Space Coast Area Transit — Brevard County, Florida

Space Coast Area Transit, branded 321Transit, is Brevard County's public bus system, and in South Brevard it runs fixed routes through Palm Bay, Melbourne and West Melbourne plus door-to-door paratransit for riders who cannot use those buses.

The Federal Transit Administration files the system under the Brevard Board of County Commissioners, NTD ID 40063, with a mailing address on South Street in Titusville, and names Palm Bay and Melbourne as its primary urbanized area (FTA National Transit Database, 2024 profile). In 2024 the system carried 1,937,619 unlinked trips, an average of 6,719 on a weekday, 3,695 on a Saturday and 661 on a Sunday. Fixed-route buses made up most of that count, with 1,811,074 bus trips against 88,057 demand-response trips and 38,488 vanpool trips.

Riders deal with Space Coast Area Transit through three doors. The RideLine at 321-633-1878 handles route questions and paratransit, and passes are sold in person at 401 S. Varr Ave. in Cocoa and at 460 S. Harbor City Blvd. in Melbourne, as well as at select Brevard County libraries (Space Coast Area Transit system map brochure). The Melbourne office on Harbor City Boulevard is the only one of the two counters in South Brevard.

The county system grew out of the Brevard Transportation Authority, which began service in 1974 and originally served the southern part of the county, before merging with the Consolidated Agencies Transportation System in 1985 to form Space Coast Area Transit (321Transit FAQ). The same agency also runs Volunteers in Motion, a weekday program that drives eligible Brevard residents to medical facilities, pharmacies and grocery stores, and the county lists it at no charge.

Twelve of the routes on the 2025 Space Coast Area Transit system map, numbered 20 through 30 plus Route 33, run in the Melbourne and Palm Bay area, and four of them carry Palm Bay in their names.

The system map lists Route 22 South Palm Bay, Route 23 West Palm Bay, Route 25 Melbourne/Palm Bay and Route 27 East Palm Bay, alongside Route 20 Heritage-West Melbourne, Route 21 Downtown Melbourne, Route 24 Melbourne, Route 26 South Beach, Route 28 North Melbourne, Route 29 Melbourne/Viera, Route 30 South Beach Connector and Route 33 Eau Gallie Arts District (2025 system map). Route 29, Melbourne/Viera, is the one on that list that reaches north to Viera.

Route 23 is the West Palm Bay workhorse for commuters. Space Coast Area Transit Route 23 serves the Palm Bay Park & Ride Lot, which has 100 free parking spaces, including 5 handicap spaces, in two lighted asphalt lots on Emerson Drive NW west of Minton Road, and parking there is allowed until 6 p.m. (Palm Bay Park & Ride Lot page). The county also lists Route 23 for the Eastern Florida State College Palm Bay Campus (321Transit FAQ).

The route names on the system map stop at Palm Bay. No route on the 2025 map is named for Malabar, Grant-Valkaria, Micco or Barefoot Bay, and the ADA Paratransit guide describes coverage of most of Brevard County from Titusville to Palm Bay (ADA Paratransit rider guide). For trips outside that band, Space Coast Area Transit describes TD Paratransit as able to cover a wider area than ADA service.

A one-ride fare on a Space Coast Area Transit bus or trolley is $1.50, or $0.75 at the reduced rate, and transfers between routes cost nothing.

The fare table above comes from the Space Coast Area Transit system map, which dates the fares April 5, 2025 (system map brochure). Exact change is required for a cash fare because drivers do not make change, and the 10-ride and 30-day passes have to be bought in advance, by mail, by phone with a card, at the Melbourne or Cocoa office, or through the Token Transit mobile ticketing app.

Reduced fare covers seniors 60 and older, students, active or inactive military, riders registered for TD or ADA Paratransit, and riders with disabilities, and Space Coast Area Transit accepts Medicare cards as proof (321Transit FAQ). Riders first register for a Reduced Fare ID Card at Space Coast Area Transit or on 321Transit.com. Children under five ride free, Eastern Florida State College students ride free with a current sticker on a valid student ID, and veterans ride free on Veterans Day, November 11.

Two cities pay for extra free riding. Due to a grant from the City of Melbourne, no fare is charged on Routes 21, 24 and 29 to Melbourne residents with valid ID who ride inside Melbourne city limits (system map brochure). The Space Coast TPO's 2026 plan update notes that the City of Palm Bay purchases and provides bus passes to residents (Transit Development Plan, 2026 Annual Update).

Income-eligible Palm Bay residents can get free 30-day Space Coast Area Transit passes through the city's SCAT Bus Voucher Program, but the city lists the program as closed and expects to reopen it in November 2026.

The City of Palm Bay pays for the program with Community Development Block Grant money, and residents must be within 80% area median income limits to qualify (City of Palm Bay SCAT Bus Voucher Program). Each household member who wants a pass files a separate application. Children under 5 are left out because they already ride Space Coast Area Transit buses free.

The Palm Bay passes are physical 30-day passes, activated on first use and not transferable to another rider. A lost pass means a 30-day wait before a resident can ask for a new one. The program runs out of the city's housing programs office, and the city page lists its contact as 120 Malabar Road, Palm Bay, phone (321) 952-3400.

Palm Bay residents who do not qualify for a voucher still have the county's own discounts. A Palm Bay senior or student on a Reduced Fare ID Card pays $21.00 for a 30-day pass on Space Coast Area Transit, half the $42.00 full fare, and Eastern Florida State College students at the Palm Bay Campus ride free with a valid sticker.

Space Coast Area Transit runs two door-to-door services: ADA Paratransit for riders whose disability keeps them off the fixed-route bus, and TD Paratransit for Brevard residents who are transportation disadvantaged by disability, age or income.

ADA Paratransit serves points of origin and destination within 3/4 of a mile of Space Coast Area Transit's fixed-route service, covering most of Brevard County from Titusville to Palm Bay (ADA Paratransit rider guide). Eligibility rests on how the applicant's disability prevents use of the fixed-route bus system, and the certification form can be completed by the applicant or by a qualified professional. Processing takes up to 21 business days, and a denied applicant can appeal.

TD Paratransit runs from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily, with reservations taken between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at 321-633-1878 (321Transit FAQ). Next-day TD trips are booked during business hours the day before travel. ADA Paratransit trips can be scheduled up to 14 days in advance, and an ADA rider who travels at the same time each week can set up a recurring ride schedule.

Both paratransit services cost $1.50 a trip or $15.00 for a 10-ride pass on Space Coast Area Transit, and the county caps ADA fares at twice the regular bus fare. Visitors with ADA certification from another area can ride ADA Paratransit for up to 21 days while in Brevard County, and can use TD Paratransit for up to 21 days by sending proof of eligibility by email, by fax or in person at the Melbourne office on Harbor City Boulevard or the Cocoa office on Varr Avenue.

The same agency moves residents during storms. Space Coast Area Transit gives free rides to special needs and primary evacuation shelters, and special needs residents pre-register each year with Brevard County Emergency Management at 321-637-6670, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After the Emergency Operations Center gives the all clear, Space Coast Area Transit drives those residents home.

The Space Coast TPO's 2026 Transit Development Plan update ranks a faster Route 27 in East Palm Bay among its top five service changes and proposes dropping Route 33 in Melbourne's Eau Gallie Arts District.

The plan would raise Route 27 East Palm Bay from a bus every 60 minutes to one every 30 minutes, listing $305,745 for it in year 2034 (TDP 2026 Annual Update, schedule of projects). Its cost comparison estimates 102,902 annual riders on Route 27 at the 30-minute frequency, at $3.01 per rider (TDP 2026 Annual Update, cost comparison). The same schedule calls for a new US-192 route from St. Johns Heritage Parkway to SR A1A in 5 to 10 years, which would run through Melbourne and toward Indialantic.

Equipment is the slower problem. The plan finds that Space Coast Area Transit's average fleet age of 8.1 years is older than the peer group mean of 4.7 years and recommends a long-term replacement schedule (TDP 2026 Annual Update). Every fixed-route bus already offers Wi-Fi, real-time bus status through the app and audio and visual stop announcements, according to the same Space Coast TPO report.

Money for all of it is thin compared with the size of the system. Space Coast Area Transit spent $17,893,678 to operate in 2024 and collected $1,691,086 in fares across bus, demand-response and vanpool service (FTA National Transit Database, 2024 profile). Holiday schedules matter to riders in Palm Bay and Melbourne too: there is no Space Coast Area Transit service on Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day or New Year's Day.

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Space Coast Area Transit website, with the Space Coast TPO, the Federal Transit Administration and the City of Palm Bay.