Seminole County's on-demand van service, Scout, has finished its first year carrying more riders than ever, and county officials say the long waits that come with that demand remain the main problem they are trying to fix.
Scout serves Winter Springs as part of its Howell Zone, which also covers Casselberry and parts of Longwood. It is one of five zones the county drew for the service, which took over most fixed-route bus service in Seminole County when LYNX routes ended in January 2026.
Ridership and wait times
A county official told WKMG that Scout averaged roughly 400 riders a day when it started. This month the service set new highs, with more than 1,300 passengers on Friday, Oct. 9, and again on Tuesday, Oct. 13, according to the county.
The county counts more than 242,000 completed rides and over 270,000 passengers since January. A typical trip covers 6.78 miles and keeps a rider in the van for about 19 minutes.
Getting picked up takes longer. County data reported by WKMG puts the average wait near 48 minutes, and the longest wait listed, in the Lake Mary district, reached 313 minutes. The Lake Mary, Sanford, Econ and Brantley areas see the most use.
To ease the backlog the county now runs 49 vans, after adding seven, and officials said average daily ridership rose by about 100 within days of the new vehicles going out. Officials said they will keep weighing whether to add more vans and drivers with the service contractor as demand shifts.
The county pays an average of about $16 per ride to keep fares low, according to WKMG. Because Scout is public transit, riders headed in a similar direction may share a van.
