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Government
2026-10-125 min readMarion Transit Is Leaving the Paratransit Coordinator Role. Here Is What Happens Next for Riders
This is a government news article published on 2026-10-12 covering local Marion County, Florida news. Marion Senior Services, which runs Marion Transit, told the Ocala Marion TPO it will stop serving as Marion County's Community Transportation Coordinator effective Dec. 31, 2026. The TPO is choosing a replacement through a request for proposals that closed Oct. 12, with state approval set for Dec. 10.
Updated Yesterday
By Only In Ocala Staff
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Marion Senior Services, the nonprofit that operates Marion Transit, is stepping down as Marion County's Community Transportation Coordinator (CTC), the state-designated agency that arranges paratransit and door-to-door rides for older adults, people with disabilities and low-income residents who have no other way to travel. The change takes effect Dec. 31, 2026, according to a Sept. 22 memo to the Ocala Marion Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) Board from TPO Director Rob Balmes.
The TPO is now running a competitive search for a new coordinator. Under the schedule in that memo, the new agency's agreement with the state would run from Jan. 1, 2027, to June 30, 2031.
Marion Senior Services notified the community on July 15 that it planned to give up the CTC role, according to the minutes of the TPO Board's Aug. 25 Transportation Disadvantaged Workshop. At that workshop, Executive Director Jennifer Martinez said the decision was driven by liability risk rather than a lack of program funding. The minutes record her saying the agency's auto liability costs had tripled in three years and that it had paid about $1.3 million for $1 million in auto liability coverage. A proposal to extend sovereign immunity protections to coordinators like Marion Transit did not pass the Legislature, she said.
Martinez told the board that Marion Senior Services has served as the county's coordinator for nearly 40 years, alongside its other programs for older adults and caregivers, including Meals on Wheels, in-home support and crisis care. She said continued exposure from transportation claims had put the nonprofit's broader mission at risk.
At the workshop, Balmes laid out two paths: a local government could become the coordinator, either by taking over Marion Transit's fleet and staff or by hiring a private operator, or the TPO could run a request for proposals (RFP) to select a private or nonprofit coordinator directly. The board reached consensus to pursue the second option while also pursuing state legislation on sovereign immunity, with members favoring a bill focused narrowly on coordinators, the minutes show. The board also directed TPO staff to coordinate with the City of Ocala's SunTran on possibly including SunTran's ADA complementary paratransit service, which Marion Senior Services currently provides, in the procurement.
The schedule in the Sept. 22 TPO Board packet:
The memo says TPO staff worked with the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged's area manager and executive director, who reviewed and endorsed the RFP and the selection process. No replacement coordinator had been named as of Oct. 12.
No change to how rides are booked has been announced. Marion Transit's website still directs riders to call (352) 620-3071 for reservations, bus tickets and eligibility, with reservation lines open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The site says trips can be booked as early as two weeks ahead and no later than 72 hours ahead, and that qualified ADA riders can request next-day service until 5 p.m. the day before. Every rider must have an application form on file, and a medical provider's affidavit is used to confirm a disability or inability to drive.
On continuity, the workshop minutes summarize Martinez as saying Marion Senior Services had some flexibility on the Dec. 31 date, which was set to create urgency, and wanted to make sure service was not interrupted. City of Ocala Growth Management Director Jeff Shrum told the board that service could not be interrupted during the change and suggested an agreement to keep it running until a new provider is fully operating, noting that hiring staff and lining up vehicles could take a new provider extra time. As of Oct. 12, neither the TPO nor Marion Transit has published a transition plan for riders, a new phone number or any re-enrollment requirement.
The Annual Operating Report that Marion Senior Services filed with the state for July 2025 through June 2026, included in the Sept. 10 Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board packet, lists 107,099 one-way trips in the county's coordinated system and an unduplicated count of 1,744 riders. Of those trips, 80,934 were provided by Marion Senior Services and 26,165 by coordination contractors, and the total includes 24,127 complementary ADA paratransit trips. The report was marked as submitted and under review by the state. Medical appointments were the largest trip purpose at 39,202 trips, followed by nutrition trips at 23,702.
At the August workshop, Transportation Director Clayton Murch gave figures for 2025 that use a different period and breakdown: about 85,000 one-way trips across Marion Transit's programs, including 24,832 one-way ADA trips within three-quarters of a mile of SunTran routes, 20,472 trips under the state Transportation Disadvantaged program, and 33,322 rural trips under the federal Section 5311 program, about 39 percent of all trips. According to the minutes, Murch noted that the rural service is not legally mandated the way ADA and Transportation Disadvantaged service are but meets a significant need in the county.
For other ways to get around, see the Only In Ocala guide to public transportation in Ocala, which covers SunTran routes, and the senior living resources guide.
Only In Ocala will update this story when the TPO names a recommended coordinator and when riders are told about any changes.
The TPO is now running a competitive search for a new coordinator. Under the schedule in that memo, the new agency's agreement with the state would run from Jan. 1, 2027, to June 30, 2031.
Why Marion Senior Services is stepping back
Marion Senior Services notified the community on July 15 that it planned to give up the CTC role, according to the minutes of the TPO Board's Aug. 25 Transportation Disadvantaged Workshop. At that workshop, Executive Director Jennifer Martinez said the decision was driven by liability risk rather than a lack of program funding. The minutes record her saying the agency's auto liability costs had tripled in three years and that it had paid about $1.3 million for $1 million in auto liability coverage. A proposal to extend sovereign immunity protections to coordinators like Marion Transit did not pass the Legislature, she said.
Martinez told the board that Marion Senior Services has served as the county's coordinator for nearly 40 years, alongside its other programs for older adults and caregivers, including Meals on Wheels, in-home support and crisis care. She said continued exposure from transportation claims had put the nonprofit's broader mission at risk.
How the replacement is being chosen
At the workshop, Balmes laid out two paths: a local government could become the coordinator, either by taking over Marion Transit's fleet and staff or by hiring a private operator, or the TPO could run a request for proposals (RFP) to select a private or nonprofit coordinator directly. The board reached consensus to pursue the second option while also pursuing state legislation on sovereign immunity, with members favoring a bill focused narrowly on coordinators, the minutes show. The board also directed TPO staff to coordinate with the City of Ocala's SunTran on possibly including SunTran's ADA complementary paratransit service, which Marion Senior Services currently provides, in the procurement.
The schedule in the Sept. 22 TPO Board packet:
- Sept. 10: RFP released, with support from Marion County Procurement Services
- Oct. 12: RFP closes
- Oct. 26 to Nov. 4: selection committee meets (tentative)
- Nov. 12: Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board meets to recommend a coordinator
- Nov. 19 to 24 (date to be set): TPO Board recommendation
- Dec. 10: Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged business meeting to approve the coordinator
- Jan. 1, 2027: new memorandum of agreement with the state begins
The memo says TPO staff worked with the Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged's area manager and executive director, who reviewed and endorsed the RFP and the selection process. No replacement coordinator had been named as of Oct. 12.
What it means for riders
No change to how rides are booked has been announced. Marion Transit's website still directs riders to call (352) 620-3071 for reservations, bus tickets and eligibility, with reservation lines open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. The site says trips can be booked as early as two weeks ahead and no later than 72 hours ahead, and that qualified ADA riders can request next-day service until 5 p.m. the day before. Every rider must have an application form on file, and a medical provider's affidavit is used to confirm a disability or inability to drive.
On continuity, the workshop minutes summarize Martinez as saying Marion Senior Services had some flexibility on the Dec. 31 date, which was set to create urgency, and wanted to make sure service was not interrupted. City of Ocala Growth Management Director Jeff Shrum told the board that service could not be interrupted during the change and suggested an agreement to keep it running until a new provider is fully operating, noting that hiring staff and lining up vehicles could take a new provider extra time. As of Oct. 12, neither the TPO nor Marion Transit has published a transition plan for riders, a new phone number or any re-enrollment requirement.
How many people ride
The Annual Operating Report that Marion Senior Services filed with the state for July 2025 through June 2026, included in the Sept. 10 Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board packet, lists 107,099 one-way trips in the county's coordinated system and an unduplicated count of 1,744 riders. Of those trips, 80,934 were provided by Marion Senior Services and 26,165 by coordination contractors, and the total includes 24,127 complementary ADA paratransit trips. The report was marked as submitted and under review by the state. Medical appointments were the largest trip purpose at 39,202 trips, followed by nutrition trips at 23,702.
At the August workshop, Transportation Director Clayton Murch gave figures for 2025 that use a different period and breakdown: about 85,000 one-way trips across Marion Transit's programs, including 24,832 one-way ADA trips within three-quarters of a mile of SunTran routes, 20,472 trips under the state Transportation Disadvantaged program, and 33,322 rural trips under the federal Section 5311 program, about 39 percent of all trips. According to the minutes, Murch noted that the rural service is not legally mandated the way ADA and Transportation Disadvantaged service are but meets a significant need in the county.
For other ways to get around, see the Only In Ocala guide to public transportation in Ocala, which covers SunTran routes, and the senior living resources guide.
Only In Ocala will update this story when the TPO names a recommended coordinator and when riders are told about any changes.
Sources: Ocala Marion TPO Board agenda packet, Sept. 22, 2026 (CTC update memo and RFP schedule); minutes of the TPO Transportation Disadvantaged Workshop, Aug. 25, 2026; Ocala Marion Transportation Disadvantaged Local Coordinating Board agenda packet, Sept. 10, 2026 (Marion Transit update memo and FY 2025-26 Annual Operating Report); Marion Transit website (mariontransit.org) for booking phone, hours and eligibility. Checked Oct. 12, 2026.
Marion Transit
Marion Senior Services
Paratransit
Community Transportation Coordinator
Ocala Marion TPO
SunTran
Transportation Disadvantaged
Seniors
Ocala
Marion County
Government
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