{"id":65655,"date":"2026-05-13T21:38:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=65655"},"modified":"2026-05-13T21:38:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:38:13","slug":"lakelands-squeeze-shuttle-from-a-fixed-loop-shuttle-to-an-on-demand-app-based-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/05\/13\/lakelands-squeeze-shuttle-from-a-fixed-loop-shuttle-to-an-on-demand-app-based-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakeland\u2019s Squeeze Shuttle from a fixed-loop shuttle to an on-demand, app-based service"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Citrus Connection officially unveiled the plan today, May 13, 2026<\/strong>, to transition The Squeeze<\/strong> from a fixed-loop shuttle to an on-demand, app-based service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The goal is to eliminate the guesswork of waiting at a stop and to finally solve the “Dixieland gap” without requiring riders to transfer downtown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key Changes Coming October 1, 2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • On-Demand Model:<\/strong> Instead of looping every 15 minutes, you\u2019ll use a smartphone app to request a ride between 15 designated pickup and drop-off locations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Expanded Service Area:<\/strong> The shuttle will now cover a contiguous zone from Prospect Lake Wire<\/strong> (west) to Florida Southern College<\/strong> (east), and from the Oak Street lot<\/strong> (north) down to Cob & Pen\/Pink Piano<\/strong> in Dixieland (south).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Fare-Free:<\/strong> Despite the upgrade to “microtransit” tech, the service will remain free<\/strong> for all riders.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Real-Time Tracking:<\/strong> The app will provide estimated pickup times, so you aren’t stuck watching the window at places like The Joinery to see if you just missed it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Why the Change?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    CEO Tom Phillips noted that ridership has exploded\u2014from 4,000 rides in its first year to roughly 44,000 in 2025<\/strong>. The current loop system often broke down when carts got full, as drivers would skip stops to take passengers directly to their destinations. This new “Uber-style” approach formalizes that efficiency and allows the existing fleet to cover more ground (like the Dixieland corridor) without the cost of adding entirely new routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Existing fixed-route services for major events like Sun ‘n Fun or Tigers Spring Training will remain unchanged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Citrus Connection officially unveiled the plan today, May 13, 2026, to transition The Squeeze from a fixed-loop shuttle to an on-demand, app-based service. The goal is to eliminate the guesswork… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"12","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyMVwvMTFcL3NxdWVlemUtcGhvdG8uanBnP2ZpdD05MzIlMkM1MjQmc3NsPTEiLCJ0eHQiOiJMYWtlbGFuZFx1MjAxOXMgU3F1ZWV6ZSBTaHV0dGxlIGZyb20gYSBmaXhlZC1sb29wIHNodXR0bGUgdG8gYW4gb24tZGVtYW5kLCBhcHAtYmFzZWQgc2VydmljZSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.vItv4ZVs5tWP-8ynea6cp570_VlMxKUii8uXGVOWXpwMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjFcLzExXC9zcXVlZXplLXBob3RvLmpwZyIsInR4dCI6Ikxha2VsYW5kXHUyMDE5cyBTcXVlZXplIFNodXR0bGUgZnJvbSBhIGZpeGVkLWxvb3Agc2h1dHRsZSB0byBhbiBvbi1kZW1hbmQsIGFwcC1iYXNlZCBzZXJ2aWNlIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.zwQacndntvHH_XjuFSmWshjgT6dL8o7BR3hc8zdx2EkMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14619,14618],"class_list":["post-65655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-app-based-service","tag-lakelands-squeeze-shuttle-from-a-fixed-loop-shuttle-to-an-on-demand"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65655"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65656,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65655\/revisions\/65656"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}