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You've tuned into another edition of the Break Room, a weekly conversation about how the city of St. Augustine works from those who do the work every day.

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Hosted by the City of St. Augustine's Communications Director, Melissa Wissel, the Break Room offers a closer look at the different city departments and provides updates on current and upcoming projects and events.

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And now, your host, Melissa Wissel.

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Welcome to the Break Room. Thanks for tuning in. I'm Melissa Wissel, Communications Director for the City of St. Augustine.

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We have a three-peat visitor with us this week to talk about some exciting mobility initiatives. A super exciting announcement about something coming up this week.

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Nights of Lights is right around the corner, so let's welcome back to the Break Room Mobility Program Manager, Marcus Pinson.

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Thank you for having me, Melissa.

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Yeah, I was realizing this is your third time on this year. You came on at the end of the Seville Street Project. It's kind of a mobility, I mean, sort of.

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Sure.

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Repaving the streets, the underbelly of utilities.

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And doing the hardscape on top, you can classify that, for sure.

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Looks good. And then, fourth of July was your big event when you became our Mobility Program Manager. That one, okay.

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Yes, ma'am. And now, we've got two topics tonight today, excuse me. But I really want to start with the exciting announcement of the Return of the Bike Share Program.

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Yes, yes, absolutely. We're really excited actually about that. We announced the return in December 2024, actually, when X Pellicer and Ian Guthrie from Drifters were here on the Break Room originally.

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And now we're back and finally ready to launch the program. So we are very excited about that.

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Bikes are ready. Racks are ready.

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Yes, ma'am. Yes, they are. And we have a launch date, too. And so, you know, what we're really excited about this program as well is it promotes the philosophy of the park once Philosophy.

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You know, getting away from moving and parking vehicles and starting to move people around safely and more efficiently.

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So you'd get away, get coming to one of our facilities, parking garage, park there, you would get out and you would find one of our multi-moldal facilities like this Bike Share Program or some kind of microtransit or something like that else.

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But this Bike Share Program would be really, really great. So we're excited about it.

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And the Star Circulator is one of those as well. But we're going to talk about that in the second half.

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So Drifters, you mentioned Drifters and Ian Guthrie. They have been working very hard. I want to give our listeners a little bit of a backstory.

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Drifters, if you've seen them, they're out at the beach. They started up in 2017 as a delivery-based service model for beach rentals, bike rentals, beach goods.

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And, you know, Ian's been, had this vision of this, you know, Bike Share Program for a really long time. That was one of the things he talked about when he was back here in 2024.

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So I do want to give them a shout out for sticking with the initiative, the vision that he had. They did go through a solicitation process. They were selected.

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And I think the other piece of it that's really exciting and I know this is something that was important to Ian is the fact that there are local business themselves.

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So this is a great opportunity. Tell us, Marcus, about the program. We've got mobile apps, bikes, all kinds of things going on with it. Give us a, give us the down low on what is this program and how do I get one? How do I get on one?

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Sure, absolutely. And, you know, to revisit also, I don't think I put a date out there, but November 6 is our launch date. And that's when, you know, we anticipate them being ready. So it's very encouraging.

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Ribbon cutting. Ribbon cutting, yes, man. Yeah. Yeah. And so, yeah, so it's easy to use. You can download the mobile app, the Drifter City Bike app.

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The first five minutes are free to inspect the bike from what we understand and you can message directly if the app there, if you have any issues.

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The memberships are called passports, actually. And they're annual, bi-annual and monthly. And you have also have a Flagler College membership. So there's incentive for that. And of course, they're hourly rates as well.

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And you can return the bikes at any of the designed locations, the kiosks and their sponsors and partnership opportunities. And they're also listed within the app. And Drifters is on Instagram as well.

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If you wanted to follow them in social media. So there's lots of information that's being updated there as well. So, you know, they've been doing some really good promoting of how they've been bringing all of this online.

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I actually, in preparing for our program today, did a little bit of a deeper dive. I did download the mobile app. Like you said, Drifters City Bike, super easy to download, put in your name, first name last name, email, super easy.

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Get you right in there. I do want to mention that part of the programming for the for Drifters is to have these partnerships. And so when you get on the mobile app, you can see who the partners are.

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And the partners are also sponsors. You'll see them all around town and locations. But I do want to do a quick shout out. I'm going to run down the list. And I think you do have some names of some of the locations. But just to name the partners because we're so appreciative of their jumping on board.

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Like you said, this is a mobility initiative to get people out exercising park your car, go find a bike right around use that the map in the app is also a great resource of things to do around town. But you've got the Amp, Bin 39, coneheads, Drifters,

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Ink and Barley, Kookaburra at the beach as well as Kookaburra downtown, Macie's ice cream, old city PR along Anastasia Boulevard, old coast Ales, Spinster Abbott's in uptown, Alligator Farm, and the surf stop out on the island. So you've got all kinds of options downtown, north town, island, beach.

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I mean, you can get your, I don't know if it's called steps. You don't take steps on bikes.

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I don't think they might have an equivalent. Maybe I'm sure I'm sure. Oh, it actually did ask if it could connect to my fitness app on my watch. So you can get credit on your fitness goals.

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As well. Can you give us some of the locations? Sure. Absolutely. So one of the locations is on Cordova Street near Carrera. And we'll have another one on Cincinnati Avenue that's closer to San Marco.

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And then there will be one on Malaga Street also that's kind of right, it's somewhat like centered. It's almost in the middle of that street right there near George's diner. If you know where that is, it's basically right across from the Flagler Garage. So Flagler students can access that really easily.

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Nice.

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And then there will be four locations also in the plaza that are very easily usable and located accessible.

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So that's where the ribbon cutting is going to be. Yes, man. That's correct. Yes. So Friday, November 6th, we air these, these episodes on the weekends. So if you, if you missed the launch of the ribbon cutting on Friday, go on out and find these bikes because they're there.

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So if you're listening early in the week, come and join us. Any other locations to share with us.

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There are multiple. But yes, man, look on the map. Look on the map. Look on the app. If you're just now tuning in, you're listening to the break room. And we have Marcus Pinson with us. He is our mobility program manager, just kind of wrapping up the launch of the new bike share program that is going to be up and running to get your bikes download the app and hop on and go riding around.

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But let's also talk about you mentioned the star circulator. That's another modal, multimodal transportation option, park your car, hop the bus. Now you can go to the island and back. That's right. Tell us about it.

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Yes, ma'am. Yes. So we're really excited about the new star expansion circulator. Historically, as you know, it just kind of did a consolidated condensed loop in the downtown area. It's like a 1.3 mile loop that started the VIC went around, made a stop on the bay front and a stop on the plaza and got circled back around.

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So now we've expanded it to 15 new stops on the island that go along a A1A boulevard all the way to the quality near the Publix on the island.

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And it makes multiple stops, alligator farm, surf station, this Saint Augustine Beach City Hall along the way.

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So there are multiple convenient locations that it stops. And so 1.5 hour loop and the trolley's come in 30 minute intervals.

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30 minute, okay. And there's actually really amazing trolley tracker that's on our website as well.

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Yes. And you can get on there and you can see like when the location where the location of your trolley is and how soon, how close it is to your arrival.

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Like literally you can watch the little icon move along the road.

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Yes, ma'am. Yes. And the blue line is the star circulator.

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And you can see the little icon move along the way that takes away a little bit anxiety.

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Well, and sitting here thinking off the top of your head because I will confess I didn't write them down either.

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But I mean, literally all along the boulevard on a A1A beach down the beach and back.

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And I'm going to give a little rider tip because this is something when you mention an hour and a half people like,

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the route goes in a loop. So if you're on one side of the street, but you don't have to wait to ride it all the way down and back just cross over the street and catch it in the other direction.

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I know that may sound obvious, but think that was the biggest little tidbits of feedback we've heard is an hour and a half, just cross the street.

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No, you're absolutely right. And we tried to place those locations that were close to pedestrian sidewalks or safety improvements that would be safer for people to cross.

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And if I'm a resident at the beach, I want to go find this. We're not really, we're really hoping that folks are not necessarily driving to a place in parking.

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It's really for the folks that are staying and the folks who live nearby to walk to the stop.

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Are there going to be benches and signage and all that good stuff?

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Yes, that is coming. Yes, ma'am. Benches with QR codes that will direct you to the website and have access to the trolley trackers as well.

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Okay. Give us a quick insight into the star circulator in terms of nights of lights because that's going to be our next big - 

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Last year, We just went from downtown to the island. Tell us a little bit. We're still going to have the downtown circle and then, but it's not going to come back.

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So that's correct. Actually, as we all know, nights of lights just gets really congested, you know, at certain hours. And so as of right now, we will run the regular route until 3 p.m.

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And then we will stop the 3 p.m. route and we will still run the island route and it will add our normal hours, which is, and I don't know if I want to ever that, I apologize, but it's Monday to Thursday, 9 to 9, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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And then Friday to Sunday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. So again, that the island route we anticipate still being active during the nights of lights, but because of the congestion, the mainland route will of course be closed off.

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And that's really going to just deliver people on that loop to come and go at all those great stops. That's correct.

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I think the one thing that I realized is what a great way, even if I live at the beach just to come into downtown.

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Yeah, I'm, you know, like, oh, I live, I can hop on this star bus. I can go downtown, go do whatever I'm going to do.

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Shop, sightsee, bring your family, bring friends, and then I can hop on and go back home.

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Absolutely. I mean, some of those stops to drop you off and just some of the most walkable places in our city, you know, the historic area, some of those zones, you know, send the commercial areas. So it's nice.

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And the, this is not the park in ride shuttle, though.

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No, no, this is definitely I want to make sure folks realize what we're talking about is star circulator, not necessarily to go park and ride as a parking option.

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But this is the more of a pedestrian transportation solution. That's correct.

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Okay. Anything else? We still have a couple minutes. I'm excited about Drifters. You excited about bikes. What's your favorite mode of transportation?

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Absolutely. I like walking our city super walkable. You know, so yeah, bikes. I think this is going to be an excellent program where you'll be able to like park a bike at a kiosk or at a location.

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And, you know, go to walk wherever you're interested in going. You know, if you wanted to go to the business district or something or explore some more of the HP areas, I just think it's going to be great. And to maybe, you know, from what we understand these bikes are extraordinarily custom.

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And so, you know, they have a great range and, you know, very good usability. So user friendly, easy to use. So we anticipate a good ridership here and people using them and, you know, getting used exploring our city.

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They have a basket on them as well. So if you are shopping or picking up some things or having a great time and collecting some things along your adventures of the day, you can put your carrier water bottle, put your water bottle in, bring a speaker.

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Maybe, maybe, maybe not bring a speaker. You might favorite part of the job so far. You've been doing this. Now with with mobility?

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These interviews by far. I'm sure these are the best. You love coming on the break room.

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I'll actually do. It's a mode of transportation to get the word out and any kind of, you know, updates that we have. So we really do enjoy it.

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Any challenges you're facing? None at all. I didn't mean with today. I'm in in your job. Well, that's another episode. Of course, there's always challenges, but, you know, we just persevere.

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Move forward. Take it a day at a time. Stay focused. All right. All right. Be centered.

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Thank you for coming and talking about the bike share. We're excited about that. The star circulator and keep on moving, Marcus.

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I thanks again for having me, Melissa. I appreciate it. If you missed part of this broadcast, I want to go back and listen from the beginning. You can subscribe to the break room wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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iHeart radio, Apple podcasts and more. We want to keep you informed about what's happening in and around the city and that you hear it here from the people doing the work to make it happen every day. Follow us on social. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram and X at CityStAug until next time. Thanks for tuning in.

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You've been listening to the break room, a weekly program addressing projects and programs offered by the city of St. Augustine. Join us each week as the city's communications director, Melissa Wissel, has in-depth conversations with the people who make our town work to meet the needs of our community.

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See you at this time next week for another edition of the break room.

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