Seminole County Approves FreeBee as New Public Transit Provider
On Tuesday morning, county commissioners voted unanimously to approve a contract with FreeBee, a Miami-based company that offers ride services similar to Uber but at a much lower cost. The new system will replace many of the county's existing Lynx bus routes starting October 1.
FreeBee plans to launch a fleet of 35 to 55 vans that riders can book using a smartphone app. The county will be divided into five service zones, mostly centered around SunRail stations and a Lynx stop in Oviedo. Riders will be able to travel within their zone or transfer at train and bus hubs to reach other areas.
Trips will cost between $2 and $3, with discounts for seniors, students, and people with disabilities. Unlike Uber or Lyft, FreeBee does not charge surge pricing and is designed to serve people who depend on public transit.
'We just approved a micro mobility plan… This is a win-win,' said Seminole County Chairman Jay Zembower. 'This is going to allow people much better efficiency at a reduced impact and cost to our taxpayers.'
Some of the most-used Lynx routes—especially those connecting Seminole County to Orange County—will remain in place. The county says this change will help provide better service in areas that Lynx does not currently reach.
Zembower said the new system is expected to save the county about $4 to $5 million annually.
'This is not intended to be a replacement or compete with somebody like Uber or Lyft,' Zembower added. 'This will actually pick riders up at their home or place of work instead of them walking several blocks or a mile and standing at a hot bus stop.'
Officials say the county will continue to provide paratransit services for people with disabilities and medical needs through Lynx.
Oviedo resident Bill Hyde was at Tuesday's meeting and said the plan sounds promising.
'It sounds like a really good idea, not only for a service, but also for me as a taxpayer,' Hyde said.
County leaders say more details will be finalized in the coming months, with a goal to launch the new FreeBee system by October 1. or transfer at train and bus hubs to reach
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An artist's rendering of a rocket with a capsule containing helium-3 headed to Earth after blasting off from the lunar surface. courtesy of Interlune "We have customers that have signed contracts for future sales," Meyerson told Newsweek. "Interlune still stands alone as the only company that has contracts for the sale of space resources and that's something we can use to justify our fundraising efforts going forward." Interlune, which has raised $18 million in funding to date, announced both agreements in early May while unveiling its excavator prototype. The Department of Energy has agreed to purchase three liters of helium-3 harvested from the moon no later than April 2029. Christopher Landers, director of the Department of Energy's Office of Isotope R&D and Production, said the agency works to ensure a "healthy domestic isotope ecosystem" so the United States can remain at the forefront of evolving technologies and capabilities. The agency manages federal inventories of more than 300 isotopes, including helium-3, Landers said. Interlune's leadership team, from left: chief executive officer Rob Meyerson, chief operating officer Indra Hornsby, executive chairman Harrison Schmitt, chief technology officer Gary Lai and head of product James Antifaev. Interlune's leadership team, from left: chief executive officer Rob Meyerson, chief operating officer Indra Hornsby, executive chairman Harrison Schmitt, chief technology officer Gary Lai and head of product James Antifaev. courtesy of Interlune "Helium-3 is obviously of high importance," he said. "Helium-3 is needed in cryogenics, which is a huge driver for quantum, it's needed for fusion and there's medical applications as well. But helium-3 is really, if you break it down and look at cryogenics and fusion, is on a trajectory that's moving at an exponential rate." 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Solar wind has bombarded the moon with helium-3 for billions of years, but Earth's magnetosphere blocks the continual stream of charged particles. The lunar surface contains more than 1 million metric tons of the rare isotope, Interlune estimates. More courtesy of Interlune Gary Lai, Interlune's cofounder and chief technology officer, said helium-3 represents a "rare commodity" that's extremely limited on Earth yet plentiful on the moon. The company's excavator prototype is now being fine-tuned for zero-gravity operation. "It works quite well on Earth," the former chief architect at Blue Origin told Newsweek. "Now we're designing it to operate in space, and the intention is to go on our first large harvesting space mission, which we call Harvest Moon." 'Humans Find a Way' The upcoming prospecting mission will seek to prove reliable and accessible depositories of helium-3, which are most heavily concentrated in dark regions near the moon's equator. 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