Bikes on Buses for National Bike Month!

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

Coast Bikes can be rented from Marion Transit Center

Over the years, bicycles have gone from being seen as a child's toy, to becoming a serious commuting option. Coast Bike Share, a bike rental service, has rolled out dozens of bike hubs throughout Tampa, including at 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 peddle 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 21,000 participated in our Bikes on Buses program 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!

HART and Coast Bike Share Partnership Helps Tackle the 'First Mile, Last Mile' Problem

Three Coast Bike Share bikes will be stationed at MTC

May is National Bike Month and HART makes connecting to the bus by riding a bike a breeze.
 

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) and Coast Bike Share are formally announcing that we have teamed up to add three Coast Bikes at the Marion Transit Center (MTC).

 

Through this partnership, bicycle racks with quality Coast Bikes are set up at high-activity hubs such as MTC, and dozens of additional hubs in the Downtown area, Ybor City, and Hyde Park. The MTC location will help residents, students, businesses and visitors to get around by combining HART and Coast Bike Share trips to explore the Tampa Bay area.

HART works hard to promote the growth in cycling around Tampa and seek proactive, long-term solutions to accommodate a growing market of transit users who travel by bike. Bicycle friendly transit provides cyclists with increased options to travel, and it also expands transit ridership.        

 

"The Coast Bike Share connection helps make HART a more convenient option for customers needing a way to start or complete their trip," said Jeff Seward, HART Chief Financial Officer. "With the additions of Coast Bike Share, RedCoach, to compliment the Megabus.com partnership, MTC has now become a busy inter-modal hub for Bus Rapid Transit in Tampa and a catalyst for travel throughout the state of Florida."

Coast Bikes can be reserved on Coast's mobile app, online at app.socialbicycles.com, or at the bike using its keypad. Coast to your destination and lock it to any hub or public bike rack. It's that easy!

Purchasing a monthly or annual membership to this program would provide a convenient, healthy transit alternative to run errands, make it to class on time, or simply sight-see. On a larger scale, the availability of public bikes would offset the costs of car pollution, parking lot use, add convenience to multi-modal travel, and strengthen the local culture of health and environmental sustainability.

  

This partnership is just one more example of how HART staff is focused on attracting new ridership, fueling revenues, and enhancing service through strategic innovation. The HART inter-modal approach strives to connect various modes of transportation such as walking, bicycling, and using the TECO Line Streetcar System, Park-n-Ride facilities, and paratransit system.