" Jim 5:05

And are you seeing new trends in transportation right now? Things changing?

Dominic Gemelli 5:10

I think that our mobility on demand is probably one of the biggest things that have changed, and a lot of counties here in Florida have moved to that type of a service. And it's really a shared ride um Uber-esque type of service where we run an app, it's called our Ultra App. Um, and you can utilize it, like I said, in Lehigh Acres. There's a service zone, which is a large part of Lehigh Acres, and almost all of the city limits of uh Benito Springs are also in that separate zone. Um and it works just like Uber or Lyft. Uh the app works exactly the same way. Uh you request the ride, um, it's on demand, or you can pre-plan up to two weeks in advance um on those types of rides. And I think that that's the new trend that's um becoming more and more popular.

"Cabo" Jim 5:49

Yeah, and speaking about that trend, you know, things have changed. You've gone from, I want to say you're not cashless yet, but but people use the mobile app to pay now when they get on, right?

Fort Myers Beach Tram And Trolleys

Dominic Gemelli 5:59

Absolutely. So we have the Leafair app for purchasing a fare um on our fixed route buses. We have a uh our passport app, which is our passport customers, and which also they can pay for their fare in their app as well. So we're a little bit more uh the ability to be cashless is there, but we'll always have those um unbanked customers that are going to require the use of cash. So we do take cash on all of our modes of transportation as well. Um, but it it is very um simplified to make all your purchases in the app and just you know use your QR code on the fixed route bus um or just your your reservation itself through passport or MOD just prepaid if you want to set up your app that way.

"Cabo" Jim 6:39

And I know you know unique to Fort Myers Beach, you do have some unique services down here in the sense that you do have the trolley going on, but during season you have that tram going as well, too, right?

Dominic Gemelli 6:49

Correct, correct. Um, we started the trams, gosh, back in um we used to start them actually after the holidays, and back in 2018 is when the tram actually started. Um, and it runs from Bowditch uh basically to the library. That's kind of the span, and then it goes uh Crescent um up to first and then back down um old San Carlos Boulevard. It's pretty much carried that that same path pretty much since 2018 for the most part. We've grown from utilizing two trams to three trams now. Um and it's it's really we use the the bus stops that are are created along that that path, but really it's a flag down type service. You can you know flag us down, we'll stop, you jump on, drop off on and off wherever you want to throughout throughout that route.

"Cabo" Jim 7:30

And then you don't and you also have the park and ride, right?

Dominic Gemelli 7:34

Right. So the the the uh the the two trolleys that we use, we use one that was called the park and ride or what we call our route 490. That's the trolley that comes from the park and ride. Basically, it comes from the parking ride there at Summerlin Square, um, and it comes down and drops folks right there at Crescent Beach and goes right back up Crescent and back off the beach and back to the tram. It's about every 30 minutes, 20 to 30 minute service there for the to get from the park and ride to the beach. And then the Route 410, it runs from Bowditch all the way to Lubber's Key. That's about a probably a 70 to 80 minute ride round trip.

"Cabo" Jim 8:08

Interesting. You know, and as parking becomes more and more limited, I mean they're they're redoing some of the property places down in Fort Mario's Beach right now, public transportation and parking rides become more important to the people around here as well.

Dominic Gemelli 8:22

Absolutely. The parking ride right now can pay a play an essential part in in um in traffic congestion and and the um the the need for parking. That's uh, you know, I know that uh recently uh Lynn Hall is going to be uh unavailable for parking. So utilizing the the the park and ride and just getting on that for I mean 75 cents each way for the park and ride per person. And then and children under six don't even pay. So it's a pretty economical way. Grab your lawn chair, grab your duffel bag and and get on on the trolley from the park and ride, and you're on the beach in 20 minutes.

"Cabo" Jim 8:56

So people, somebody coming to the beach, what type of equipment or supplies can they bring on the bus with them?

Dominic Gemelli 9:02

Pretty much anything that they can hold on to for the most part, right? I mean, if they want to bring a folding chair and they can hold on to it while they're sitting down, that's fine. Their duffel bag full of uh, you know, whether it be playing the sand toys for the kids or whatever it might be, um, you know, a beach umbrella long as it's closed and folded and you can hold on to it on the bus. We really don't have any problem with um anyone bringing things on the bus that they can hold on to to bring to the beach. And and you're heading to the beach, you don't want any stress, so jump on the bus and absolutely in traffic and and just let the let the bus driver get you there.

Rebuilding After Ian And Next Steps

"Cabo" Jim 9:34

There you go. So looking ahead, what does a stronger transit future look like for Lee Tran?

Dominic Gemelli 9:41

Well, as we look at um what's going on with you know, the obviously a lot of redevelopment is going on on the fort in Fort Myers Beach, and even in the Fort Myers Beach area, you know, we see that um the uh the outlets uh that were over there at Sanibel, which is part of what the trolley that that actually services the the uh the parking ride goes there. That's going to be um see if I can recall the name of that. Calusa Grand or no? What is what is Jim? What is that gonna be called? That new um multi uh multi-use.

"Cabo" Jim 10:16

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, right? Where the outlet walls were, yeah.

Dominic Gemelli 10:19

Yeah, so that's gonna be redeveloped right now. I mean, that that used to be um we we'd go around uh uh Jim Morris there and make that whole circle and go back to the beach. So recently, obviously, there hasn't been much going on there. So that's a piece of redevelopment that we'll be looking at and to see how the how we we can better serve that area and get folks from um that area there um to the beach. So what we're looking at different opportunities as as the beach continually continues to come back from Hurricane Ian and continues to the redevelopment continues there on the beach, we're constantly looking at better ways to improve our services there um as as the the hotel room availability comes back, as as as homes are being rebuilt. Um we we started, you know, like I said, with the the tram back in in 2018, and it was kind of a uh uh it was like a February to to the end of April type of service. And recent years we've we've decided let's go ahead and move that into let's come on right around Thanksgiving and run it all the way through the holidays. Um so we've been doing that, and the year before Ian, we had 375,000 passengers on the tram in that period of time. Um and and now you know we've slowly come back um since Ian, and actually we're showing about a 40% increase in ridership on the tram this year from last year. So as things continue to come back, we're gonna see that increase in ridership and potentially you know how we may adjust that tram um as that ridership continues to increase.

"Cabo" Jim 11:44

That's great. You know, as more people come back to the beach, more people living on the beach, that becomes more and more important. Moving people around, big part of what we do down here in Southwest Florida. Absolutely. So someone is using local transportation for the first time. What is one thing you'd want them to know?

Dominic Gemelli 12:01

For I'm sorry, for using local transportation for the first time?

"Cabo" Jim 12:04

Yep, yep.

Dominic Gemelli 12:05

Um, just to let us let them know that it's it's probably one of the um safer ways to travel in Southwest Florida. I mean, um traveling on a on a bus is 10 times safer than driving in a car um when it comes to that. So there shouldn't be any stigma of of a safety issue. Um we uh we take a lot of pride in the training of our operators on on how they handle our customers, how they handle any situations and de-escalations of situations that may arise. So feel safe when you're on our buses and don't be don't don't don't feel like there's any type of a uh a reason why you shouldn't ride public transportation because we're here to make things better for everyone involved on the road, including those that can that don't have to rely on driving themselves someplace. Um, you can relax, you can be reading a book while you're on the bus and you're commute to work or whatever it might be. There's so many things that you know could be less stressful on a bus than trying to drive yourself someplace.

Safety Fares And How To Learn More

"Cabo" Jim 12:59

Yes, and we we all know traffic down here can be a little bit stressful for sure. So it unique question, but is there one writer story that kind of sticks out with you?

Dominic Gemelli 13:10

Gosh, let me think. Um, a rider story that sticks out with me. Um we've had we've had a few different things. I mean, we um we had um we we uh let's see, let me think of a one. There's there's been so many, and usually honestly, a lot of the rider stories end up more on the paratransit side because it's more of a personal service. Our paratransit service is a door-to-door service for our folks. So um there's a lot of times where you know we have we'll have our customer or our passenger that um you know has a really great experience and they'll let us know, you know, our our driver, so and so just went went out of his way to make sure that you know I had a great conversation with him. He helped me, he helped me with my bags, he made sure I got to my front door. Um, there's just a lot of um opportunities for our drivers to really go above and beyond from what just regular fixed route bus driving is, which is really the bus drivers don't really get out of their seat very often in the fixed route buses, whereas our paratransit is a much more personalized service and it's more of a door-to-door type service. And I think that um we get a lot of appreciation um from our customers for that type of service. Our bus fare is only $1.50 on the fixed route, um, and our door-to-door paratransit service is three dollars. So it's it's very economical. There's no there's no other way to really get around town, especially when unfortunately, the inflated price of fuel right now, um it's really difficult um to get around town for three dollars in any one direction. So if you were to go from uh our buses, which of course at $1.50, you're allowed to transfer for up to two hours on that $1.50 between buses as long as you're traveling in that same direction and not going backwards. Um but for a $6 round trip, you know, we can get you to the grocery store, get you to your doctor appointment, um, get you to um any social activity you might want to go to at a very fraction of the price of most any other type of transportation service that's out there.

"Cabo" Jim 15:04

Much easier to get around for sure, definitely. Where can listeners go to learn a little bit more about the routes, the schedules, the fairs?

Dominic Gemelli 15:11

Uh RideLetran.com is our website where all of our information and all of our schedules are kept, and a little bit of information about how our paratransit service works, how our mobility on demand services work. That's probably the best place to uh to go online to get that information. We're also on Facebook under under LeTran. Um and you can call 533 Tran here. Our customer service folks are always available to answer questions.

"Cabo" Jim 15:34

Very good. Any last words for our listeners today?

Dominic Gemelli 15:37

Uh I just we are um you know very happy to be here in Lee County and to be on Fort Myers Beach and provide the uh services that we do there. Um may have just recently found that uh we um part of the 865 construction project, created the new bus stops that are in front of Crescent Beach and in front of Margaritaville. Last week we were able to get the uh shelters installed there. So um that was a nice improvement to put there right in front of Crescent Beach and in front of Margaritaville for the uh trolley drop-off um for the um both the 410 that goes between Lovers Key and um Bowditch, as well as the uh the bus that brings you to and from the parking ride.

"Cabo" Jim 16:15

Very good. Yes, I saw those personally. Great job. They look beautiful, beautiful addition.

Dominic Gemelli 16:19

A little side note, we'd like to have a little bit more of those, but I know we did get we did get uh we did improve the number of benches at bus stops out there on the beach this year. So we do have a lot more benches out there. Um a lot of our recovery is still going on um from Hurricane Ian. Um matter of fact, the uh the park and ride, which to most riders don't even really don't realize it, but our um our really our infrastructure that that was there that was our our our um more of our IT type stuff, like our our our real-time um display boards and such um the uh our our furniture and stuff like that. All that's um actually gonna be starting here probably in the next 30 days or so to get to go through its repair process. And um by the end of the year, that should be back to 100% of what it was pre-Hurricane Ian. So that's gonna be uh a great improvement for us. We've been waiting quite some time to finally get all that together, get the contractor on board and get that work started. So that's um actually we've we met with them already in the last couple of weeks. So we should start seeing activity out there in the next 30 days.

"Cabo" Jim 17:23

Absolutely. Well, that's great news. We've all learned to be patient down here as things come back and things get back to normal per se.

Dominic Gemelli 17:30

It's it's hard to believe sometimes that it's been for almost four years now.

"Cabo" Jim 17:34

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, Dominic, it's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you for what you and Lee Tran do for our communities down here in Southwest Florida, and uh we'll see you on the bus down at the beach soon.

Dominic Gemelli 17:46

Absolutely. Thank you, Jim. We we're happy to provide the services that we do. Thank you.