{"id":4787,"date":"2026-06-20T11:33:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:33:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4787"},"modified":"2026-06-20T11:33:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-20T11:33:53","slug":"seminole-commissioners-blast-lynx-for-rising-costs-despite-fewer-routes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4787","title":{"rendered":"Seminole commissioners blast Lynx for rising costs despite fewer routes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Seminole commissioners are furious that Lynx wants to hike costs for its mass transit service \u2014 even after the county ditched most of its bus routes last January due to a lack of riders.<\/p>\n

Read more Toddlers\u2019 deaths in Orange highlight disturbing domestic violence trend<\/a><\/p>\n

Now county officials are talking about completely walking away from Lynx and starting their own mass transit program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was one of the biggest supporters of Lynx on this board \u2026 I am not in that position anymore,\u201d Commission Chair Andria Herr told Lynx CEO Tiffany Hawkins. \u201cIf I could get out entirely, I would. Because I think this was punitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The biggest obstacle for Seminole, however, is state law. The county \u2014 along with Orange, Osceola and the city of Orlando \u2014 is required to be part of the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees Lynx.<\/p>\n

But in Seminole, Lynx buses had been driving around mostly empty, according to county officials, partly because most residents own their own vehicles in a suburban county less densely populated than neighboring Orange. Meanwhile, Lynx\u2019s costs for Seminole had jumped by hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.<\/p>\n

In what they hoped would be a cost-cutting move to save millions, Seminole got rid of all but five bus routes in the county earlier this year after launching its own ride-sharing service.<\/p>\n

But now Lynx wants to markedly raise Seminole\u2019s overall cost for next fiscal year anyway, despite the reduction in service.<\/p>\n

According to the agency\u2019s budget presented to Seminole, Lynx does plan to reduce its charge to the county for fixed bus service by $2.3 million in the next fiscal year \u2014 from $5.2 million this year to $2.9 million in 2027, a drop of nearly 44.5% \u2014 because of fewer routes.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the agency is also asking to raise Seminole\u2019s contribution for the paratransit service Access Lynx by more than $2.5 million \u2014 from nearly $6.2 million this fiscal year to $8.7 million \u2014 a nearly 40.7% jump.<\/p>\n

County officials said they are puzzled by the cost increase in the face of falling ridership for Access Lynx, which provides door-to-door transportation for disabled and low-income riders countywide.<\/p>\n

Commissioner Amy Lockhart, who represents Seminole on the Lynx board, said the agency is using an \u201cantiquated, broken\u201d funding system for a suburban county that doesn\u2019t need a mass transit system as Orange does.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is obvious to us when the big personalities or the big players in the room [at Lynx] say I want to look at how to redo this formula, and it\u2019s suddenly done in a way that makes Seminole County have to pay more,\u201d she said. \u201cWe weren\u2019t born yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Overall, Lynx is requesting from Seminole about $11.75 million next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. That\u2019s nearly a $120,000 increase from this fiscal year, even though Seminole replaced 10 Lynx bus routes north of State Road 436 \u2014 which runs just north of the Orange County line \u2014 on Jan. 11 with its own on-demand service Scout.<\/p>\n

By comparison, Seminole paid Lynx nearly $11.8 million in fiscal year 2024. In fiscal year 2019, Seminole paid $7.2 million.<\/p>\n

Read more Man\u2019s ear infection spread to his brain. His family claims it could\u2019ve been caught before he died<\/a><\/p>\n

Added to that Lynx cost is that Seminole is budgeting $6.8 million for Scout in the next fiscal year, bringing Seminole\u2019s total cost for transit to about $18.5 million. However, county officials said a portion of that micro-transit cost will be paid for with advertising revenues on Scout vehicles and grants, including a $1.5 million state grant that Seminole is seeking.<\/p>\n

Lynx charges counties, including Seminole, for the number of routes the local government requests and how frequently they want buses to pick up riders at stops \u2014 whether it\u2019s every 30 minutes or every hour, for example.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are paying for the service that you want,\u201d Lynx spokesman Matt Friedman said.<\/p>\n

When Seminole staff \u2014 concerned about the rising expense \u2014 asked Lynx last year how the county \u201ccould better control transit costs, Lynx proposed reducing fixed-route service as one option,\u201d county spokeswoman Andy Wontor said in an email.<\/p>\n

Seminole then kicked off plans to eliminate fixed bus routes and start its own micro-transit service, contracting with Miami-based Freebee to run the Scout vehicles.<\/p>\n

The county received an estimate of just over $9.8 million for its total annual cost to Lynx if it eliminated or reduced the 10 Lynx bus routes, including the most expensive Link 103 bus, which traveled on the U.S. Highway 17-92 corridor.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the numbers change year by year,\u201d Friedman said on why Lynx did not provide estimates beyond a year to Seminole. The Lynx board votes on contributions from its partner governments every spring.<\/p>\n

That estimate was also before Lynx reworked its funding model last May, primarily to help fund Access Lynx after the costs from the contractor went up by $13.5 million, agency officials said.<\/p>\n

In addition, Lynx also needed to pay for the overall costs of operating across Central Florida after Seminole reduced its routes, Hawkins told county commissioners June 9.<\/p>\n

By comparison, Orange is now being asked to pay just over $109 million for next fiscal year, a 13.5% increase from this year\u2019s payment of nearly $95.3 million.<\/p>\n

Osceola is facing a roughly 17.6% increase next fiscal year, from nearly $16.6 million this fiscal year to nearly $20 million next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOsceola is paying more, but their service didn\u2019t change. We\u2019re paying more, and we decreased service,\u201d Herr said.<\/p>\n

Zembower said Lynx \u201cswitched\u201d the funding model at the detriment of Seminole.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur intent was to save taxpayer dollars for routes that arguably nobody was riding,\u201d he said. \u201cI would just ask that Lynx and our partners [Orange, Osceola, Orlando] put themselves in our shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more James Burrows, director of classic TV comedies including \u2018Cheers\u2019 and \u2018Friends,\u2019 dies at 85<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Seminole County commissioners say the cost for Lynx next year is rising despite lowering ridership on Access Lynx and fewer bus routes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4787","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-transportation"],"yoast_head":"\nSeminole commissioners blast Lynx for rising costs despite fewer routes - Orlando Relocation Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/orlandorelocationreport.com\/?p=4787\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Seminole commissioners blast Lynx for rising costs despite fewer routes - 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