March is Florida Bike Month!

Coast Bikes can be rented from Marion Transit Center and Dick Greco Plaza

Happy Florida Bike Month! We're celebrating alternative commutes and looking at the relationship between personal (bikes) and public transportation.

Once seen as a child's toy, bikes are now considered a serious commuting option. Coast Bike Share, a bike rental service, has rolled out dozens of bike hubs throughout Tampa (and now St. Petersburg), including at our Marion Transit Center in Downtown.

At HART, we're dedicated to getting our riders to their destination as quickly and efficiently as possible. We see bikes as supplemental to our service and that's why we added racks to our buses and rubber-wheeled trolleys almost 20 years ago. More recently, bike racks have also been added to all of our HARTFlex vans.

In November 2011, folding bikes - in proper carrying bags - were allowed on board.

Bikes on Buses saves time, money and the environment!

Bike riders might not view a 30-mile round trip bike ride to downtown as an attractive commute. However, pair a quick 1-2 mile bike ride with a HART route to pick up the majority of the miles and you have some serious pedal power.

Cycling HART riders find that bikes not only speed up their commutes, but also provide them greater exercise, ground coverage, and route options.

For example, you might live within walking distance of a route 34 stop, but possible transfers don't work well with your schedule. Instead, you choose to bike to the route 1 stop where you can catch a straight shot to Marion Transit Center and save 10 minutes. Couple those time savings with the low-cost of a HART 1-day pass ($4.00) or 31-day pass ($65, $2.10 a day) and you've saved time, money and the environment!

Don't take our word for it though. Roughly 20,000 Bikes on Buses trips were taken last month.

Click here to learn more about the HART Bikes on Buses program, including how to secure your bike on the bus bike rack.  We also have a Bikes on Buses how-to video on our YouTube page here.

Placing your bike on the bus is easy! Just follow these quick steps.

Ride on!