Transit director outlines route growth, grant reliance and software upgrades; Saturday service funded

Jill Brown, director of the Office of Transit Services, briefed the board on operations, funding and planning. "There are currently 9 Lake Express routes that are operated by 14 buses on a daily basis," Brown said, and described two service modes: fixed route Lake Express and door‑to‑door paratransit (Lake County Connection).

Brown highlighted funding reliance on state and federal grants, saying roughly 84% of service is funded through those sources and that state grants require a county cash match that accounts for about 13% of the transit budget. She described grant awards and technology investments: a Novus/Tripspark platform replacement funded with approximately $133,505 in grant funding (county match $14,834) for paratransit scheduling and a Streets/MyRide upgrade funded through federal grants for fixed route real‑time tools.

Brown said the office was awarded a $96,496 service development grant (50/50 match) to start Saturday Lake Express service on Oct. 1, 2026, and presented a feasibility study for a future transit operations and maintenance facility, an ADA transition plan update and a comprehensive operations analysis that will consider microtransit pilots. Commissioners asked for route‑level ridership numbers and discussed contracting, vehicle counts and reserve impacts; Brown said drivers are contracted and that apparent reserve reductions reflect encumbered purchase orders and grant rollovers.