HART Ridership up 3.8% in August 2013!

Bus ridership for August 2013 was 1,268,962, or a 3.8 percent increase compared to the August 2012.    August 19 saw the greatest daily ridership throughout the month with 53,452 riders picking HART!   On average, each weekday HART is delivering more than 49,000 passenger trips on its growing network of buses, setting records in average daily ridership on HART fixed route service.  "This growth reflects the value of public transportation in the communities we serve," said HART Chief Executive Officer Philip Hale. "We are constantly looking for ways to better serve our customers and the boost in ridership is evidence that we are headed in the right direction." Fast facts:  MetroRapid saw 48,000 rides in August! MetroRapid ridership in August was 48,000 MetroRapid has increased 24.2 percent from June to August    Year-to-date (October 2012 - August 2013), bus ridership is up 3.0 percent; an increase of 391,028 trips, compared to the same period last year       Monthly bus ridership has been on the rise for the last 8 consecutive months    In addition, this year nearly 57,493 trips were taken as part of Summer Blast Pass. The purpose of the program is to familiarize youth to consider transit as alternative transportation, and it allows them to travel safely and independently throughout Hillsborough County. Some bus routes have demonstrated double-digit ridership growth over the past year,* showing that public transit use is up across all areas of Hillsborough County: Route 39 (Town 'N Country/Citrus Park to netp@rk Transfer Center via Busch Boulevard): 16.4 percent increase     Route 37 (Brandon to Netpark via Grand Regency Plaza): 13.8 percent increase Route 16 (Waters Avenue, between Northeast Tampa and Town 'N Country): 9.7 percent increase Route 9 (Downtown to University Area Transit Center via 15th street): 7.8 percent increase   Route 41 (Sligh Avenue, between West Tampa and NetPark): 7.6 percent increase (*January - August 2013)   For more information about HART, visit www.goHART.org.