Lake Wales Renews Annual Micro-Transit Service Agreement for “The Squeeze”
by James Coulter
Residents who enjoy parking their cars, hopping on a shuttle, and riding into Downtown Lake Wales for food, drinks, and shopping can expect that convenience to continue: the City has renewed its agreement to keep the micro-transit service running.
At their regular meeting on Tues. Aug. 12, the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board voted unanimously to approve a micro-transit service agreement with Lakeland Area Mass Transit District.
The renewed agreement keeps the City’s hop‑on, hop‑off shuttle service, “The Squeeze,” running for another year at $61,380.80. The contract covers service from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027.
“The Squeeze” is a free, eight‑passenger, open‑air golf‑cart shuttle that loops through the historic downtown district. The Lake Wales CRA approved the pilot program on Feb. 13, 2026, with the purchase of two carts using the City’s multimodal impact fee.
The free shuttle service launched on Mon. May 13, 2026. Since then, it has operated on a 12-minute loop on weekdays between 11 am and 2 pm. Key stops include Polk State College Alexander Campos, Lake Wales Police Department, and the intersections of Park Avenue and Market Street/Stuart Avenue.
Since its inception, the service has logged 1,801 rides within the past year, according to figures from a presentation by Citrus Connection during a city commission work session on July 15, 2026.
Commissioner Carol Gillespie asked whether any changes had been made to the agreement. Assistant City Manager Deena Drumgo responded that the document remained essentially the same, noting only a slight cost reduction.
Drumgo said the original agreement was approximately $63,000, to which Commissioner Keith Thompson quipped, “So we squeezed a little bit out of The Squeeze?”
Commissioner Terri Miller asked if the service has benefited the city. Drumgo replied that it has and it proved especially beneficial during construction on Park Avenue.
Citing a recent parking study, Thompson asked how the service would help ease parking issues in the downtown area. City Manager James Slaton answered the city would incorporate it through its strategic plan.
“We already started,” Slaton said. “And I would hopefully like to get to the point where we have terminal parking lots where folks just know that they can park here, and it is just off-site a couple blocks away, but the Squeeze will come by every six minutes and pick them up, and that will help alleviate traffic and parking issues downtown.”
Thompson commended the shuttle for providing a valuable service to residents and visitors to the downtown area: “I think this is such a net positive for us, and it can only get better…I think ridership will probably go up.”
Drumgo mentioned that Lake Wales has been approached by other cities inquiring about implementing similar services. The Lake Wales Squeeze is one of two other similar micro-transit services in the county, with the other being the Lakeland Squeeze.
