Sun Trolley

We had Julio for a driver on the beach route and just wanted to say how great he was! For us tourists, he was very informative and gave us a good understanding of the area. We really enjoyed our chat with him. Very personable, professional, and courteous! Hang on to this valued employee!

I love the sun trolley! We rode today from Yolo to the beach, and then back down to 2^nd street. You can pay by the ride, $ 1, or buy a day pass, $ 3. It cost us $ 4 dollars, combined, to get to and from the beach. I don’t see any reason to complain about that!
When you want to pick up the trolley you just wave when you see it coming. Doesn’t get much easier than that. Bring exact change, the driver doesn’t make change. Once you are on, you can ride as long as you like. The trolleys have AC and typically music. The drivers are mandated to take a break, which they typically do at the same spot on a route, mine is by the broward center. However, they leave the trolley on including the AC.
Today, I learned I can take the trolley all the way to Bokampers on Oakland Park! For $ 1? Yes!
My only suggestion would be to extend the hours. Service ends early.

It was either $ 1 for 1 ride, or $ 3 for all day. They only take exact change, too. When we got the $ 3 day pass, we got this stamp on our forearm that could come off when washing hands for lunch.
Word of warning: the driver may stop for personal reasons (like a 10-​minute smoke break) or no reason whatsoever! Our driver let a foreign couple get on the Trolley without paying, then he took a 5-​minute break just to hang out & chat with them. The rest of us were all looking at each other asking, «What are we waiting for?»
There’s also only one way on or off the trolley, I really don’t know why they have a 2^nd door. While we were trying to get off, we had to wait until someone got out of the aisle (they were busy asking the driver some tourism –related directions in a 5-​minute conversation without seeing that people were standing in the aisle waiting to get off).
I think you’d get more money’s worth out of walking, taking a cab, or renting a car.

Not the friendliest drivers. Especially on the 602 on a Wednesday at 1pm. Your driving along the beach on a beautiful day. SMILE. Must have exact change too which bites because they got an extra $ 1 out of me.

CHEAP — UNHELPFUL — DISCOURTEOUS. The service has come in handy during festivals when parking near the beach is a hassle. Otherwise it seems hard to justify this service. I’m fairly sure the cost per rider is more than a taxi.
My complaint is with the drivers. In my half-​dozen experiences riding the trolley, the drivers were not helpful or friendly to the tourists at all. Most of the time they were downright surly. In one case the bus didn’t stop at a posted stop, and when the passenger said he missed his hotel, the driver started berating and lecturing him.
I ride my bike a lot, and more than once, the Sun Trolley has cut me off. Today I was riding on 6^th St and Andrews, which have no bike lane or shoulder. By law I have the right to ride in the lane, just like a car. The Sun Trolley driver pulled up close behind me and started honking his horn. Then after I turned into the right lane south on Andrews, he turned in the left lane, and still honking, with nobody in the left lane, he merged into the right lane, and pushed me into the curb.
Really, dude? You’re driving an empty bus? Aside from not knowing that bikes have the same rights as cars on the road, you’re risking a life. Please south Floridians, be courteous to each other on the road. Sharing is something we should have learned in kindergarten, before you have a potentially lethal BUS in your control.
Here are the Florida bicycle regulations if you’re interested:

1. Price change $ 1.00 a ride or $ 3.00 a day… still cheap which is nice. 2. Not for visitors… We were in ft. Lauderdale for a day and wanted to see things… thought this was a great cheap find… however the bus stops are not marked well and you spend most of your visit waiting on a trolley. 3. Terrible terrible customer service. This poor older gentleman tried to get on the trolley he had a $ 20.00. He asked the bus driver for change the driver started yelling at him «EXACT CHANGE EXACT CHANGE»! so the poor guy started to get off the bus. Keep in mind its a muggy 90 degrees outside and he’s already sweating through his shirt. So an other passenger took pitty on him and paid his way. TERRIBLE. spend the money… get a taxi and be done with this trolley.

The website was completely unhelpful nor informative! We needed to know when and where to board the trolley. The website simply says;
«Stand on the side of the road anywhere along the route and simply wave to the driver you would like to board.» Um, ok, but WHEN does the trolley come by at which points along the route? There is a large loop on the Galt Mile route that covers a lot of busy roads with congested traffic and it’s not safe to just stand around on the road hoping to see a trolley and wave it down in the middle of traffic. So we should stand anywhere along any of the roads including busy Oakland blvd, Federal Highway, Galt ocean, and A1A at any time of the day and magically a trolley will appear? We went outside and stood on the road for over 30 min and never saw any trolley. No thanks! Why doesn’t the website actually provide a schedule and listed stops? It made it sounds like the trolley doesn’t stop anywhere you just have to stand on the road all day and hope to see one. Not helpful at all! I don’t want to get killed standing on Federal Highway trying to wave down a trolley in 3 lanes of busy traffic!

Fifty cents. Great routes. You can’t beat the trolley to get around downtown and the beach. It’s such a nice offering. True, for tourists there are no announcements so if you’re reading this, you may want to do a little homework before boarding. And true, the drivers aren’t the friendliest but who cares! It’s such an incredible service that it should definitely be overlooked. You may want to buy a tour if you’re looking for announcements and service.

What can fifty cents buy today not even a cup of coffee but you can get a ride on our best form of transportation. It runs from Publex mall to the Galleria Mall. The coaches are clean, great music, and most of the drivers are just great. Miss Sharon is sweet than apple pie with ice cream on top. She is a very safe driver who puts passengers safety first like Miss D another nice lady who is sweeter than a five pound bag of sugar. They run every 20 minutes, Friday — Monday until 6:30pm, depending on traffic and the bridges going up. The other form of transportation is the bus, not has nice, $ 1.75 and not that clean noticed that some people want the trolley to stop in other unsafe places other than the bus stop, one new driver stopped in front of the fire station, very very unsafe. safety comes first to these two excellent drivers. All On Board !

You get what you pay for. I travelled from harbor side shopping area to the Galleria and back, on a Saturday with two different drivers.
Drivers could use customer relations training. Don’t expect them to talk or smile. The trolley is plastered with misc DO NOT signs. The trolley did not stop when we tried to hail it down with absolutely no other traffic in the area. The driver looked angry at us and made a gesture we assume meant that we should go to the nearest bus stop and stop bothering her.
However, 50 cents is fantastic, and the drivers delivered us safely at the right locations.

Pro: 50 cents
Con: Driver was not accomodating for tourists. She didnt announce stops or make things clear. She seemed to skip a stop on my map and I ended up walking 15 minutes with 2 suitcases to my hotel.