Consultant picks Lakewood Ranch bus service route

A more than seven-month study into the feasibility and attractiveness of bringing bus service to Lakewood Ranch culminated today, when an engineering consultant revealed its preferred route to do so.

Richard Dreyer with Tindale-Oliver & Associates presented the results of the study and mapped out the route for the Sarasota-Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization Monday.

The route —which would travel east on State Road 64 from Interstate 75, turn south on Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, then west on University parkway to the Mall at University Town Center — would be part of a systematic approach to public transportation dependent on collaboration between Sarasota and Manatee Counties. 

“Our study showed there’s a need for bus service from a lot of different people,” Dreyer said. “We were surprised by how many support it. Few people told us it’s a waste of time. Once we knew that, and studied what service would actually look like, we knew it would have to be systematic.”

See more on this story in the March 27 East County Observer. 

Contact Josh Siegel at [email protected].