TheBus Ends Sunday Service on the Mermaid Route to Hernando's Beach and River Parks

The only bus that gets Hernando County riders to the coast without a car will no longer run on Sundays. Effective Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, TheBus' Mermaid Route (Route 9) stops operating on Sundays and observed holidays, ending the one transit link to Pine Island Park, Rogers Park, Bayport Park and Jenkins Creek Park on the busiest beach day of the week. The Board of County Commissioners approved the change after ridership on Sunday trips came in below expectations, with savings of about $37,461.60.

Sunday, Aug. 30, is the last Sunday the route runs.

What still runs, and when

Everything else about Route 9 stays put. Monday through Saturday, the Mermaid Route keeps its normal schedule, with buses leaving Walmart on SR 19 in Spring Hill starting at 7 a.m. and running out through Weeki Wachee Preserve Park, Linda Pedersen Park, Rogers Park, Pine Island, Bayport and Jenkins Creek before looping back. The last inbound trip of the day gets back to Walmart at 7:40 p.m.

Linda Pedersen Park is the route's park-and-ride stop, which matters on holiday weekends when the lots at Pine Island and Rogers Park fill early and drivers get turned away at the gate. That option is still there six days a week. It just is not there on Sunday.

All of TheBus' other routes continue on their regular Monday through Saturday schedules. None of them run on Sundays either.

The days the whole system shuts down

TheBus is closed system-wide on eight observed holidays: New Year's Day, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The county notes those dates are subject to change and posts the current list on its holiday schedule page.

For riders planning around Route 9, Labor Day on Sept. 7 is the first holiday to fall after the change takes effect.

Check the timetable before you go

One wrinkle worth knowing: the county's online Route 9 timetable page still carries a "Monday - Sunday" heading with a July 2025 effective date, listing the same two trip patterns that have run all year. The printed times on that page are the ones still in force Monday through Saturday. The Sunday column is what is going away.

Why the coast route is different

Route 9 is not a commuter line. It is the piece of the system built around recreation, connecting a Spring Hill retail hub to four county waterfront parks and the Weeki Wachee Preserve. That makes weekend ridership the whole point of the route, and it also makes it the easiest service to measure against its cost. The Sunday trips did not carry enough passengers to justify the hours, according to the county.

For households without a vehicle, the practical effect is narrow but real. Getting to Bayport or Jenkins Creek on a Sunday now means a ride, a rideshare, or waiting until Monday.

The county has not indicated whether Sunday service could return if ridership patterns shift, and no follow-up review date has been announced. Riders with questions about specific trips, ADA service, or transfers at the Walmart SR 19 stop can reach the Transit Office at (352) 754-4444 or email TheBus@hernandocounty.us.

Keep up with schedule changes, road work and county decisions at Hernando County Community Website, and follow us on Facebook for updates as they post. Ride Route 9 on weekends? Join the conversation in our Community Forum and tell us how this changes your Sunday. You can also read more local news stories and government and politics coverage from around the county.

Header photo: DanTD / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)