# Lake County, Florida Transportation for Disabled Riders: Lake County Connection and Where Ride Companies Fit

Canonical URL: https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/lake-county/ · Updated 2026-10-02

In Lake County, Florida, riders with a disability who cannot use the LakeXpress bus ride Lake County Connection, the county's door-to-door paratransit, booked at 352-742-2612. The county commission coordinates it for the state's Transportation Disadvantaged program, RATP Dev USA drives it under a contract approved in October 2022, and seven agencies carry their own clients. Medicaid members ride through a Medicaid broker instead.

- Lake County coordinates its paratransit but drives none of it: RATP Dev USA runs Lake County Connection in 41 county-owned, wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
- Seven agencies that carry their own clients with disabilities, including group homes, provided just over half of the 134,250 coordinated trips in FY 2024-25.
- Non-sponsored trip rates fell for 2026-27, to $35.93 ambulatory and $61.59 wheelchair, and the county sets no stretcher rate.
- Lake County repealed its wheelchair and stretcher van rules in 2016, so state Medicaid and broker steps set your requirements.
- Sunshine Health holds about half of Lake's Medicaid plan members, which makes Alivi the broker to apply to first.

## Lake County NEMT at a glance

| Fact | Details |
| --- | --- |
| Coordinator | Lake County Board of County Commissioners, through its Office of Transit Services, the coordinator since 2001. The state extended the role through June 30, 2028 on March 15, 2023. |
| Operator | RATP Dev USA since March 6, 2017. The county approved contract 22-542 on October 25, 2022, estimated at $7,356,306.65 a year for buses and paratransit. |
| Operator pay since October 2025 | $174,244.81 a month plus $35.51 per paratransit trip, the county's FY 2026 rate in the service plan update approved June 1, 2026 |
| TD trip rates, 2026-27 | $35.93 per ambulatory and $61.59 per wheelchair non-sponsored trip, down from $41.64 and $71.38. No stretcher rate. |
| Coordination contractors | Seven agencies serving people with disabilities, including group homes and Beacon College, carried 68,245 of the county's 134,250 trips in FY 2024-25 |
| Size, FY 2024-25 | 134,250 trips (31,430 medical), 83 vehicles, 149 drivers, and $54.11 per trip |
| Contract insurance | At least $200,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence for coordination contractors, under the 2026 service plan |
| Local permits | No county permit for wheelchair or stretcher vans. The county repealed its non-emergency stretcher and wheelchair transport rules on August 8, 2016. |
| Medicaid | Region B. 44,884 Lake members were in the main Medicaid health plans on August 31, 2026. Lake County Connection carries no Medicaid trips. |

## Who arranges rides here

- [Lake County Office of Transit Services](https://www.ridelakexpress.com/): Coordinates Transportation Disadvantaged and ADA paratransit as the county's coordinator. (352) 323-5733
- Lake County Connection (RATP Dev USA): Takes eligibility applications and books door-to-door rides. (352) 742-2612
- [Lake-Sumter MPO, Lake County TD Coordinating Board](https://www.lakesumtermpo.com/board-committees/transportation-disadvantaged-coordinating-boards-tdcb/): Staffs the board that approves the service plan, rates, and the yearly coordinator review. (352) 315-0170
- [MTM Health, Florida Medicaid rides](https://www.mtm-inc.net/floridaffs/): Arranges rides for Lake Medicaid members who are not in a health plan. (844) 239-5974
- [Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged](https://www.fdot.gov/ctd/community-transportation-coordinators): Designates the county's coordinator and funds non-sponsored trips.

Lake County buys its paratransit and drives none of it. The Board of County Commissioners became the county's [Community Transportation Coordinator](https://nemtguide.com/glossary/community-transportation-coordinator/) in 2001 and has hired a contractor to run the trips ever since: LifeStream Behavioral Center first, then MV Transportation in May 2005 and Ride-Right in July 2013. Since March 6, 2017, RATP Dev USA, which started here as McDonald Transit, has run both the LakeXpress buses and Lake County Connection, the door-to-door service for riders who cannot use them. Florida's Transportation Disadvantaged program pays for rides for residents who cannot drive or buy a ride because of age, disability, or income, and its statewide rules are on the [Florida guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/).

## Who can ride Lake County Connection

Lake County Connection runs two programs with different tests. The county's eligibility application, revised May 12, 2026, sets them out:

- **ADA paratransit.** For riders whose disability, verified by a medical professional, keeps them off the LakeXpress bus. Both ends of the trip must be within three-quarters of a mile of a LakeXpress route, rides run during bus hours, and every trip costs $2.00 each way with no reduced fare.
- **Transportation Disadvantaged.** For Lake residents with no other way to travel, including no car or driver in the household, and household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. This program reaches the rural parts of the county beyond the bus corridor.
- **The Mary Bennett Rule.** Dialysis riders, and riders in ongoing treatment for conditions such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, qualify with income up to $5,000 over the 200% limit. The board's eligibility subcommittee is reviewing it. Between February 2 and April 28, 2026, three riders used it, for 38 of 6,767 dialysis and medical trips.

Transportation Disadvantaged pickups run Monday to Friday from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., with dialysis trips on Saturdays and no Sunday service. Out-of-county medical trips go only to Gainesville, Orlando, Wildwood, Oxford, and Summerfield, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the return leaves by 2:00 p.m. The fare is $2.00 inside the county, $5.00 to Orlando, Wildwood, Oxford, or Summerfield, and $10.00 to Gainesville. Under the service plan update approved June 1, 2026, trips outside the ADA program need two business days of notice, up from one, and each pickup time opens a 30-minute window, down from one hour in the 2025 plan. When money runs short, critical medical trips such as dialysis go first.

Lake County Connection carries no Medicaid trips. Its service plan sends Medicaid members to their plan's broker.

## Who drives the trips and what RATP Dev is paid

RATP Dev USA is the only transportation operator in the county's system. The commission awarded contract 17-0202 to McDonald Transit on January 24, 2017, after denying a bid protest, at up to $5.1 million a year. That contract was set to expire on September 30, 2022, and on October 25, 2022 the commission approved contract 22-542 for transit operator services with RATP Dev USA, estimated at $7,356,306.65 a year and fully grant funded. The 2026 service plan calls it a second five-year contract. The county's eligibility application names the operator as Lake County Transit Management, Inc., at 560 East Burleigh Boulevard in Tavares, which takes applications at 352-742-2612, option 2.

The operator drives the county's vehicles. The 2026 plan lists 41 wheelchair-accessible Lake County Connection vehicles, every one owned by the county and almost all bought with FDOT, federal, and Commission grants. The operator is paid a monthly base plus a rate per trip. The service plans list that pay next to the rates the state grant pays for each non-sponsored trip. The operator pay follows the county's fiscal year, and the county's monthly contract report shows the 2026 base in effect since October 2025. The trip rates are for 2025-26 in the 2025 plan and 2026-27 in the 2026 plan:

| Rate | 2025 service plan | 2026 service plan |
|---|---|---|
| Paratransit operator, monthly base | $168,541.95 | $174,244.81 |
| Paratransit operator, per trip | $34.43 | $35.51 |
| Non-sponsored trip, ambulatory | $41.64 | $35.93 |
| Non-sponsored trip, wheelchair | $71.38 | $61.59 |

From July 2025 through June 2026, the Lake County Connection contract cost $5,023,034, between $391,875 and $452,644 a month. Agency trips are priced separately: the Agency for Persons with Disabilities pays $9.05 for a trip of up to 6 miles, $11.31 for 7 to 16 miles, and $16.96 for 17 miles or more.

### What the county checks

The coordinating board's FY 2025 evaluation of the coordinator, approved June 1, 2026, had three findings. At the site visit, all eight driver files sampled lacked records of physicals and only three showed defensive driving and ADA training, a repeat finding. On-time performance averaged 81% against a 92% goal. Two of ten sampled riders had no application on file. RATP Dev answered with refresher training, a color-coded filing system, and new scheduling settings, and in the September 21, 2026 board packet it reported scheduled on-time performance at 92%. Monthly results ran from 69% in July 2025 to 97% in June 2026.

A company driving inside this system faces the same review. Lake County Transit reviews every contractor each year: it sends a letter with an inspection date and a document checklist, inspects employee, compliance, and training files, and gives 30 days to show any deficiency is fixed.

### Seven agencies that carry their own riders

Coordination contractors in Lake County are agencies that receive program money and transport their own clients. The 2026 plan lists seven, including Beacon College in Leesburg, Building Blocks Ministries, Central Florida Group Homes, and Sunrise Arc. Each lists people with physical or developmental disabilities as its riders, three run group homes, and three reported as for-profit businesses. Together they run 44 vehicles, 11 of them wheelchair accessible. In FY 2024-25 they carried 68,245 trips, 51% of the county total, on $903,648 in expenses, while the Agency for Persons with Disabilities paid for 34,636 trips across the system. Each contractor must carry at least $200,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence in liability coverage, follow the state's Rule 14-90 safety rules and the Commission's drug testing policies, and pass the yearly review. For the waiver side of this work, see [waiver transportation providers](https://nemtguide.com/guides/waiver-transportation-provider/).

## Lake County's coordinated system by the numbers

Trips have stayed near 135,000 a year since FY 2023-24 while the cost per trip kept climbing, according to the state's Annual Operating Reports, which count RATP Dev and the coordination contractors together:

| Measure | FY 2022-23 | FY 2023-24 | FY 2024-25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total trips | 126,032 | 135,378 | 134,250 |
| Medical trips | 34,800 | 29,474 | 31,430 |
| Trips by RATP Dev | 59,987 | 67,037 | 66,005 |
| Trips by coordination contractors | 66,045 | 68,341 | 68,245 |
| Trips paid by the state trust fund | 25,489 | 26,050 | 27,130 |
| Trips paid by Medicaid | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vehicles | 82 | 86 | 83 |
| Drivers | 187 | 166 | 149 |
| Cost per trip | $47.90 | $53.23 | $54.11 |
| Complaints | 7 | 12 | 29 |

The system carried 11,735 wheelchair trips and no stretcher trips in FY 2024-25. Lake County Connection's own count for July 2025 through June 2026 was 70,330 trips, 29,585 of them medical, with 1,893 no-shows. The Commission's draft trip and equipment grant for Lake in 2026-27 was $945,691, plus a $105,076 local match, as of June 11, 2026.

## Permits for wheelchair and stretcher vans in Lake County

Lake County once licensed non-emergency wheelchair and stretcher companies. Its Non-Emergency Stretcher and Wheelchair Transport Regulations, adopted February 6, 2007 as Article XV of Chapter 13, were repealed in full by Ordinance 2016-38 on August 8, 2016. The certificate of public convenience and necessity left in the county's emergency services article, section 11-19, covers advanced and basic life support ambulance service only. A van company here follows the state steps on the [Florida guide](https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/): Medicaid enrollment, owner screening, and each broker's credentialing.

## Medicaid rides in Lake County

Lake is in Medicaid Region B under section 409.966. Members outside a health plan call MTM Health, which the state's waiver for July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027 assigns to Region B, and its 2025 Lake network counted 20 vehicles: 13 cabs, 6 lift vans, and 1 stretcher vehicle. Members in a plan ride with the broker their plan hires. On August 31, 2026, 44,884 Lake residents were in the main Medicaid health plans:

| Health plan | Lake members | Broker for its rides |
|---|---|---|
| [Sunshine Health](https://nemtguide.com/health-plans/sunshine-health-florida/) | 22,429 | [Alivi](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/alivi/) |
| UnitedHealthcare (with MTM Health since March 1, 2026) and Molina | 11,969 | [MTM Health](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/mtm-health/) |
| Humana, Aetna, and Community Care Plan | 7,008 | [Modivcare](https://nemtguide.com/brokers/modivcare/) |
| Simply Healthcare and Florida Community Care | 3,478 | Ride2MD |

## Where a small ride company fits in Lake County

The 2026 service plan's inventory of private providers already lists ten non-emergency wheelchair and stretcher services in the county, so pick a gap Lake County Connection leaves open:

- **Stretcher trips.** The county's rates and trip reports include no stretcher service, and MTM Health's 2025 Lake network had a single stretcher vehicle. See [start a stretcher transportation business](https://nemtguide.com/guides/start-a-stretcher-transportation-business/).
- **Out-of-county, night, and weekend trips.** Lake County Connection leaves the county only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, for five destinations, and on weekends its Transportation Disadvantaged program runs only Saturday dialysis trips. The plan lists weekend and after-hour service as a gap, and the county's search for ride-hailing partners for a night, weekend, and holiday pilot drew no bids. See [long-distance medical transport](https://nemtguide.com/guides/long-distance-medical-transport/).
- **Short-notice rides.** With two business days of notice now required outside the ADA program, later requests depend on spare capacity. See [same-day NEMT trips](https://nemtguide.com/guides/same-day-nemt-trips/).
- **Work under RATP Dev.** Ask its Tavares office whether it uses subcontractors, and read [subcontracting NEMT trips](https://nemtguide.com/guides/subcontract-nemt-trips/) before you sign.
- **The board seat.** The coordinating board's seat for the local private for-profit transportation industry was vacant on the 2026 member list.

## What to do first

1. **Enroll with Florida Medicaid and apply to Alivi**, since Sunshine Health covers about half of Lake's plan members, then to MTM Health, Modivcare, and Ride2MD.
2. **Call the Office of Transit Services at 352-323-5733.** Ask when the next operator solicitation is planned and whether the county would contract for stretcher trips. For how public bids work, see [government NEMT contracts](https://nemtguide.com/guides/government-nemt-contracts/).
3. **Apply for the vacant board seat** through the Lake-Sumter MPO, and attend the next board meeting, set for December 14, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. The board has been meeting at the MPO office, 1300 Citizens Boulevard, Suite 175, in Leesburg.
4. **Offer out-of-county trips on the other days.** A specialist visit in Orlando or Gainesville on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday is a trip Lake County Connection does not make, so tell local clinics and dialysis centers you can.

Next door, [Sumter County](https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/sumter-county/) hands every trip to a single operator, MTM Transit, and [Marion County](https://nemtguide.com/states/florida/marion-county/) is choosing a new coordinator after its longtime one gave notice in July 2026.

## Frequently asked questions

### Who qualifies for Lake County Connection?

Two groups. ADA riders have a disability, verified by a medical professional, that keeps them off the LakeXpress bus, and they ride within three-quarters of a mile of a bus route. Transportation Disadvantaged riders have no other way to travel and household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level, or up to $5,000 over it for dialysis and other ongoing treatment. Everyone applies and recertifies every two years.

### How do I schedule a ride with Lake County Connection?

Call 352-742-2612, Monday to Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Under the service plan update approved June 1, 2026, trips outside the ADA program need two business days of notice, and later requests are served only as capacity allows. The fare is $2.00 each way inside Lake County, and out-of-county medical trips run on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.

### Does Lake County Connection provide Medicaid transportation?

No. The county's service plan says Lake County Connection does not provide Medicaid-sponsored non-emergency transportation. Members in a health plan book through the plan's broker, such as Alivi for Sunshine Health members. Members outside a plan call MTM Health at 1-844-239-5974, at least three business days before a routine ride.

### Do I need a Lake County permit to run a wheelchair van?

No. Lake County adopted non-emergency stretcher and wheelchair transport regulations in 2007 and repealed them with Ordinance 2016-38 on August 8, 2016. The certificate of public convenience and necessity still in the county code covers advanced and basic life support ambulance service only. Florida Medicaid enrollment, owner screening, and broker credentialing still apply.

### How can my company get Lake County Connection trips?

The county buys its trips from one operator, RATP Dev USA, chosen in 2017 and again in 2022, so the direct route is the next operator solicitation. Short of that, ask RATP Dev about subcontract work. Coordination contracts go to agencies that carry their own clients, such as group homes, and require at least $200,000 per person and $300,000 per occurrence in liability coverage.

### Who runs paratransit in Lake County, Florida?

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners, through its Office of Transit Services, is the state-designated coordinator through June 30, 2028. RATP Dev USA operates Lake County Connection and the LakeXpress buses under contract. The Lake-Sumter MPO staffs the coordinating board that reviews the service plan, the rates, and the coordinator's performance each year.

## Official resources

- [Lake County Transit: LakeXpress and Lake County Connection](https://www.ridelakexpress.com/)
- [Lake-Sumter MPO: Lake County TD Coordinating Board meetings and members](https://www.lakesumtermpo.com/board-committees/transportation-disadvantaged-coordinating-boards-tdcb/)
- [Lake-Sumter MPO: Application to serve on the Lake County TD Coordinating Board](https://www.lakesumtermpo.com/media/135kxskm/lake-general-application-td-board.pdf)
- [Lake-Sumter MPO: Transit plans, including the Transportation Disadvantaged Service Plan](https://www.lakesumtermpo.com/planning-documents/transit/)
- [Florida CTD: Community Transportation Coordinators by county](https://www.fdot.gov/ctd/community-transportation-coordinators)