Okaloosa County Transportation: RideOCT, the County Transit Contract and TD Work for Ride Companies

Okaloosa County owns its transit system and hires one company to drive it. The county commission became coordinator of the state’s Transportation Disadvantaged (TD) program in 2003 so it could run TD rides together with county transit, and its current term runs from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2027. On September 1, 2026, Tidewater Transit replaced MV Transportation as the operator, and the county’s EC Rider service became RideOCT.

The TD program is Florida’s ride program for people who cannot drive or pay for a ride because of age, disability, or income, run in each county by one Community Transportation Coordinator. Statewide rules, Medicaid brokers, and enrollment steps are on the Florida guide.

Who runs Okaloosa County transportation

Job	Who does it	Contact
TD coordinator	Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners, Transit Division, 600 Transit Way, Fort Walton Beach	850-609-7003
Operator	Tidewater Transit, since September 1, 2026	Through the Transit Division
Rider booking and eligibility	RideOCT	850-833-9168
Bids and contracts	Purchasing Department, 5489 Old Bethel Road, Crestview	850-689-5960
TD board staff	Emerald Coast Regional Council	850-332-7976

As of September 2026, RideOCT runs Monday to Friday from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 4 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday from 5 a.m. to noon. Riders qualify at age 60 or older, under 18, below 200% of the 2026 poverty guidelines, or with a disability a medical provider verifies, and RideOCT answers applications within 7 days. A trip in the county costs $3, an approved out-of-county medical trip $6, and a private pay rider $3 a mile. The May 2026 plan allows an out-of-county trip only when the rider cannot be served inside Okaloosa County, and only with medical documentation.

Two changes on September 1, 2026 matter for anyone who drives these trips: the pickup window shrank from 60 minutes to 30, and riders now book by arrival time or departure time. Drivers wait up to 5 minutes, and a cancellation within 2 hours of the window’s start counts against the rider.

The county is also shrinking its bus network. Its May 2026 plan says fixed routes are being phased out while paratransit continues, and the board’s May 27, 2026 minutes record staff describing a phased suspension of fixed routes, a shift to ADA and TD service, and the end of route deviations. Board members raised concerns for riders who qualify for neither.

How the county picked its new operator

After more than seven years with one operator, the county ran two procurements and posted three intended winners before a new operator took over:

When	What happened
2018	An invitation to negotiate picks MV Transportation for fixed route and dial-a-ride, starting January 1, 2019
October 31, 2025	Purchasing posts an intent to award RFP TS 39-25, Public Transportation Services, to MV Transportation for $19,676,337
Week of March 13, 2026	That award is rescinded
Week of June 19, 2026	Under a new invitation to negotiate, ITN TS 47-26, purchasing posts an intent to award to MTM Transit, LLC
August 7, 2026	The MTM Transit award is rescinded, and purchasing posts Tidewater Transit, LLC at $24,748,585
September 1, 2026	Tidewater Transit starts, and the service launches as RideOCT

Each notice lists the county commission as the approval authority. The county stays coordinator and checks the operator on safety, records, complaints, on-time performance, no-shows, and productivity.

Insurance is the first wall for a small company. The county’s review of FY 2024-25 lists $5,000,000 per person and $5,000,000 per occurrence in its operator and coordination contracts, far above the state’s $200,000 and $300,000 floor. The Commission’s standard agreement says coverage above $1 million per occurrence needs approval from the Commission and the local board. The review marks it as not approved and says the cost sat under MV’s corporate policy. Before you price any county bid, read its insurance section and get a quote. See NEMT insurance requirements.

Trips, money and the gaps

The state’s 2025 Annual Operating Report tracks the county system over three years:

Measure	FY 2022-23	FY 2023-24	FY 2024-25
Total trips	49,748	56,805	60,906
Medical trips	21,945	25,285	27,670
Trips paid by Medicaid (AHCA)	7,875	9,612	805
Unmet trip requests	1,403	4,789	4,312
Passenger no-shows	4,187	7,066	6,226
Vehicles	32	32	32
Drivers	50	50	50
Cost per trip	$59.79	$49.49	$77.48

The county paid MV Transportation $3,609,063 to operate in FY 2024-25, its quarterly report shows. The TD rate is $2.96 per passenger mile for ambulatory and wheelchair trips. The Commission granted the county a six-month extension to keep using its FY 2025/26 rate in FY 2026/27, and the board heard on May 27, 2026 that it would stay unchanged. There is no stretcher rate. The Commission’s draft FY 2026-27 trip and equipment grant, the state money for these trips, is $836,985 for Okaloosa, plus a $92,998 local match.

More than 4,000 requests a year went unmet in each of the last two reported years. At the May 27, 2026 board meeting, the vice chair noted that vans often drive empty from the Fort Walton Beach depot to start work around Crestview and Holt, where many trips begin and end, and suggested staging vehicles in Crestview. The May 2026 plan says the county will keep writing requests for proposals to bring in a private operator for night and weekend service, and will keep looking for more stretcher operators. Modivcare’s 2025 capacity count shows the same thin spot on the Medicaid side: 49 vehicles in Okaloosa County, of which 38 were wheelchair vans and 1 a stretcher van.

What the county asks of operators

The May 27, 2026 plan sets these standards for any operator or coordination contractor:

• How you get in. Operators come through a competitive bid scored by a selection committee and approved by the county commission. An agency that runs its own vehicles can ask for a coordination agreement, which also goes to the commission.
• Every vehicle. Working air conditioning, heat, and a camera system, and two-way communication the driver can always hear.
• Every driver. A favorable Level 2 background screening and FTA drug and alcohol testing for safety-sensitive jobs. Drivers state their name and company at pickup and wear a photo ID. First aid and CPR are not required.
• Boarding help. Drivers open doors, fasten belts, secure wheelchairs, and stow devices, but need not take a wheelchair up or down more than one step.
• Children. Riders under 12 travel with a companion 18 or older, and the operator keeps a few child seats for children from 20 to 50 pounds.
• Performance. 90% of trips on time, complaints under 0.5% of trips, no more than one chargeable accident per 100,000 miles, and at least 10,000 miles between road calls.
• Payment. Contracted operators are paid within 7 working days after the county is paid.

County purchasing rules decide how you bid. Anything over $50,000 needs an invitation to bid, a request for proposals, or a request for qualifications, and an invitation to negotiate, the method behind ITN TS 47-26, is used when the scope is not clearly defined and the county expects to negotiate. Proposals and invitations to negotiate are advertised for at least 21 days and submitted electronically, and every service contract needs an insurance certificate naming the county as additional insured. As of September 2026, the purchasing page asks vendors to register, free, on the county’s new online bidding portal to get email notice of each bid and proposal.

Medicaid rides in Okaloosa County

Okaloosa sits in Region A of Statewide Medicaid Managed Care, so plan members ride through their plan’s broker and everyone else rides with Modivcare. Membership in the four main plans on August 31, 2026:

Health plan	Members	Broker for its rides
Sunshine Health	7,816	Alivi
Humana	7,176	Modivcare
Simply Healthcare	4,735	Ride2MD
Florida Community Care	667	Ride2MD

Sunshine and Humana together hold nearly three quarters of the county’s plan members, so Alivi and Modivcare are the two broker networks to join first.

What to do first

1. Register with county purchasing. Sign up free on the online bidding portal linked from the purchasing page, check the weekly intent-to-award list, and call 850-689-5960 with questions about transportation bids.
2. Call the Transit Division at 850-609-7003. Ask whether the county, or Tidewater Transit as its operator, needs help with nights, weekends, or stretcher trips. See subcontracting NEMT trips before you sign under another operator.
3. Quote the insurance early. A $5,000,000 limit changes your price more than any other line.
4. Consider stretcher service. It is the gap the county names and the one Modivcare barely covers here. See starting a stretcher transportation business.
5. Attend the TD board on December 2, 2026, where the plan and rates are reviewed.

Compare the programs in neighboring Walton County and Escambia County.