Citrus Connection revises route to provide 'circulator' bus service in Lake Wales

For many, the sight of a bare shelf in a refrigerator or cupboard means jumping in the car for a quick run to the grocery store.

But some do not have that option. Lack of transportation and food insecurity are linked vulnerabilities.

That is particularly true in an area such as the Northwest community of Lake Wales, where a higher percentage of residents lack personal transportation than in the average neighborhood, City Manager James Slaton said.

“About a year ago, the Health Department in Polk (County) had done an assessment of our Northwest neighborhood and really had determined that the neighborhood had high rates of food insecurity and health inequity,” Slaton said. “And a lot of that was due to lack of transportation in the neighborhood — or personal transportation.”

Lake Wales is seeking to address the problem. Starting in October, a bus will circulate through the city six days a week, making stops at the James P. Austin Community Center at 315 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. The bus will offer service to the Florida Department of Health in Polk County clinic in Lake Wales, the Publix Southgate shopping center, Walmart and the Eagle Ridge Mall.

The city arranged with Citrus Connection, Polk County’s public transit organization, to add the bus service. Slaton said it is the first time that Lake Wales will have a bus circulating through the city.

Citrus Connection runs several contained bus routes in Lakeland and one in Winter Haven, Executive Director Tom Phillips said. Lake Wales is following the example of Lakeland by designating money from impact fees to cover the cost of the service, he said.

Impact fees are charges a city or county imposes upon developers to help offset the need for enhanced services. The cost of Citrus Connection’s service is covered through a combination of federal funds from a portion of gas taxes, county funding and a smaller segment paid by participating cities.

Phillips said circulating routes are “the next logical progression” for cities in Polk County to increase mass transit.

“We’ve got all these routes that connect all these municipalities because of our massive footprint, our 2,009 square miles, our 17 municipalities,” Phillips said. “But now with the population densities getting where they are, communities are starting to realize that people need community circulators. They don't necessarily just need to get in and out of town. They need to get to what they need to do in town.”

Citrus Connection has provided bus service in Lake Wales for at least 15 years, Phillips said. The “35” route runs from Lake Wales through Babson Park and to the South County Jail in Frostproof, but ridership to the jail only averaged a few a month, he said.

Citrus Connection is modifying the “35” route to create the Lake Wales circulating service. The path will cover some of the stops on the previous route, Phillips said.

Because the circulator is a change to an existing service, Lake Wales will not face any increase costs.

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Phillips complimented Lake Wales officials for implementing the new service within 18 months of initial discussions with Citrus Connection, a relatively rapid change for a local government.

The rate for the circulator bus will be $1.50 each way, Phillips said, or 75 cents for the elderly, students and people with disabilities. Citrus Connection will offer an unlimited monthly bus pass for $47.

All residents with disabilities living within three-fourths of a mile of the circulator route will be eligible for door-to-door service, Phillips said, though Citrus Connection buses are equipped to accommodate people using wheelchairs. Those riders will pay a $2 fee each way.

Phillips cited a 2013 study from the Brookings Institution that reported 17.7% of Polk County residents lived below the poverty line. (More recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the figure at 15.1%.)

“We’re the fastest-growing county in the fastest-growing state,” Phillips said. “Great things are happening here. But we need to make sure we're not leaving that 17.7% of the population behind. Programs like this make sure that doesn't happen.”

Each county health department in Florida conducted assessments of food access in 2021-2022, and the local agency identified the Lake Wales zip code as one of three in Polk County with the most food insecurity. Using census data, the department found that an area including the Northwest neighborhood had elevated levels of diabetes and a higher social vulnerability index score than other parts of Lake Wales.

The Department of Health, working with the Health Council of West Central Florida, led an assessment that included resident surveys, interviews with school leaders and a townhall. An analysis found three main factors in food insecurity: lack of knowledge about community resources, inadequate transportation and a lack of healthy food sources in the neighborhood, the Department of Health reported.

Among its responses, the department led a campaign to provide educational information to families receiving weekend feeding packs at Janie Howard Wilson Elementary.

In another action intended to address food insecurity, Lake Wales held a groundbreaking event in April for the Grove Community Garden next to the Austin Community Center. It will primarily serve residents of Grove Manor, a Lake Wales Public Housing Authority community in the Northwest neighborhood.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Citrus Connection will provide 'circulator' bus service in Lake Wales