Martin County's MARTY Buses Stop Cold After Operator Walks Away From Contract, Stranding Riders on the Treasure Coast

Martin County's public bus system, MARTY, stopped running on Thursday, Oct. 8, after the private company hired to operate it pulled out of its contract, leaving riders who depend on the fare-free buses for work, groceries and medical appointments without a fixed-route option and county officials scrambling to restore service.

The operator, Martin County Transit LLC, told the county it was unable to keep running the system because of rising costs. County leaders said at an afternoon news conference that they had not been warned the buses would stop that day, and as of Saturday they had not announced a date for service to resume.

What the operator says

Martin County Transit said expenses for insurance, fuel and maintenance climbed beyond the financial assumptions in its proposal and contract award, according to CBS12. The company said it absorbed significant losses, worked with the county on possible adjustments and could not reach a financially sustainable arrangement. CBS12 reported the company had operated MARTY since July 2025.

Karen Deigl, the company's president and chief executive, told TCPalm the operation was losing about $70,000 a month. She said the company raised operating conditions and costs with county staff as early as January and that the situation was never resolved. Deigl tied part of the cost increase to higher fuel prices linked to the war with Iran, TCPalm reported, and said the county's decision to drop fares was not a factor in the company's exit.

In a statement reported by WPTV and WFLX, Deigl said the company entered the contract in good faith and made every effort to find a path forward.

A dispute over notice

The two sides do not agree on how much warning the county had. The contract allowed either party to end it with 180 days' notice. Deigl told TCPalm the company submitted its notice on Sept. 4, which by her count means service ended 146 days early. County officials said they received the notice roughly two weeks before the shutdown, and by the county's count the company left 166 days before the notice period ran out.

Either way, the company did not serve out the notice period. County officials said they had been negotiating with the vendor after it asked for a significant increase in the contract's cost, and that those talks were still underway when service stopped.

Public Works Director Jim Gordon told reporters the county was "not given advanced notice" that service would be canceled that day. Assistant County Administrator George Stokus said officials were surprised and were doing everything they could to bring the buses back as soon as possible.

Workers and riders left without notice

Deigl said 29 employees lost their jobs when the company shut down MARTY, according to CBS12 and WFLX. TCPalm put the number of layoffs at 28.

Riders also had no warning. WFLX spoke with a 67-year-old veteran who said he takes MARTY to his job and to a church that provides meals, and with another rider who said passengers should have been told in time to make other plans.

The timing is especially hard on riders because the system had been growing quickly. Martin County Transit Administrator Ash Beecher told TCPalm that more than 150,000 riders used the service after the county waived fares in November 2025.

How MARTY got here

Martin County commissioners voted on Nov. 4, 2025, to eliminate fares on MARTY buses, which had cost $1.50 a ride. County leaders said at the time that the service cost about $3 million a year to run and had collected about $156,000 in fares the previous year, according to WPTV. The system ran five fixed routes with 67 bus stops.

Beecher said then that the county studied fare-free programs in neighboring St. Lucie and Indian River counties, where ridership rose after fares were dropped. He noted that part of the state transit block grant formula is based on ridership, so more riders could mean more state money.

The bet appeared to pay off quickly. Ridership rose 35% in December 2025, the first full month without fares, according to county data reported by WPTV. Annual ridership had already climbed about 66% since 2021, from roughly 73,000 riders to about 122,000 in 2025.

The key dates in MARTY's last year, as reported by local media and the operator, are:

Stopgap: free Lyft rides through United Way

While the buses are parked, the United Way of Martin County is expanding its Ride United program, which provides free, pre-scheduled Lyft rides for eligible residents who need to get to work, grocery stores, medical appointments and other essential services.

The nonprofit has cautioned that the program is temporary, depends on available funding and cannot fully replace MARTY's fixed-route and paratransit service. United Way said it was already under financial strain from rising demand and funding cuts before the shutdown and expects requests to increase. Ashley Capital committed an initial $2,500 to the effort, and another donor has also contributed, according to WPTV.

Residents seeking help can reach United Way of Martin County at 772-283-4800 or through its Ride United page. Paratransit riders can call 772-463-2822 for assistance, and the county is posting updates at martin.fl.us/transit.

Why it matters beyond Martin County

MARTY's collapse is a warning for other small and midsize Florida counties that rely on private contractors to run public transit. Treasure Coast neighbors St. Lucie and Indian River counties both run fare-free bus systems, and Martin County followed their lead in part to draw more state block grant money tied to ridership.

The shutdown shows how exposed that model can be when a single contractor controls day-to-day operations. When the company stopped, the county had no replacement operator ready, and the drivers and staff who ran the routes were the contractor's employees, not the county's.

What's next

County officials said they are working to identify solutions to restore transit service as quickly as possible and will continue posting updates. Stokus declined to say when the county would begin accepting bids from a new operator, TCPalm reported, and he would not say whether the county might run the fleet itself, citing possible legal or procurement issues.

TCPalm reported that the five county commissioners could not be reached for comment. No public timeline for a commission vote on a replacement operator had been announced as of Saturday. Until a new arrangement is in place, riders without cars will be relying on United Way's limited Lyft program, friends and family, or paying for rides on their own.