Linda Castellano has lived for about eight years in an Orlando housing complex for senior citizens, a place where money is tight and few people drive.
But Castellano and her neighbors visit the city’s stores, mall, and public library thanks to a free bus service that loops around Orlando, picking up older residents from about a dozen apartments.
Now Seniors First, the agency that runs the service, plans to stop it at the end of October. Orlando officials are scrambling to save the bus — but in the meantime seniors fear the potential loss.
“Oh my God, it would be really bad, said Castellano, 73. “A lot of people here would be lost. A lot of people don’t have transportation, and they look forward to that bus.”
The program runs throughout the city. The downtown service, which includes Kinneret Apartments on Delaney Avenue where Castellano lives, is called SeniorTran.
A city spokesperson said its downtown Community Redevelopment Agency spent $66,423 to help fund the route last year.
But when city officials tried to negotiate a new contract, Seniors First said it would not be renewing.
“While the CRA offered to explore additional funding to maintain the service, Seniors First declined,” said Andrea Otero, a city spokesperson. “Instead, the CRA extended the contract by one month, providing $5,285.44 to continue services through October 2025.”
Katherine Brown, a spokesperson for Seniors First, said the transportation service impacts about 2.5% of their clientele, and that the agency is trying to put its “limited financial resources” where they are most needed.
All seniors impacted by the bus cut will be added to the agency’s Meals on Wheels service, she said.
“As the sole Meals on Wheels provider for Orange County, we focus on feeding our community’s most vulnerable seniors,” she said in a statement. “Discontinuing the transportation program allows us to reallocate our limited financial resources to meet the growing needs of seniors, helping them remain healthy and independent at home.”
In 2023, Seniors First delivered about 330,000 meals to 895 seniors.
Seniors First’s 2024 annual report shows the nonprofit spent $803,000 on transportation, though it’s unclear how much of that directly went to the bus program.
The agency didn’t say if it lost federal funding. Brown said the decision was made “due to flat funding and rising costs which made the program unsustainable.”
Several city commissioners said they were told it was due to a loss of federal funding, however.
It’s not clear how many people use the free bus.
City commissioners learned of the potential service cut this month, and have been working to fund it going forward, three of them said at a council meeting this week. They think it would cost Orlando about $300,000.
“Seniors, in many cases, are some of the people in our communities that we ostracize, and we cannot afford to do that,” Commissioner Tony Ortiz said. “I’m going to be advocating that we do a quick remedy so the services aren’t disrupted. We need to keep this going. We cannot keep them without this service.”
At Kinneret Apartments, which is for those 62 or older with limited incomes, the free bus is a godsend, the residents say, one that lets them shop and socialize in the city. More than a dozen residents came outside to speak with the Orlando Sentinel about the planned cuts.
Commissioner Bakari Burns said he knows seniors in his west Orlando district value it too.
“I’m over there often and I see the benefit the seniors have,” he said.
The free bus in downtown Orlando stops at Magnolia Towers, Kinneret Apartments, Orlando Cloisters, Orlando Central Towers, Baptist Terrace, Hillcrest-Hampton House, William Boothe Towers, Westminster Towers, Lucerne Towers, Orlando Lutheran Towers, Jackson Court and Carver Park three days per week.
Its route includes Orlando Fashion Square mall, a Publix, a Walgreens, the Orlando Public Library, the Dollar Store, a Beall’s and a Target as well as a county senior center, which offer classes and activities.
With Senior Tran, the drivers help passengers on and off, handling grocery bags and packages and helping them get into their buildings as needed.
Sandy Cawthern, 86, has lived at Kinneret for four years and lives off Social Security. With a fixed income, rising costs have caused her to cut out social events and eating out.
The Senior Tran allows her free travel to Publix for her once-per-week grocery shopping. A $15 cab or Uber ride to the store would be a costly addition to her grocery bill, which has already doubled in recent years.
“The reason that we’re here is because we’re poor,” Cawthern said, laughing. “We’re all poor, and we’re all old. We’re all in the same boat.”
She added, “I don’t drive, so it’s the only time I can get my groceries.”
