ORLANDO, Fla. – NOTE: This story originally appeared on the Orlando Sentinel website.

Faced with fast-rising homelessness and a shortage of shelter beds, Orlando officials are eyeing a mobile solution.

They’re considering buying two former Greyhound buses, with bunkbeds replacing seats to house up to 20 people in each. The buses go for $175,000 each, with operations expected to cost about $1 million annually.

The buses would be parked each night at the Christian Service Center, a Parramore facility that currently provides food and services to the homeless but no shelter. Its case managers would select and vet 40 people per night to use the bunks as they await more permanent housing.

“It’s brilliant in its simplicity,” said Eric Gray the CEO of the Christian Service Center.

The proposal is expected to go in front of the Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board on Feb. 26. The City Council would consider it on March 24. If the plan is approved, the buses could be ready for guests this summer.

“The day these buses get here, we can potentially have 40 people who had been previously sleeping on the streets, the sidewalks and under I-4 in some a safe place,” said Samantha Levine, who oversees homelessness initiatives for the city. “That not only has a positive impact on the community but also could be life-changing for those individuals.”

The city would purchase the buses with Accelerate Orlando funds, using money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The CRA would provide the needed $1 million annually, covering operations and other expenses.

The buses would be retrofitted in Vero Beach, by a homeless service agency called The Source. It operates three of its own and has also created shelter buses for cities in Rhode Island and Illinois.

In Vero, The Source provides more than 13,000 nights of shelter annually on buses, said Anthony Zorbaugh, the executive director.

“People who are on the street are exhausted. By the time they get their bed, they want to sleep,” he said. “If you had to provide 13,000 hotel rooms at $150 a night, the social return on this bus is astronomical.”

Under Orlando’s program, each night of shelter is expected to cost taxpayers $78.60, per person.

The Source brought one of its so-called “Dignity Buses” to Orlando this week to allow city officials, non-profits and other community leaders to tour. On board, beds are stacked two high. Each sleeping area has a power outlet and a light. On the back of the vehicle is a large restroom. One of Orlando’s buses — here they’ll be dubbed “407 Connect” — would have a wheelchair lift, which comes at the sacrifice of one of the beds.

The bedding is washed each day and the vehicle can be parked and powered by an electrical plug-in. It’s staffed by a security attendant, who also can drive the bus if needed.

“I think it actually exceeded my expectations,” said the Rev. Robert Spooney, a pastor at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Parramore. “It’s a lot better than the sleeping cars in my era when we used to travel on trains.”

Such shelter options are needed as local governments grapple with a state law requiring them to clear encampments. In the Orlando region, officials estimate a shortage of about 1,000 shelter beds to provide safe places to sleep for people outside.

Advocates have feared the law, which went into effect Jan. 1, would force them to haul homeless people to jail. In January, Orlando was the only government in the region to make arrests, charging 25 people listed as “transient” with camping violations.

Standing up a new shelter is costly and takes time – and nearly always faces harsh neighborhood blowback.

In Orlando, the city proposed a new shelter in Washington Shores, then swiftly abandoned the idea after neighbors had harsh criticisms.

Now the city is pursuing a new shelter at the county’s former Work-Release Center on Kaley Street. The building will require costly renovations, and already, some neighbors from about a mile away are campaigning against the effort. Orlando Health, which runs a nearby children’s hospital, has also opposed it.

A benefit of the buses is they can be relocated if they ever become a significant subject of complaints, said David Barilla, the executive director of the CRA.

“It’s mobile enough that if that ever becomes an issue, it’s just a bus key away from moving it to another location,” Barilla said.

For years, Mayor Buddy Dyer and other city officials have advocated for other local governments in the area to provide shelters of their own – or help to fund beds. But so far, none have done so, leaving the majority of the region’s shelter beds in Parramore.

Barilla hopes to use the bus to take that message on the road and show other cities in the area more cost-effective shelter options.

“It’s something we think smaller communities can take steps in the right direction and lock arms with us to make an impact,” he said.