The Gainesville City Commission gave final direction to provide its own paratransit services instead of contracting the work to a third party, leaving Alachua County to calculate the impacts to its own transit services.
Gainesville’s Regional Transit System (RTS) carries passengers across the city and offers some Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodations. But the bulk of disabled passengers use paratransit through MV Transit, a third-party company.
At Thursday’s General Policy Committee, city staff said the RTS plans to have employees trained and ready by January and ready to take over the paratransit service. The actual switch might not happen until March 2026, though, as staff said additional time is built in to ensure a smooth transition.
Jesus Gomez, director of transportation, said RTS has already started reaching out to the passengers of this service to inform them about the change. The system will function the same as under MC Transit, and Gomez said RTS will help passengers learn the new program to schedule a ride.
Even the vans used to transport the passengers will stay the same. City staff said as part of MV Transit’s contract, Gainesville provides the 17 vans used for both city rides and rides from the unincorporated county—covered under a contract between MV Transit and Alachua County.
Gainesville’s decision to provide paratransit service instead of contracting came during a budget season where city leaders were searching for cost savings. In 2024, the city paid MV Transit $3.1 million for 47,797 ADA trips.
Interim City Manager Andrew Persons said the cost per trip continues to increase and RTS estimates it can provide the same service for $2.7 million. A large portion of the savings will come from Gainesville’s in-house fleet management to service the vans.
Alachua County discussed the changes at past meetings. The county is watching closely because of its own contract with MV Transit for ADA service outside of Gainesville.
The Gainesville population core has a larger volume of trips than the unincorporated area. With MV Transit losing a majority of its trips and revenue, Alachua County could feel impacts.
The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) sent a chair letter asking the city to postpone any decision until the Oct. 6 Metropolitan Transportation Planning Organization meeting on Oct. 6. However, Gainesville has moved forward with its plan as a part of balancing its budget for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.
In a statement, MV Transit called the decision impulsive and regrettable, saying it would be detrimental for the community.
MV Transit said no credible study in the nation shows savings from in-housing paratransit. The company points to a recent study for the city of San Diego that shows an 82% cost increase from taking over the services.
The San Diego study said there is some synergy that the city would gain if it operated both the regular bus lines and the paratransit, compared to just operating one or the other like Gainesville currently does. But the study said for San Diego, it would increase the cost no matter what.
MV Transit reviewed its operations, and in a letter to City Manager Cynthia Curry, the company could provide the same cost savings that Gainesville anticipates from moving the services in-house.
Besides the savings to Gainesville, MV Transit’s Randy Frantz said the quality would remain the same.
“Extremely importantly, after this extensive review, we are also confident these changes will not affect the quality of the service we provide, as our paramount concern is always the quality and care of the service we provide to our beloved passengers,” Frantz said.
Frantz said delivering safe service, like MV Transit has done for decades, is “too important to risk with a rushed transition.” He also highlighted that keeping MV Transit would leave the paratransit provided to Alachua County residents intact.
At the meeting, Persons referenced the cost savings, but he said it’s not a complete picture. Persons said the cost savings MV Transit is showing comes from changing the transportation model and using contract workers, similar to Uber or Lyft.
“That reduction in cost comes with a significant change to the service model that [MV Transit] would be providing. It is important to note that,” Persons told the commissioners.
He added that Gainesville plans to keep the same model that is currently being used, with full-time employees using the vans to pick up paratransit riders.
MV Transit questioned if cost savings are really the motivation. The company said the transition might actually be to save city jobs. That’s a reason Gainesville openly admitted on Thursday, and Mayor Harvey Ward said that was largely the reason last week.
Persons said the city will save around 10 occupied positions and 20 more unoccupied positions by switching the service in-house. If Gainesville didn’t begin the paratransit work, these jobs would need to be cut as the city reduces bus service—largely coming from renegotiations with UF.
“We are planning to in-source so that, frankly, we can keep as many good union jobs at RTS whole so we don’t have to fire people,” Ward said. “I would rather keep those good union jobs available and switch the service up, and I believe we can offer the service at least as effectively as MV Transport can.”
Judith Hamilton, a Gainesville resident and paratransit rider for 48 years, said she remembers riding with RTS before the city contracted it out to third parties. She said some paratransit riders are uncertain about the transition, but it’s now a waiting game to see how the city operates.
Her big concern was for the paratransit riders who live outside of Gainesville. MV Transit provides around 10,000 to 15,000 trips annually in this area. While covered under a separate contract, the service will likely be impacted.
Gainesville said it could provide this service as well, but wants to wait and see how the process unfolds for city paratransit riders. But by October 2026, staff said it could absorb the unincorporated area by contracting with Alachua County.