All Aboard the Winter Village Express!

Winter Village Express operates Sundays through Dec. 22!

The holiday season is so close, we can almost feel Jack Frost nipping at our nose - 65° at night. Brr! ❄

The Tampa Downtown Partnership is once again holding their Winter Village, featuring an ice rink, a cafe with warm beverages, and a holiday marketplace with local boutiques! The winter wonderland is located in Curtis Hixon Park and will take place from November 22 - January 5.

Along with the Winter Village, comes the transformation of the TECO Line Streetcar System into the Winter Village Express! Launching November 24, the Winter Village Express offers a festive experience aboard a holiday-themed Streetcar. Enjoy treats, music, and fun, while on board!

The Winter Village Express will operate every Sunday through December 22. You can pick up the Winter Village Express at either Whiting Station in Downtown Tampa (Station #11) or Centro Ybor Station (#2) in historic Ybor City.

The Winter Village is open 11/22-1/5

Winter Village Express Operating Schedule:

Whiting Station in Downtown Tampa:

• 3:25 p.m.
• 4:25 p.m.
• 5:25 p.m.
• 6:25 p.m.
• 7:25 p.m.

The cost of the Winter Village Express is $10.00 for a roundtrip ticket. Tickets are ONLY available online. All trips are first-come, first-serve, due to limited availability. Arrive early!

For more information on Winter Village, or the Winter Village Express, visit http://www.wintervillagetampa.com/.

Happy Holidays!

HART-Felt Holiday Notes

The holiday season is upon us. The eight days of Hanukkah have begun and Christmas and Kwanzaa are right around the corner. Many families around the world will get together over feasts and chatter, celebrating various beliefs and participating in different traditions. However, some of our family and friends will not have the same opportunity to break bread with their families this holiday season.

Over 1.4 million troops serving our country are stationed in over 150 different countries around the world. Even troops stationed in the United States sometimes find themselves as much as 3,000 miles away from their loved ones.

As we've touched on in past posts, active and retired members of the Armed Forces make up a strong contingent of the HART family. As such, we wanted to do something special for troops around the world and locally at MacDill AFB. Holiday greetings featuring HART employees/retired military members and also active military to their families have been airing on WTSP (local CBS affiliate) since the beginning of December. Check out the video spots below.

 

The holiday season equals holiday service levels. Below is our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day schedule.

HART Holiday Service

Christmas Eve

HART and the TECO Line Streetcar will operate on a normal Saturday schedule. The following services will not operate:

• Express/Limited Express service
• HART Flex (South Tampa. South County, Town 'N Country)
• In-Town Trolley (Route 96)

HART Customer Service will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached by calling (813) 254-4278. Customer Service centers at University Area Transfer Center and Marion Transit Center will be open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. All other HART offices will be closed.

Christmas Day:

HART will operate on a Sunday schedule. The following services will not operate:

• Express/Limited Express service
• HART Flex service
• In-Town Trolley (Route 96)

The TECO Line Streetcar will not operate in observance of Christmas Day.

HART Customer Service will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be reached by calling (813) 254-4278. All other HART offices will be closed. 

HART Holiday Luncheon

Food was the main attraction...

We recently held our employee holiday luncheon, which is a great way to get the HART family together for the holidays. Food and refreshments were served along with a "year-in-review" slideshow.

'Tis the season for giving and our team is in full bloom! More than 400 pounds of food were donated by employees from all of our different facilities as part of the Boxes of Hope food drive, benefiting Metropolitan Ministries. Way to go everyone!

The giving doesn't have to stop there or with us. You can visit the Metropolitan Ministries website for food drop off locations. There is still time left to donate!

The holiday season comes and goes quickly, so enjoy it and happy holidays from our family to yours!