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Citrus Connection will pilot new Squeeze vehicles on New Years Eve as part of the fourth annual “Leave the Keys & Ride the Squeeze” event.
On Dec. 31, the micro-transit will follow its regular weekend route with free rides from 4 p.m. until 2 a.m.
Citrus Connection Executive Director Tom Phillips describes the new vehicles as a “space-age golf cart.”
The GEM e6 all-electric shuttles are quieter than the Squeeze’s gas-powered carts. They carry six passengers, rather than eight like the golf carts, but Phillips believes the smaller capacity is worth trading for new amenities.
Each GEM e6 is enclosed by removable doors and has air conditioning. “We still wanted to have a vehicle that was fun, that we could take the doors off if we wanted to, that felt like a golf cart,” Phillips said. The vast majority of Squeeze riders, “They’re not riding it because they have to. They’re riding it because they want to, and so we want it to be fun.”
Phillips said the Squeeze gives 300-400 lunchtime rides each week and regularly hits 1,000 rides on the weekend.
The Squeeze in the rain
“The Achilles heel of the Squeeze,” Phillips said, “has always been the weather.” For a few years, rain meant suspending service. “Then last year, we introduced Squeeze Plus … if the weather got bad, we would switch into, effectively, minivans.” But that meant delays while the carts made their way back to the home base at the RP Funding Center and before the minivans could make their way to the route.
Passengers who might have just 45 minutes for lunch during the day or needed to get home at night experienced delays.
The fleet of four GEM e6s will hopefully help solve that problem.
Working out the kinks
Phillips said that New Years Eve service will kick off a pilot period for the e6s as they test the range of the vehicles on days when they’re transporting at high capacity.
“It’s exciting. It’s the next step. It’s needed. But we wanted to make sure that that the technology really works before we go all in with it,” Phillips said.
After working through the kinks, the shuttles will become standard for evening service. The Squeeze will still operate golf carts during lunch, with the new vehicles serving as backup or during inclement weather.
“The Squeeze is still the only public transit golf cart system in the nation. Nobody else is doing public transit, federally-funded golf carts,” he said. “We are truly public transit. It is open to everyone. It is free.”
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