Latest / 2MC / 2MC Podcast Eps 54 - Marty Reigns Supreme

Transcript

2MC Podcast Eps 54 - Marty Reigns Supreme · 2MC

• 0:05
  MAK: Hey, everybody. It's MAK. And I'm Courtney. Welcome back to two MC, and hello to our listeners.
• 0:11
  Courtney: Hey, everybody. We are talking Martin County events, happenings, meetings. And it happens weekly.
• 0:20
  MAK: Yeah. Right here. We're here every week. Yeah. I like it.
• 0:23
  So you should be here too. This week, we did not have a board meeting. Our next one is February 10.
• 0:31
  Courtney: You know what did happen this week?
• 0:32
  MAK: Tell me. Tell them. Tell all of us.
• 0:35
  Courtney: It was Groundhog Day.
• 0:36
  MAK: Yes. It was. And we have Typically, one of
• 0:39
  Courtney: my favorite holidays out of the year. Yes. But not so much this time.
• 0:44
  MAK: No. No. Very cold this week? Very cold. This is Florida.
• 0:49
  Courtney: Do a Cole Palmer reference there? You know who Cole Palmer
• 0:54
  MAK: is? No.
• 0:55
  Courtney: Oh, okay.
• 0:56
  MAK: But I do think
• 0:57
  Courtney: He's like a soccer guy. Okay. This is Uh-huh. His signature when he scores goal.
• 1:03
  MAK: Okay. Because it's cold? Like, he's icy?
• 1:06
  Courtney: Yes. Like Got it. That was ice. Like, choo.
• 1:09
  Ash: Did you
• 1:09
  Courtney: see what I did there?
• 1:10
  MAK: Okay. Well, in Florida, we like it hot.
• 1:13
  Courtney: We do.
• 1:14
  MAK: And it has not been hot. Hot. It has been cold, and the groundhog has let us know that there will be more of that.
• 1:24
  Courtney: It's gonna be nicer by the weekend, though.
• 1:26
  MAK: I hope so because I don't have many more sweaters I think I have to wear. Indeed. This week, though, we have a special guest.
• 1:35
  Courtney: We do. I'm so excited. I love this guest. I do too. And I think our listeners and viewers are gonna like him too.
• 1:42
  And we are back. Yes. And we
• 1:44
  MAK: are here with Ash Beecher, our transit administrator. I see him here.
• 1:49
  Courtney: Yes. Yes. Hello. Thanks for joining us.
• 1:53
  Ash: It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.
• 1:55
  Courtney: And we're gonna talk about what? All things transit. Yes, Marty. Mhmm.
• 2:00
  MAK: And many other things that you guys do too. Doing some cool stuff. I know. Yes, we are. So Marty, if you don't know, is our transit system throughout Martin County.
• 2:11
  And it happens to be fare free now, right?
• 2:18
  Courtney: This is kind of a new thing for us, right?
• 2:20
  Ash: That's right. So on 11/04/2025, a board majority voted to remove the fares from the Marty bus and as a result, we've seen significant growth in ridership and our user base. They are enjoying it, they're loving it, just being able to go on the bus, not having to put fares in the fare box. I was
• 2:44
  Courtney: thinking about it this morning and I was thinking, you know, all these people who maybe would walk on a regular day, but it's in the 30s. So how nice that they can hop on a toasty warm bus, get where they need to go and it's fare free. Yeah,
• 3:03
  MAK: and like it's such a benefit to our community to have it. You know not a lot of places have a transit system and we have a transit system that is now free for our residents that is just so beneficial.
• 3:15
  Courtney: I know. So you said you'd seen an increase just since November.
• 3:19
  Ash: Right. So we've seen a 35% jump in rider
• 3:22
  MAK: share Wow, that's amazing.
• 3:24
  Ash: December was our first month of full fare free
• 3:28
  MAK: Writing. Yeah.
• 3:29
  Ash: Writing. In comparison to the same month in the prior year, there's been a 35% jump. We provided 13,000 unlinked passenger trips in December 2025,
• 3:42
  MAK: which is great. That's amazing.
• 3:43
  Ash: We're looking forward to seeing additional growth and increase in user
• 3:47
  Courtney: That's really exciting. So what prompted the change? Made you guys, I don't know, decide to
• 3:54
  MAK: do it? Want to go fare free?
• 3:55
  Ash: So we looked at some of our neighbor counties and they are fare free and the impact that that change has had on ridership and customer experience, we wanted to replicate that. Why reinvent the wheel? No
• 4:13
  MAK: Yeah, pun course. And
• 4:16
  Ash: yeah, we have a new vendor, Martin County Transit. They are the same vendor who does operations in Indian River County. They are known in Indian River County as the Senior Resource Association. They are a great team, very experienced in public transit operations, and so it's great to have them as a partner here in Martin County. Going fare free was one of those initiatives
• 4:41
  MAK: That's we exciting. Wanted
• 4:42
  Courtney: is exciting. Anything you want to tell us about things you may have in the works or
• 4:49
  Ash: Yeah, no, for sure. So we have new stops that we're looking at adding. We recently added two stops on our Route 3 system. Our route three is the Stewart Route.
• 5:01
  Courtney: Okay.
• 5:02
  Ash: And those two stops are at Guy Davis Field and Stewart Middle. The goal there was to get student athletes transportation from the middle school to their soccer practice camps.
• 5:17
  Courtney: I love it.
• 5:18
  Ash: So, yeah, we, the stops have been added, so we're looking at seeing that ridership boost as well and getting those folks, those athletes to the That's awesome.
• 5:29
  MAK: And then not only do you guys do that, but you also do things for veterans, right?
• 5:34
  Ash: Oh yes, for sure. That's really exciting. So I am so proud of this new on demand veterans transportation service that we have implemented in July 2025. We went out to bid for a transit network company to provide door to door transportation for Martin County veterans and Uber was awarded that contract. In the prior years, we did maybe two fifty rides per year total.
• 6:04
  Okay. Since we've implemented this TNC program, we've done over 1,700 rides at
• 6:12
  MAK: That's amazing.
• 6:13
  Courtney: And you said you introduced it, like, in July?
• 6:15
  Ash: Correct.
• 6:16
  Courtney: Oh my gosh. That's awesome. That's crazy.
• 6:18
  MAK: So it shows there was such a need for it within our community and now people are being able to take advantage of it and use it.
• 6:27
  Courtney: It's another way that we're all, looking at serving all the different populations. Yeah, and supporting them. Supporting our veterans is incredible.
• 6:36
  MAK: Correct. Yeah,
• 6:37
  Ash: Getting it's our vets to their medical appointments, grocery shopping, doctor's appointments.
• 6:43
  Courtney: They could always go to the VA, right? Do have a
• 6:48
  Ash: bus system goes to the
• 6:49
  Courtney: to the VA, okay. Yeah. But for all other other needs, that wasn't being met.
• 6:53
  Ash: Correct.
• 6:54
  MAK: Oh my gosh. So you guys are just checking all the boxes where it needs to be.
• 6:58
  Ash: That's right and we're looking to implement even more.
• 7:02
  MAK: There's That's
• 7:03
  Ash: certain things we can't talk about right now but there are some great things on the horizon for Marty and for public transportation in Martin County as a whole.
• 7:10
  Courtney: Do you want to talk about big picture funding? I know we always get a lot of questions like, well, how does that work or who pays for it? Especially since it's fare free, just the concept of how that works for us.
• 7:24
  Ash: So the bulk of transit in Martin County is paid for with federal and state grants. We have an annual apportionment and we get money for operations. We use what's called a purchase transportation model. So we hire, as I stated earlier, a third party vendor to fix the buses, hire the drivers, etcetera. And another portion of that is for capital, the grants for capital.
• 7:52
  So we use that to purchase buses. So about a third of the funding is at the local level, local
• 8:02
  Courtney: Okay, very
• 8:02
  Ash: nice. But the bulk of margin
• 8:04
  Courtney: It's a good paid model. It's diversified and you're taking advantage of available funds.
• 8:10
  MAK: Yeah, through state and federal, which is Yeah.
• 8:14
  Ash: A lot of those grants are tied to ridership as well. So as our ridership increases, we look forward to
• 8:20
  MAK: Oh, that's good. Giving them more money. A lot sense.
• 8:23
  Courtney: Yes. So it just kind of feeds off each other. That's wonderful. Yeah. You're okay at what you do.
• 8:30
  Ash: Thank you. I know. That's my team.
• 8:32
  MAK: I know. I have a
• 8:33
  Ash: really good team, really excellent staff. They love what they do and it's a pleasure
• 8:38
  Courtney: working It definitely shows whenever we've seen them, they're involved in our Martin Cares program and just whenever we encounter anybody from your staff. Yeah, it shows.
• 8:49
  MAK: And I know, I mean, I know on a personal level for you, transit is very important.
• 8:55
  Ash: Oh yeah.
• 8:56
  MAK: And so we love There's hearing a story there.
• 8:58
  Courtney: Yeah, we
• 8:58
  MAK: love hearing
• 8:59
  Ash: your There's a small story there. Yeah, sure. Has been a big, big part of my life and I light up every time I talk about it because it's so awesome to see how far we've come. But my dad was a driver for Broward County Transit for thirty years. He's retired now.
• 9:20
  And I've always wanted to work in a public transit scene.
• 9:31
  Courtney: It's the perfect job.
• 9:32
  Ash: Yeah, here I am.
• 9:33
  Courtney: So it's all about connectivity. I just love that you're looking at new routes and seeing how you can effectively help different demographics, different parts of our community and getting them where they need to go.
• 9:48
  MAK: Yeah, I know. And I think it's super special because I think it holds a special place in your heart. So you make sure to show that through the work you do, which is really, I mean, that's special.
• 9:58
  Ash: I grew up using public transportation for all of my mobility needs. You name it, doctor's appointments, school, college.
• 10:08
  Courtney: It makes sense. In other countries, public transportation is just very and in a big city. But to Martin County, it just seems like it was kind of a new thing. But it seems to be fitting in very
• 10:23
  MAK: Yeah, yeah. And it shows that people are needing it here.
• 10:26
  Courtney: Yes, yeah,
• 10:26
  Ash: it does.
• 10:27
  MAK: Especially with the increase in ridership. So that's awesome. Yeah. Is there anything else that we may have missed that you'd like to?
• 10:35
  Ash: Yeah. We have, you know, we have the traditional fixed route service. Okay. So there are five routes there. Mhmm.
• 10:41
  MAK: Oh, yeah. Which Yeah. People can get real time.
• 10:45
  Ash: Yeah. Real time route information.
• 10:46
  MAK: Was like, wait. I do notice something. Yes.
• 10:48
  Ash: Yeah. So the buses have a GPS system on there and there's an app. So you can see where the buses are in real time. You can plug in your location, your destination, and the app will tell you exactly where you need to be, what time you need to be there. It's very efficient.
• 11:01
  That's awesome. Folks love it.
• 11:03
  Courtney: You could use something like
• 11:04
  MAK: that. Yeah.
• 11:06
  Ash: Yeah. And so we have the traditional fixed route system, but we also have a door to door paratransit system, ADA service for persons with disabilities, whose disabilities prevent them from using normal So fixed car it's application based.
• 11:27
  MAK: Okay.
• 11:27
  Ash: And upon approval, you can call our Marty call center and book your trips. We'll send a vehicle to your home, pick you up, take you to just about anywhere you need to go within that service area and take you back home.
• 11:39
  MAK: Amazing. Yeah, it's amazing.
• 11:42
  Courtney: Oh, you know what else? On the front of the buses, we learned how the to do other day. There's like this wire rack and it was super easy. Unlock it, lift it up, stick your bike in, lock it back, and off you go. I also think a surfboard would fit on there.
• 11:57
  I tried it. I mean, I didn't try it with the surfboard, but I was did not try it. But I mean, I tried it in my mind. She's lying. I didn't try it with the surfboard but I was like, okay, two wheels.
• 12:06
  MAK: She was trying to measure it out in her head, maybe a shortboard would work.
• 12:10
  Ash: That doesn't sound safe. Would not recommend. Yes. But, yeah, that's, we've seen folks who would normally choose their bicycles, ride their bicycle. We've seen them put their bikes on the bus and just get on since it's now fare free.
• 12:26
  Yeah. And that's been incredible to see.
• 12:28
  MAK: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like we've hit all the things, right? Anything else?
• 12:34
  Ash: I think so. No, I think we've hit just Perfect.
• 12:37
  MAK: Okay. Well, we appreciate you coming and speaking Marty and how great it is for the community and everything it is doing for all the residents in Martin County. We have a stop right up here. We could just hop on. Yeah, we could.
• 12:51
  Yes.
• 12:51
  Ash: Ocean and Monterey. Yeah.
• 12:53
  MAK: Yeah. Yep. That was such a
• 12:56
  Courtney: great interview with Ash. It always is with Ash.
• 12:58
  MAK: I know. I love speaking to him. He's so passionate about transit and the system that we have. I think
• 13:04
  Courtney: it comes through, like, just in the few years that he's been here, we've seen so much positive change and emphasis
• 13:12
  MAK: on On the transit system. Yes. Yeah. No. I totally agree.
• 13:16
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 13:17
  MAK: And I think something that we wanted to add in with that interview is that it does connect to a lot of different other transit systems. So like the Palm Tran and the Area Regional Transportation System. They all all connect. Together.
• 13:32
  Courtney: Yeah. It's all about connectivity.
• 13:34
  MAK: It is.
• 13:35
  Courtney: I love that. Connectivity.
• 13:38
  MAK: Okay. Yes. Speaking of connecting
• 13:43
  Courtney: Have we got a way for you to connect with your local government and fellow Residents. Residents. I was trying to think. Are they Martin? What are they called?
• 13:54
  MAK: Martin County residents. Yes.
• 13:55
  Courtney: Okay. I was thinking, like, Marsh never mind.
• 13:58
  MAK: Okay. Whatever. Martin Cares.
• 14:00
  Courtney: Yes. Martin Cares. Yeah. It's a program that we do twice a year.
• 14:04
  MAK: You may have heard about it. Right here. On this podcast. They have. But if this is your first time listening, we'll tell you all about it.
• 14:13
  Yep. It's a
• 14:13
  Courtney: way that you can get a behind the scenes, not just a look into it, but really learn more about how your local government works. Yeah. You get to meet people who are doing the actual jobs. Yes.
• 14:26
  MAK: You get to hear about how they're doing those jobs. Meet your commissioners, hear from county administrator, and just hang out with us. Learn
• 14:37
  Courtney: really where that money comes from, how it's being spent, how it's all really to benefit our residents.
• 14:45
  MAK: Yeah. So session two starts March 25. Make sure you go and for it. Yep. We'll drop it
• 14:53
  Courtney: down in the show notes.
• 14:54
  MAK: Is open, and it's filling up fast.
• 14:56
  Courtney: It is. So because people wanna spend time with us. I yes. That's what they just wanna learn about
• 15:02
  MAK: Martin County. Unfortunate that they have to spend it with us. Uh-uh. They like it. There's also this weekend, a weekend movie I see at the Blake Library.
• 15:13
  Courtney: See
• 15:13
  MAK: that. It's Saturday, February 7 at 2PM.
• 15:17
  Courtney: What is the movie? It's called
• 15:21
  MAK: La Strada.
• 15:25
  Courtney: La Strada. Okay. I see that here in our notes. Yes. It's taking place in, like, nineteen fifties Italy.
• 15:34
  MAK: Yes. Could be cool. Yes. It's about something about a poetic vision.
• 15:39
  Courtney: Federico Fellini, I believe.
• 15:41
  MAK: And his wife. Yep. Gioletta Messina.
• 15:45
  Courtney: Yep. They collaborated. That's what all the notes say right here. Collaborate and listen. Okay.
• 15:53
  That's it.
• 15:54
  MAK: Also on that day.
• 15:56
  Courtney: Also on the same day?
• 15:57
  MAK: I know. Well, take your child to the library day is an international initiative. Okay. And that's on February 7 as well. But this is gonna be at the Peter and Julie Cummings library.
• 16:08
  Starts at 10AM. There's gonna be crafts, coloring sheets, and that's sponsored by the Friends of the Martin County Library System.
• 16:17
  Courtney: Our friends sponsor so many cool things at the libraries.
• 16:19
  MAK: They do. They I mean
• 16:21
  Courtney: A little shout out to you friends. They're really amazing. They are.
• 16:26
  MAK: Yeah. Just go.
• 16:28
  Courtney: Is that all we
• 16:29
  MAK: have today? That was all we had.
• 16:31
  Courtney: I don't know. It was pretty good. We had an incredible interview with Ash. We had a couple cool things to talk about. Yeah.
• 16:36
  What was the name of that movie?
• 16:38
  MAK: La Strada.
• 16:39
  Courtney: What does that mean? I don't
• 16:40
  MAK: know. I'm not Italian. Well, am,
• 16:42
  Ash: but I
• 16:42
  Courtney: Did you get an English letter? Yeah.
• 16:44
  MAK: But I don't speak Italian. Don't start with me. Where's your crochet croissant? Yes. Well, we'll catch you guys
• 16:56
  Courtney: next when you play the crickets. Yes.
• 17:07
  MAK: We will see you guys next week. Yep. Thanks for tuning in. Yes. And don't forget to like, subscribe, follow, comment, share with a friend.
• 17:16
  Is that all? That's a lot. It is a lot, but you guys should do it. And see
• 17:21
  Courtney: you next week. Bye.