Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks wants to rethink the public transit service.
- Commissioner wants to overhaul public transit in Lake Co.
- Parks says buses are empty; interested in eliminating them altogether
- Commissioner also suggested potential ride-sharing program
Parks says the LakeXpress and Lake County Connection buses are empty. He says there are 23 people per hour on the busiest route.
"I’ve had people for 5 or 6 years ask me ‘why are you running a bus system that doesn’t appear to be used very often?’" Parks said.
Bruce McKinnon rides LakeXpress several times a week for work.
"It’s never full. Sometimes I rode from here to Winter Garden, and I'm the only person on the bus," McKinnon said.
Parks also said he’s aware of complaints about the bus service. McKinnon said he's only had one bad experience.
"I had one lady see me coming across the road, the driver. Cars were coming, I couldn’t go then, so I waved at her to stop, she hit the gas," McKinnon said.
On Thursday, commissioners voted to have the county manager do a national search for someone to come in and potentially reshape the transit system and show officials where to make cuts.
"We need to cut fixed routes that aren’t working, or at least go to smaller vehicles," Parks said.
Parks says he is even in favor of getting rid of the bus service and instead partnering with a ride-sharing company like Uber and Lyft and provide for employment, education or medical coverage.
There will also be a workshop.
Parks said the public transit service is funded through federal government, and at least $2 million every year from property taxes.