Hernando Citrus MPO members and transit officials debate costs, service models and funding for local transit

At a meeting of the Hernando Citrus Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Board, county transit officials and board members discussed the cost, funding and service models for public transportation across Hernando and Citrus counties, focusing on differences between fixed-route and door-to-door (paratransit) services and options for improving efficiency.

The discussion mattered because transit operating costs, local match requirements and service design affect county budgets and state and federal grant eligibility. Board members pressed staff for clearer, unduplicated ridership counts and for cost comparisons between continuing current service and alternative delivery models such as vouchers, rideshare partnerships and microtransit.

Joanne Granger, Transit Services Director for Citrus County, described Citrus’s funding mix and recent ridership figures. Granger said Citrus County’s door-to-door (demand-response) trips had an average operating cost of about $70 per trip and fixed-route trips averaged about $35 per trip; the local portion of those costs averaged roughly $8.37 per trip. She told the board Citrus reported 56,086 total trips in fiscal year 2024 and explained that…