Seminole County's yearly payment for public transit is back before county commissioners next week, and most of it does not go to buses on fixed routes.
The Board of County Commissioners is set to approve an $11,745,651 service funding agreement with the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, better known as LYNX, when it meets at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27. The item is on the consent agenda.
Where the money goes
According to the budget office's summary and the agreement's cost exhibit, the 2026-27 contract breaks down this way:
- Paratransit: about $8.7 million. This covers door-to-door trips for riders who qualify under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the state's Transportation Disadvantaged program. ADA service accounts for $7.18 million and Transportation Disadvantaged service for $2.33 million before reserve credits.
- Fixed-route buses: about $2.9 million. The five Link routes the county pays for are budgeted at 41,643 service hours and $4.76 million in operating cost. Fares, a $120,900 share from the City of Altamonte Springs and other credits bring the county's net cost down to $2.91 million.
- Capital: $124,928, figured at $3 per service hour.
The county will draw about $1.8 million from budget stabilization reserves to cover part of the bill, the staff summary says. The figures match costs LYNX presented to commissioners in June and are already in the county's adopted budget. Payments run $978,804 a month from October through September.
The five routes
The routes in the agreement are Link 23 (Winter Park, Rosemont and Altamonte Springs), Link 102 (Orange Avenue and South U.S. 17-92), Link 106 (North U.S. 441 to Apopka), and Link 436N and Link 436S along State Road 436. Link 436N is the largest single line, at 16,649 hours and about $1.9 million.
Link 436S runs from the Altamonte Springs SunRail station through Casselberry to Orlando International Airport.
