55 Years, One County, Countless Rides: Palm Tran Keeps Palm Beach County Moving

Every morning, thousands of Palm Beach County residents step onto a Palm Tran bus on their way to work, school, or a doctor's appointment. This year, Palm Tran celebrates 55 years of public trans it that connects people to opportunity and essential services across the county.

The Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners recognized this milestone with a proclamation at its September 1 regular board meeting, during which Commissioner Maria Marino presented the honor. A commemorative bus featuring the vintage CoTran design and its signature green, yellow, and orange stripes was displayed outside throughout the presentation.

For Lyne Johnson, Palm Tran's interim e xecutive director, this anniversary is about the people who depend on the service every day. "What began as a small system now connects thousands with what matters most , their jobs, families and community. That's why we're still here, moving our community forward," Johnson said.

Th e story began in 1971, when the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners assumed responsibility for local public transit and created Florida Transit Management, Inc. The system was reorganized as CoTran in 1980, and in August 1996, the agency adopted the name it still carries today: Palm Tran. At its launch, Palm Tran operated more than 100 vehicles across 33 routes.

Since then, the agency has expanded and grown its system over the decades to include:

• Surpassed 10 million annual ridership in 2007 .

• O pening the Intermodal Transit Center in 2009 .

• Redesigning routes and improving efficiency through Route Performance Maximization (RPM) in 2018 .

• Launching Palm Tran Connection paratransit service in 20 00. The service now runs a fleet of more than 300 vehicles and provides more than 1.1 million trips in 2025.

• Creating the Go Glades service in 2019 , which operates more than 15 buses and logged over 140,000 trips in the past year.

• Launching the BusLink and the Port St. Lucie Express pilot programs in 2024 . BusLink , a first- mile, last-mile solution serving different zones within the county, reported more than 288,000 trips in 2025, while the Port St. Lucie Express, which connects West Palm Beach with Port St. Lucie on weekdays, recorded more than 14,000 trips the same year.

• Upgrading fixed route bus amenities , including free onboard Wi-Fi and the Q- Straint Wheelchair Securement System .

• Creating the Paradise Pass contactless payment system and the Open Fare Payment system , which allows riders to pay by Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay, or tap contactless debit/credit cards .

Currently, t he agency is driven by more than 655 committed employees , who share the same mission: To provide access to opportunity for everyone-safely, efficiently, and courteously.

Moving forward, Palm Tran is in the process of launch ing six electric buses (Gillig Battery Electric Bus es ) to improve sustainability across the fleet , a s well as prepar ing its 2027-2036 Transit Development Plan to balance frequency and coverage as the county's needs grow .