Proposed HART Bus Service, Fare Changes Get Brandon Airing Tonight

The first of many public meetings to discuss proposed bus service and fare changes is being hosted tonight by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) at the Brandon Regional Service Center on Pauls Drive.

Proposed service modifications would affect bus routes 30, 34, 37, 28X, 50X and 61LX, as well as Brandon HARTFlex and bus service on holidays.

• The proposed changes can be reviewed online.
• Proposed fare changes also can be reviewed online.
• Also online, a map of proposed November 2012 bus service changes.

The meeting tonight, June 12, is at the Brandon Regional Service Center at 311 Pauls Drive, east of the Brandon Regional Post Office. The open-house community meeting tonight is scheduled to run from 5:30 to 7.

"We're hosting a series of meetings to educate the public and to get their feedback," said HART spokesperson Marcia Mejia in a telephone interview today. 

The Brandon meeting is one of eight public-outreach gatherings, including a public hearing, at two time periods, July 10. (See chart below.) The proposed bus service and fare changes will be considered by the HART board later this summer, Mejia said.

In addition to open-house meetings, "drop-in meetings" will be held "at transit stations to provide [riders] with at least printed materials of these proposed changes," Mejia said.

The meting tonight in Brandon, she added, "is more of an  open house community meeting, with staff on hand for questions and answers about the proposed changes."

Mejia said bus service changes are considered "usually three times a year to keep up with ridership trends and to make sure the bus system is operating as efficiently as possible."

Bus fares "are reviewed every two years, but there haven't been bus-fare changes for four years," she added. "Even with drastic gas-price fluctuations, from 2 dollars to almost 5 dollars a gallon, HART fares have remained flat during those four years."

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HART Meetings on Proposed Bus Service and Fare Changes

DATE TIME LOCATION / PURPOSE ADDRESS June 12 5:30pm to 7pm Brandon Regional Service Center (Community Meeting) 311 Pauls Drive, Brandon, 33511 June 14 6am to 8am and 4-6pm HART Britton Plaza Transfer Center (Hand-out materials only) June 14 6am-7am Mount Zion Assembly of God (Hand-out materials only) 3005 Thonotosassa Road, Plant City June 14 5:15pm-7:30pm Mount Zion Assembly of God (Community Meeting)   3005 Thonotosassa Road, Plant City June 19 6am-8am and 4-6pm HART West Tampa Transfer Center (Hand-out materials only) June 20 5:30pm to 7pm Regan Park Community Center (Community Meeting) 1200 East Lake Ave., Tampa, 33605 June 20 6am-8am and 3:30-6pm Northwest Transfer Center (Hand-out materials only) June 21 5:30pm to 7pm SouthShore Regional Library (Community Meeting) 15816 Beth Shields Way, Ruskin July 10 Noon to 2pm. Also,  4-6pm HART Administrative Office (Public Hearing) Florida Conference Room, 1201 East 7th Avenue, Tampa, 33605

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Getting Your Voice Heard On Proposed HART Changes

• To request ADA accommodations, provide 24-hour advance notification to HART Customer Service at 813-254-4278.

• Comments are welcome and will be entered into the record if received by 6 p.m. on July 10.

• To send comments electronically, visit the "Contact Us" page of www.goHART.org.

• Address written comments to:
  HART Service Development,
  Attn: November Service Proposals
  1201 East Seventh Ave.
  Tampa, FL, 33605

• For more information, call 813-254-4278 (TDD:  813-626-9158).   

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