Palm Tran will cut 3 bus routes, replace them with Uber and taxis. Will fares increase?

Palm Beach County’s public transportation agency, Palm Tran, will replace service on three of its bus routes this summer with rideshare app services, using the money saved to improve other routes.

The bus service will cut two routes — one in north county that includes the Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens, another in the Wellington area — and part of a third in Boca Raton, replacing them with Uber and local taxis in a new program it calls Bus Link. The cost to passengers will remain the same as regular bus fare: $2. The agency is cutting or trimming those routes due to low ridership and will spend the money saved improving more popular ones, a spokesman said.