Florida county takes a nimble approach to overhauling transit

Just because Lee Constantine’s mother is able to drive doesn’t mean he wants her navigating some of Seminole County, Fla.’s busier roads to get to her appointments.

In an idyllic yesteryear, a Boy Scout would escort her across a busy street. Now, the county’s ride-hailing service, the aptly named Scout, is taking her door-to-door, providing a more targeted service than the county’s traditional bus system — LYNX — and its eight fixed routes. 

“It’s going to give people more of what they want and cost the county a lot less,” said Constantine, a Seminole County commissioner. 

With contract renewal for the LYNX system approaching and the cost due to rise sharply against ridership trends, the Seminole County Board of Commissioners wanted new transit options in 2025. 

“We had a 40-foot bus on Sundays averaging half a rider,” said Assistant County Manager Kristian Swenson. “No matter what, we needed to overhaul the system to make it efficient, but we didn’t want to do that at the expense of residents who rely on the system.

“And we had all kinds of people living in transit deserts who weren’t being served,” he said.

Seminole County staff liked a system in place in the Tarrant County, Texas city of Arlington. Arlington’s system uses a “boundless” approach, a departure from a planning concept typical of micro-transit systems that restricts service to a particular geographic area, requiring many riders to transfer to a second mode, another bus or rail service rather than a destination they choose. That was much of what the county described in its purposely vague request for proposals in 2024.

“We wanted to let the market decide what’s what out there and let the private sector tell us what they could do, without the staff prejudicing the parameters,” Swenson said. The county refined the process based on three proposals. 

Swensen brought 12 questions to the Board of Commissioners to get input in policy direction, including age minimums for riders, discounts and fare structure during an April 2025 meeting.

“That’s not the approach we’d usually take, but it was important to make that process public, given how much would be changing,” he said. 

The county signed a contract in late June, and the vendor was ready for a soft launch in September with a formal launch in October. In January 2026, the county eliminated seven of 11 unproductive LYNX routes, continuing four high-volume routes, after giving residents three months of overlapping service.

Scout operates on a system of 42 electric minivans, with human drivers, capable of transporting mobility devices and bicycles. And the cost savings compared to expiring the LYNX contract, before figuring in savings from cutting out diesel fuel purchases and repairs to aging buses and the fare revenue, is north of $5 million a year. The county received a federal grant to buy additional vehicles.

Scout riders can travel throughout all but the most rural eastern parts of Seminole County and connect to the SunRail regional train service, which connects to mainline destinations in four counties. Riders must be 15 years or older to ride without an adult. Anyone under 15 must be accompanied by someone 18 or older.

The works

The drawback, echoed by residents in local media as the county made the transition in January, is the lead time for drivers to arrive after being hailed, topping out around two hours. 

“We’re trying to bring that down to 30 minutes,” Constantine said.

He noted that relying on traditional bus schedules required a modicum of planning. Scout only operates on-demand and does not allow for scheduled pickups. 

“If you’re going to decide to go somewhere all of a sudden, chances are you’re not going to find a bus going there right when you need it,” he said. “If you plan ahead, Scout works pretty smoothly. It works very well if you have fixed plans, like a doctor’s appointment or a restaurant reservation or a movie ticket and you plan ahead.”

Scout uses the Ride Freebee smartphone app to manage riders’ experiences, which includes a new trip planner that considers dynamic traffic trends to extrapolate travel time. Rides are available from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday-Friday, with slightly later hours on Saturdays and shorter hours on Sundays.

“If you’re going, you know, one place or another on a certain day, you know you could look ahead and say, ‘How far ahead do I need to book the ride based upon what the standard two-week history is for the for that travel in that area?’” Swenson said. “It’s like if you used Google Maps to get directions and preset it to use it tomorrow at 10 a.m.” 

The app then gives the county a trove of data. One morning in December 2025, Constantine watched the day’s rides unfold as they were happening.

“This morning, we’ve had 102 rides so far,” he said. “It’s only 10 in the morning, so that’s good; remember, it’s a shared thing, but we’re finding that most of the rides are still single.

“We’re trying to get big numbers in the younger and older age brackets—under 21 and over 65.” 

The data also helps shed some light on consumer behavior.

“We took a look at Christmas 2025 data and expected it would be a lot of restaurant trips, but it turned out most people were traveling to grocery stores,” Swenson said. “Where we thought people would be going isn’t where they ended up going.”

All’s fare

The Board of Commissioners directed Swenson to make the fare structure both expensive and cheap.

“We’re not trying to be Uber or Lyft, but they want us to be accessible for vulnerable populations who need it,” Swenson said. 

Fares are based on the length of trip through five zones of the county, with a maximum fare of $14, with a $1 peak-time surcharge. Eliminating late night service keeps Scout from directly competing with private ride-hailing services.

The discount structure considers the federal and local poverty levels, which gives eligible riders a capped fare along with a 50% discount. Additional discounts include:

• 50% discounts for students and older riders
• Discounts and $2 capped fares for people going to a SunRail station
• $1 fares for riders with disabilities
• 50-cent discounts for riders who use the Ride Freebee app rather than calling for service by phone.

“If you’re an app-based disabled person, you can go anywhere in the county for 50 cents,” Swenson said.