Transit Saves Tampa Over a Million Hours of Congestion Delay

A new report says HART helped us avoid over
a million hours of this in 2010.

Think you're pressed for time now? A new report says that without public transit, Tampa residents would have experienced more than a million additional hours of traffic delays in 2010.

That would definitely make you late for work!

Actually, the exact number is 1,041,343 hours, and it comes from the Texas Transportation Institute, which has just released its 2010 Urban Mobility Report. The annual report looks at road congestion in 439 U.S. urban areas. Tampa came in at #36 on the list of delay hours saved due to public transportation. Of course, New York City was number one, with more than 368 million hours saved.

The report also estimates that Tampa saved 676,800 gallons of fuel that would otherwise have been burned on our congested roadways.

So while we'll likely never see the kind of numbers they do in New York City (let's be glad for that!), this report shows that HART services play a vital role in our community, whether you ride or drive.

Check out the news release on the TTI report on the American Public Transportation Association's website here.

We're Saving Some Coin, Too
Coupons.com reports that Tampa is the second most "frugal city" in the U.S., based on the average amount of savings garnered by printing out coupons from the website. Shoppers in Tampa reportedly printed coupons worth an average savings of $863. Top spot on this list went to Atlanta, with over $1,000 worth of coupons printed.

Here's the official news release on BusinessWire.com.

Know what else helps you save money? Come on, you know what's coming: public transit!

Leaving the car at home and taking the bus to work, even a couple of days a week, can mean significant savings on things like gas, tolls and parking. And if HART's recent ridership numbers are any indication, lots of people in the Tampa Bay area are finding the benefits of riding instead of driving.

So get onboard with us, and see how HART can help you save time and money!