Lynx comes under fire as Seminole County seeks to overhaul bus service

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Lynx representatives faced the collective wrath of Seminole County commissioners Tuesday as the leaders previewed plans to undergo sweeping changes to the county’s bus services.

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Under the proposal, Lynx would cut multiple routes – including 45 serving Lake Mary, 46 serving Sanford and 102 serving Altamonte Springs. Instead of those routes, Lynx would create a series of neighborhood service areas where a ride across town could be ordered in a sub-30-minute time span, much like an Uber. The service areas would operate six days per week.

It wasn’t the reductions in fixed routes that drew commissioners’ anger, but the fact that it took Lynx so long – and required so much pushing from the county – to get there.

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“I don’t believe Lynx is putting its best foot forward and I’m still waiting,” Bob Dallari said.

According to Lynx data, ridership in the county has been falling since it peaked in 2012. It’s now about half of what it was during that peak, representing a decrease of two million riders.

With 75% of the county’s 11 Lynx routes underperforming, Seminole County commissioners were visibly annoyed that few routes have been updated during the agency’s regular review of its services.

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Commissioner Andria Herr accused Lynx of sidelining the needs of Seminole in favor of the much larger Orange County. Commissioner Amy Lockhart, who spearheaded the examination of Lynx, likened working with the agency to shopping at a car dealership without her husband.

“‘Will you tell me how much you want to pay, and then I’ll tell you what you’re going to get for that?’” she paraphrased as an explanation in a follow-up interview. “It puts the purchaser at a distinct disadvantage.”

Seminole County spends $14 million dollars per year on Lynx. The proposal the bus system set out would reduce the cost to taxpayers.

However, some commissioners went a step further, proposing that Seminole drop all but the most popular Lynx routes in favor of spending the money on another operator.

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Lockhart didn’t go that far.

“They’re just doing it the way they’ve always done that,” she said, shifting blame away from Lynx workers. “What we’re looking for in Seminole County is to do something new, something that’s more innovative, that, frankly, is being done in other places around the country.”

A spokesman for Lynx batted away the criticism of his agency.

“I wouldn’t say that Lynx took too long,” Matt Friedman said. “There’s been ongoing dialog, and it’s great that we are having these types of conversations, and it’s really great that everyone’s being engaged on this, from the staff level all the way up to the commission… We’ll continue to have these conversations when people want to have these conversations, so pick up the phone, send us an email, ask and we’ll meet with you.”

Commissioners will continue with the current system of service in 2025. They agreed to begin conversations with all possible transit operators, including Lynx, but without a specified timeline or budget for any overhaul.

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