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Community Corner

HART Ridership Climbs With Rising Gas Prices; Brandon Routes Post High Gains

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) route between the Greater Brandon area and downtown Tampa has seen ridership increase by almost a third in less than a year's time. HART officials credit rising gas prices and transit service improvements.

More drivers than ever are parking their cars and taking the bus, making for record-breaking ridership numbers for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit’s (HART) bus service.

According to figures obtained by Brandon Patch, HART ridership in the Greater Brandon area has increased across the nine major bus routes that service the area.

An analysis of those numbers shows that ridership has increased by more than 20 percent along seven of those routes and more than 15 percent on the two remaining routes.

Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Among the ridership report findings are:

  • The Route 8 bus takes riders back and forth from downtown Tampa, with stops in Progress Village and Brandon. In May, the route registered 43,227 riders, an increase of 1,651 riders over April and of 10,664 riders over May 2010 — a 32 percent increase.
  • The Route 46 bus, which services Davis Island, West Brandon and downtown Tampa, also saw a large increase in ridership. In May, the route registered 7,260 riders, an increase of 1,406 riders over May 2010 — a 24 percent increase.
  • Serving many members of the military who live in the greater Brandon area, the Route 24 Express bus picks up riders in FishHawk and Riverview on its way to the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. Last month, 5,029 rode this bus. In May 2010, 4,078 were taking the ride from the Brandon area to MacDill, an increase of 23 percent.

 

Find out what's happening in Brandonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Greater Brandon HART Routes: Ridership Increases   May '10 April '11 Change Increase Route 8 32,653 43,227 10,664 32.75% Route 22X 1,479 1,703 224 15.15% Route 24X 4,078 5,029 951 23.32% Route 25X 4,068 5,144 1,076 26.45% Route 27LX 2,146 2,664 518 24.14% Route 31 3,361 4,187 826 24.58% Route 35LX 259 334 75 28.96% Route 37 18,873 21,726 2,853 15.12% Route 46 5,854 7,260 1,406 24.02% Flex Route 239 N/A     Brandon Patch Graphic / Source: HART

 

While acknowledging that skyrocketing gas prices have driven many motorists their way, HART spokesperson Marcia Mejia said the transit company has made a concerted effort to attract more riders.

“HART has worked hard over the past few years to improve the transit service we provide to our customers [with] major improvements, like adding shelters, to more subtle changes, like retooling the fleet and fare-card structure,” Mejia said.

HART now boasts one shelter for every seven bus stops, compared to one in 15 just a few years ago.

“We have also repainted many buses and brought new buses into service to provide a more pleasant passenger experience,” Mejia said. In addition, "HART went from selling monthly bus passes to selling 31-day bus passes, which gives them more shelf life and customers can further make full use of them."

The Brandon numbers are part of an across- the-board increase in ridership for HART.

In March, the company set a new record with bus ridership of 1,217,848, a 14 percent increase compared to March 2010.  

Ticket prices, routes and times are available online, as well as a link for using Google Trip Planner to map your route. For information, call: 813-254-4278.

The following HART routes serve the Greater Brandon area:

 

Greater Brandon HART Routes: Ridership (May '10-Oct. '10) Route May '10 June '10 July '10 Aug. '10 Sept. '10 Oct. '10 Route 8 32,563 35,247 35,139 36,672 35,708 38,374 Route 22X 1,479 1,502 1,472 1,631 1,558 1,555 Route 24X 4,078 3,828 3,538 4,077 4,046 3,886 Route 25X 4,068 4,137 3,619 4,201 3,809 3,936 Route 27LX 2,146 2,078 1,897 2,103 2,364 2,177 Route 31 3,361 3,651 3,736 3,741 4,153 4,194 Route 35LX 259 235 235 248 266 281 Route 37 18,873 20,273 19,244 19,895 21,777 21,649 Route 46 5,854 6,280 6,605 6,836 6,932 6,840 Flex 239 388 376 387 505 529 Brandon Patch Graphic / Source: HART

 

Greater Brandon HART Routes: Ridership (Nov. '10-April '11) Route Nov. '10 Dec. '10 Jan. '11 Feb. '11 March '11 April '11 Route 8 36,971 37,697 40,335 40,137 41,576 43,227 Route 22X 1,211 1,145 1,408 1,467 1,784 1,703 Route 24X 3,527 3,368 4,438 4,396 5,784 5,029 Route 25X 3,544 3,100 4,300 4,056 5,520 5,144 Route 27LX 1,890 1,850 2,268 2,424 2,708 2,664 Route 31 4,013 4,123 3,778 4,259 4,419 4,187 Route 35LX 299 385 267 431 404 334 Route 37 20,584 19,109 20,764 21,547 23,053 21,726 Route 46 6,455 7,056 6,952 7,075 8,310 7,260 Flex 517 564 513 502 572 N/A Brandon Patch Graphic / Source: HART
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