FlexBus deal rolls forward

A positive vote from the Maitland City Council on Monday will once again cement its stake in rolling out a renegotiated version of FlexBus.

When Lynx pulled out of operating the mass transit system earlier this year, it left the partner cities wondering how the on-demand bus service that would ferry SunRail passengers from rail stations would become a reality.

The new interlocal agreement being voted on next week provides four cities the power to roll out the one-year demonstration phase of the system on their own, sans Lynx. Casselberry and Longwood already approved the proposed interlocal agreement, now waiting for final approval from Maitland this week, and Altamonte Springs next.

“We’re getting going and doing all we can to make this happen,” Maitland Mayor Howard Schieferdecker said.

Maitland Community Development Director Dick Wells said the cities are working on speeding up the project’s timeline to better coincide with SunRail’s May 2014 launch, after an estimate in September had the project on hold for an extra year. Flexbus could be running next fall.