Lynx

Coming from a city up north with fairly solid public transportation, I had much higher expectations for one of the tourist capitals of the world. If you can avoid using their bus service, I would avoid it for a number of reasons. My biggest criticisms include:
1. Punctuality. As a system, these buses are never on time. The company needs to take a serious look at the routes and traffic patterns and make adjustments so that buses can be at the stops when they are supposed to be. And the drivers often seem to be unphased by the fact that people are late to work, have missed their transfers, etc. because of their inability to be on time.
2. Route efficiency. The routes themselves take so long to get from point A to point B. If you have to ride the bus system, plan on taking 2 hours to get to a destination that is 15 – 20 minutes away by car. There should be more express options along highly traveled routes. Most of the bus routes take huge detours through neighborhoods, etc. and while servicing these areas is important and necessary, it seems to me that there should be a more efficient way to do it.
3. Sunday schedules. Though I think the bus should run later every day, Sundays are especially problematic. Many people that ride the bus have low paying retail/​food service/​theme park jobs. The service industry is always open. Many places today don’t have different operating hours on Sunday, and a large number of Orlando residents depend on public transport to get to work. What are they supposed to do when they have to work later than the bus runs?
So there we have it. Will the Lynx system get you where you need to go? Probably, though you won’t be able to get there in any sort of timely fashion.

Nothing but aggrivation from late buses. My first experience was less than desirable. Use über. It is no wonder people don’t use the public transit system here.

Don’t hire this company if you’re in a hurry to get somewhere (for ex– cruise ship). You will get the run around when you call for pickup, they’ll even quit answering their phones! Other passengers had the same issue. They were there when my cruise came in and I got to the airport promptly– their rep at the cruise ship terminal told me he «makes $ 100,000 a year getting people on the vans». I’m changing careers

This bus system sucks. They’re never on time. Perfect example. I get off at work at 5pm. The 51 is suppose to be here by 5:25pm. Never shows. The next bus is 6:18pm. It’s 6:36 pm now and I’m still waiting on the 5:25 pm bus. Wtf is wrong with this system. I don’t understand. If über was cheaper I’d take them all the time. They should learn a thing from über like tracking where the bus is. The amount of time you waste waiting and riding the bus is ridiculous. I can’t wait until I don’t have to depend on this sorry ass system for transportation.

Horrible bus system! I used to complain about the public transportation i used to take up north but man this is 100x worse!

It baffles me to believe that the transportation system in this city is this bad. You would think that in one of the tourist capitals of the world you would have a great transportation system, right? That’s not the case here!
Let me start off by saying that if you’re going to be using the LYNX buses for trip any time during your day, you better be sure you really plan your trip and that you have nothing else planned for that day. I know because I’ve been using the buses for years now and nothing has really improved.
First, you have to understand that if you’re going to be making a trip that normally would take you 25 – 30 minutes driving, you’re going to be on the bus for around 2 hours. This means that 4 hours of your day will be spent on a round trip on the bus to get from point A to point B.
Second, the buses are rarely ever on time. So if you’ve planned your trip, and you know you’re counting on at least 3 transfers, know that you’re most likely going to be late. One of the first two buses is going to be late you’re going to then miss that last bus transfer you needed to get to where you want to be.
Third, the bus drivers are rude. The majority of the drivers are rude, they’re chatting with each other, they’re not really paying attention to the rude and it’s ridiculous. I had to ask 3 different bus drivers which one was the correct bus I needed to take to get to my location (you know to double check that what the site told me was correct) and they all gave me different answers. That’s not cool at all.
Fourth, just avoid the buses if and whenever you can because you’re going to spend your whole day on them. Between planning HOURS prior to when you need to be somewhere, waiting HOURS for a bus that’s late, and dealing with RUDE drivers you’re better off just calling a friend or an Über/​taxi.
Lastly, Orlando, get your s&&^t together and fix our broken transportation system. Okay? Thanks!

If I were a resident trying to get around on a normal schedule, I would be way more critical, but if you’re looking to avoid the MEARS mafia as a tourist to and from the airport and international drive, look NO further.
The Lynx 111 picks up down on the other side and one floor below Disney’s Magical Express, and will deliver you to International Drive without any fuss or flap, as a one-​seat ride. It leaves every half hour and the bus driver I had on my trip was absolutely wonderful to chat with. Another one boarded to chat with her and made additional dinner recommendations (which were marvelous, btw). As someone from Seattle, I’m not impressed with frequency or the way they plan their routes, but the service was absolutely fine for this tourist on a budget.
You can choose: Wait up to half an hour and pay $ 2 to get to Sea World/​International Drive, or spend your $ 20-​some-​odd dollars for your MEARS shuttle to your hotel. The choice was easy and delightful. By sharing my knowledge of the system with my fellow teachers there for the convention, I’m pretty sure I changed more than one set of plans for return trips to the airport.

This bus system provided by the city of Orlando for free transportation to and from the downtown area for the Rolling Stones stones concert last night. We parked in downtown and took the shuttle bus do the fabulous Florida citrus bowl and the shuttle bus very efficiently took us back The bus was clean, ice cold and the drivers courteous. My hat is off to these guys I will gladly take the bus again. thank you Lynx in Orlando

Any city with as much tourism as Orlando, Florida has should have usable public transportation. I just checked a schedule, to get a 12 minute car ride is a 2 hour 50 minute bus trip. Unbelievable! There must be a government deal with rental cars and taxi companies or something, because that is really poor service. Visitors really need to have their own transportation in this city. These reviews give Lynx a great opportunity to see the need to make changes.

Every single damn bus is either way early or late. Some buses only run once an hour and some don’t run on Sundays. Some drivers are really rude and even if you report them they won’t do anything. Nobody takes the bus unless it’s their last F***ing option!!! Service sucks. Buses are too cold… YOU CAN GET ROBBED ON THE BUS. I have been a victim. LYNX DID NOTHING!!! They might break down in the middle of the route… I wouldn’t mind paying a little bit extra for better service. DO SOMETHING ALREADY!!! Or gives us options! This is the only bus company in the entire city!!!

They are always late and on top of that the bus drivers are rude and don’t care for customer service. Just because they drive us around doesn’t mean they need to not care if they are late. This is a public bus service, pretty much CUSTOMER SERVICE. And they have nothing of that sort. If you tell the bus drivers they are late they will purposely stay at a stop and be even more late (this has personally happened to me) I told the bus driver that she was late and she said «well then I am going to make you even more late then». If they say they will be at a certain stop at a certainty time then they need to BE THERE! Just because people who ride the bus use it because they don’t have cars does not mean that the Lynx bus service needs to treat the people, who PAY them AND keep them with a paycheck every month, like they are the lowest class. Have some customer service classes Lynx, and get you buses to arrive on time! And if they arrive early don’t just let the buses leave the bus stop! Leave at the appropriate time! They are just careless. And that’s my rant for today. Bye.

I spend quite a bit of time on the road. When I visit large cities I always try to use the public transit system. While in Orlando for a conference at the OCCC I decided to buy a 7-​day pass and use the bus routes along international drive (8 and 42). At no time was the bus on time. In fact during the day the bus was supposed to arrive every 15 minutes and I waited at one point waited 40 minute. This was even more awful when I realized I could have walked in half the time.
Two highlights were the friendly demeanor of the drivers and the cleanliness of the buses, however, if the buses do not show up you won’t be able to experience this.
The I-​trolley seems to be a more reliable means of transportation.

Use it to connect from sun rail. Big mistake. Everything takes so long.
And I had to sit and wait while the driver stopped to take smoke break.
Maybe it would b an OK option if only there were more drivers and not such long wait times.
If only.. .

Free wifi is a plus. Champs café in the building too.

Horrible, absolutely horrible; wish I could give ZERO stars. I myself don’t have a car and no one to pick me up after I’m finished with my classes at my College for the day so I HAVE to take Lynx to get home. I just moved to Orlando so I’ve never taken city buses before, and boy, I wish it would’ve stayed that way. The Lynx buses, for the most part, are very grungy and dirty. SOME are nice and spacious, but out of all the times I’ve ever rode Lynx, I’d say only two or three buses were nice. They’re usually very crowded and sometimes there isn’t even a seat, you’re forced to stand and hold onto the disgusting, germ ridden railing above you.
When I mentioned that it was crowded, I MEANT it. There are times when the bus is completely packed but the driver still lets entire stops of people on – wtf? I know that they have somewhere to go, but there is literally NO room on this bus for them. It becomes very uncomfortable and claustrophobic with all those people, and not to mention, a lot of the people that ride the Lynx bus can be quite strange to say the least. I’ve seen homeless people on the bus before, people with no teeth, ughh and when they sit next to you it’s the worst because most of them usually smell very bad as well.
The bus stops are also DISGUSTING. The one at my college is nice and clean, but the one for my transfer bus is so gross it makes me want to scream. Hobos, bums everywhere smoking cigarette after cigarette. There have also been times when my bus was not five, not ten, but THIRTY MINUTES LATE and I ended up getting home well after dark. It also is a pain in the f! cking ass when the bus driver steps off the bus to go and take a 10 minute smoke break. Dude, save it for later, your riders have somewhere to be and it’s already late.
I know I sound pretentious and rude, but UGHHH! This bus service is so terrible! The drivers are rude, the buses are dirty, the riders are weird, I need to save up for a car pronto!

Took Lynx downtown then to Disney World. Then took cab to hotel. Also rode Lymmo free bus downtown. SunRail opens next year. They have a new transit-​rail hub downtown (where you also catch the Lymmo shuttle). $ 2 gets you anywhere with a free transfer good for 90 minutes. A steal if you are not in a hurry and want to see the real Orlando. Drivers were helpful. Call the Lynx customer service to plan your trip (or use the on line Goodgle system). With all the complaints about the slow Mears service (and the $ 68 plus trip the limo driver wanted to go to the airport from my hotel on Bonnet Creek, I am a Lynx fan.

This place is way better than the old station. The bathrooms are well kept and the staff is decent… Don’t forget to check out their food place. Their food is typical burgers and stuff but the prices are fair.

Deserves zero stars if you ask me. I’m a tourist staying on international drive and visiting Disney world and sadly I had no option but to take the lynx because the Ramada inn does not provide shuttle services. I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere waiting for a bus right now at 1am. FML.
— bound to be late (up to an hour late)
— sometimes the bus just goes missing entirely
— really rude drivers
— hard to spot stops
— inconsistently syncs with google maps
I had a nice chat with one of the nicer bus drivers and this is what he says to defend the system:
— the drivers are rude because tourists ask stupid questions
— the traffic is unpredictable and the time schedule is impossible to keep up with
— DIsney relies solely on their own bus system and works together with the Mears Shuttle services to «bully» Lynx and not let them have easy access to Disney World.
— if you’re gonna stay to watch the later nighttime shows at Disney, don’t expect there to be any buses running… at all.
Lesson learned: NEVER rely on LYNX if you’re going to DIsney World, though it might suffice for Universal Studios and Sea World because those two are just up and down International drive.

If you are used to public transit, Lynx is pretty standard. We only took it from the airport to our hotel near Universal, but it was fine. The bus was clean and on time, the driver informative, and a bargain at $ 2 one way compared to $ 30 for the shuttles.
If you don’t feel comfortable on public transit or are traveling with kids and more than one luggage a person, I’d probably just rent a car.

Lynx, the transportation center of Orlando.
You pay a small fee to get around Orlando, they have tons of routes and can take you almost anywhere.
Down Side: some of the people that ride here can be a bit weird and it can be crowded at times, but it does take you were ever you need to go if you don’t have a car.
Get the weekly pass witch is cheaper then paying a fee daily to get to places, the pass last for a while and you end up saving money.
The other bad thing is that the routes don’t run that late so if you work late or go out late you are better of paying for a taxi, even though a taxi will cost you a WHOLE lot more.
–Only three stars because of the reasons listed above–