DEBARY, Fla. – Starting Monday morning, people riding SunRail from DeBary will have an added service.
Due to an overwhelming amount of people riding the train from there, Votran is offering a free shuttle service from Deltona. It will run every half hour from the Deltona Plaza on Deltona Boulevard from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Riders can park there for free and take the shuttle to the SunRail station.
The new service is helping those who don't even need to find parking. David Newland rides his bike to the DeBary station but lives closer to where the shuttle will be picking up and dropping off.
"We're from that end of the town and it will be closer then riding our bikes all the way down here," said Newland, a Deltona resident.
During it's first two days of service last week, the parking lot at the DeBary SunRail station was at capacity within it's first couple of hours.
Votran is only offering this free shuttle until May 16 in anticipation of ridership falling off when SunRail begins charging for rides May 19.
John Riquelmi thinks the city of DeBary should come up with a more permanent overflow parking solution.
"I think personally we have enough empty lots here in DeBary where we can expand here where we don't have to go out into the Deltona area for a shuttle," said Riquelmi.
Votran riders are encouraged to visit votran.org and click the "subscribe" button at the bottom of the homepage to receive timely notices about future changes. The website also provides up-to-date alerts and real-time bus information.