Free Consultation - Call: 239-590-0861
Free Consultation - Call: 239-590-0861
Proudly serving families in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs, and surrounding Southwest Florida communities.
Seniors in Fort Myers and Cape Coral who no longer drive have more options than most families realize: LeeTran’s Passport paratransit ($3 a trip for riders who qualify under the ADA), the county’s Transportation Disadvantaged program for lower-income riders, the Cape Coral Mini-Bus, three volunteer driver programs that charge nothing, rides included in Medicaid long-term care and many Medicare Advantage plans, phone-booked rideshare, and a private caregiver who drives, waits, and walks your parent into the appointment. This guide lists each one with the phone number, cost, and catch, then explains when a caregiver is the better answer.
Details below were verified in September 2026, but fares and rules change. Call before you count on any of them, and when you do, let them know Abby Services referred you.
Regular LeeTran buses cost $1.50 a ride, or $0.75 for seniors 65 and older and riders with disabilities. Practical for people who can walk to a stop and stand while they wait; not practical for most of the families who call us. Route maps and schedules are at leegov.com/leetran, or call 239-533-8726.
Passport is door-to-door, shared-ride service for people whose disability prevents them from using the regular bus. It runs wherever and whenever fixed-route buses run, so coverage in outlying areas can be limited. Riders must be found eligible first, which means an application and sometimes an in-person assessment.
For riders who cannot drive and cannot afford transportation, with household income at or below 225 percent of the federal poverty level. Income must be documented; self-declaration is not accepted. Trips must start or end outside the ADA bus corridor, service runs seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., rides are booked two days ahead, and riders recertify every year. Apply through the same LeeTran Passport office at 239-533-0300; program details are at leegov.com/leetran/td-service.
Run by the City of Cape Coral for seniors and residents with disabilities who cannot drive, cannot use public transit, and do not live with a relative who can drive them. Trips are for medical appointments and weekly shopping within Cape Coral only.
These are the best-kept secrets on this list. Rides are free, drivers are screened volunteers, and the programs try to match you with the same driver each time. Capacity is the limit: book early and expect that a same-week request may not be possible.
If your loved one is enrolled in a Florida Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care plan, non-emergency transportation to covered services is included; the transportation provider’s number is on the plan ID card. To be screened for the long-term care program, call the Elder Helpline at 866-413-5337 (Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida). Many Medicare Advantage plans now include a set number of rides to medical appointments each year as a supplemental benefit; check the plan’s Evidence of Coverage or call the member services number on the card. Original Medicare does not cover routine transportation.
Most families come to this page because a parent has had a close call, a fender-bender, or a doctor’s quiet suggestion. The conversation is hard because the car is independence. It goes better when you can put a real alternative on the table at the same time: a specific ride to the Tuesday cardiology appointment, a standing grocery run, a named driver. That is what the programs above give you. If the concern is safety today, the physician can order a driving evaluation, and Florida allows a family member to submit a confidential medical report to the DHSMV Medical Review program. Use that as a last resort; a plan usually works better than a confrontation.
Every program above has a catch: a waitlist, an income test, a 72-hour booking window, a service area that stops at the city line, or a driver who waits in the car. For a senior who is frail, has memory loss, or needs help getting from the curb into the exam room, the ride itself is only half the problem. Someone has to go in.
A private caregiver referred through Abby Services drives your loved one in their own car or yours, waits, takes notes in the appointment if you want a second set of ears, picks up the prescription on the way home, and reports back to you. Caregivers can also handle the grocery run, the pharmacy, the hair appointment, the church service, and exercise classes such as Rock Steady Boxing for Parkinson’s, on a schedule you set rather than one the program sets. Abby Services is a nurse-owned, state-licensed nurse registry in Fort Myers; since 1997 we have matched Southwest Florida families with screened, credentialed private caregivers who are independently employed and directed by the family. Transportation is one of the most common things our companion care clients ask for, and a few hours a week is often enough.
One practical note: because the caregiver works for you, not for a transportation company, you and the caregiver decide whose vehicle to use, and the auto insurance on that vehicle is what applies. Before the first trip, call your insurer (or ask the caregiver to call theirs) and confirm the driver and the use are covered. It is a five-minute call that heads off an argument nobody wants after a fender-bender.
The programs on this page are good, and we send families to them every week. Use them for what they do well, and use a private caregiver for the trips where your parent needs a person, not just a ride. Call our office at 239-590-0861 or tell us what you need online. And when you call any program above, let them know Abby Services referred you.
Three volunteer driver programs charge nothing: the Dr. Piper Center’s Faith in Action program (239-332-4346), Neighbors Network of Lee County (239-209-9867), and F.I.S.H. of SanCap for Sanibel and Captiva (239-472-4775). Rides are booked ahead and depend on volunteer availability.
Passport is LeeTran’s ADA paratransit service: shared-ride, door-to-door transportation for people whose disability keeps them from using the regular bus. Riders apply through the Passport Office at 239-533-0300, pay $3 per one-way trip, and book one to seven days ahead. Service is available only where and when fixed-route buses run.
Original Medicare does not cover routine rides to appointments. Many Medicare Advantage plans include a limited number of rides as an extra benefit; check the plan documents. Florida Medicaid long-term care plans include non-emergency medical transportation for enrolled members.
Yes. The Cape Coral Mini-Bus (239-574-0573) takes seniors and residents with disabilities to medical appointments and weekly shopping within Cape Coral for $12 per round trip, booked 72 hours ahead. LeeTran Passport and the volunteer programs also serve Cape Coral.
Yes. Caregivers referred through Abby Services can drive, wait, accompany your parent into the appointment, handle errands on the way, and report back to the family. Families set the schedule, so rides are not limited to program hours or booking windows.
