Web Wednesday - We've Got Plans

Last month, the American Public Transportation Association named HART its Outstanding System of the Year. As someone pointed out, in the transit industry, that's like winning the Super Bowl or the Oscar for Best Picture. In other words - a pretty big deal. Of course, bringing home an award like that takes a lot of hard work, determination, and a pretty big vision.

Turning that vision into reality is all about having a plan. And you can get a first-hand look at some of HART's plans for the future right on our website.

Rapid Transit Investment Plan
This is the big enchilada, the major plan for adding hundreds of miles of new service and introducing new types of transit systems to Hillsborough County. The Rapid Transit Investment Plan lays out exactly what you can expect if the November referendum to fund additional transit service is approved. For example:

• More service on existing bus routes, including 10-minute frequency on our busiest routes during peak travel times
• Longer operating hours, with selected routes operating 24 hours
• Expanded service for people with disabilities
• New local and express routes
• Expanded HART Flex neighborhood transit service
• Introduction of new rapid service like bus rapid transit and light rail

There's a whole lot more - like a frequently asked questions section, implementation timeline, financial plan, and "what's in it for me" page. You can view the plan and all the other details on the "Why Transit?" page on HART's website by clicking here.

To download an information-packed brochure on the plan in PDF version, click here.

Planning and Projects Page
There are other projects in the works at HART that you can learn about on the website. The Planning and Projects page gives you an overview of MetroRapid (HART's bus rapid transit system), a link to the TECO Line Streetcar System extension project, and the results of our bus stop evaluation study.

With all the information you can access on HART's website, you could say the future of HART is just a point and click away.

The Case for Transit in 6 Minutes

Most of us understand that transit matters, and that having a viable transit system is good for our community. But do we really know why - or how to make the case for transit?

HART has a great new video you can check out that explains just how a strong transit system helps to make a community great.

Community leaders like Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe and Pastor James Favorite of Beulah Baptist Institutional Church take turns with everyday bus passengers, drivers and others to talk about what public transit means to our community and the individuals who use it - and to those will use it in the future.

HART CEO David Armijo points out that the Rapid Transit Investment Plan, HART's long-range vision of what Hillsborough County's transit system could look like, adds up to 500 miles of new bus and rail service to today's foundation.

"HART is really going through a fantastic transformation," Commissioner Sharpe tells us.

"Thirty years of success got us to this point - a lot of effort, a lot of evolution, a lot of people working together," Mr. Armijo says. "This is a great community and it is a great time to be here."

Check the new video out on HART's YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/harttransit. It's called "We're Going Your Way."

And for all you e-book fans out there, don't miss the on-board reading choice of a HART customer at about the 3:23 mark in the video.

Just another way transit adds to your quality of life!

Streetcar Extension is Making Tracks

When you hop off the TECO Line Streetcar System at its current terminus near the Tampa Convention Center, you can just about catch a glimpse of downtown. "Just a little farther," you might think, "and it would be right there!"

Well, soon it will be right there. A 1/3-mile extension of the system to the corner of Franklin and Whiting Streets has been underway since October, and is right on schedule to open by the end of this year. Let's take a look!

Here's where the current line ends on Franklin.

First, we'll get our bearings. Right now, the streetcar line ends on Franklin Street, just south of Channelside Drive - which is just about at the front door of the Tampa Convention Center, next to the Embassy Suites hotel.

The extension will take the line north on Franklin, under the Selmon Expressway overpass, through the Brorein intersection, and just past the Ft. Brooke garage. The new end of the line will be between the downtown YMCA and Hattricks, and across the street from the Poe Plaza esplanade.

Got it? If you need more visuals, click here for a map.

Double tracks near the Ft. Brooke garage let streetcars pass

Now that you know where we're going, let's see how we're going to get there. As of this writing, new tracks have been installed from the current end of the line all the way up to Whiting Street, including a section of double track between Brorein and Cumberland that will allow two streetcars traveling in opposite directions to pass each other. In addition, the system of overhead catenary wires that powers the streetcars has begun with installation of the pole foundations.

Lots of work has been done on utilities and stormwater drainage, along with demolition for the new station stop at Franklin and Whiting.

Track installation is expected to be completed this month with the finishing of a turn-out, the Cumberland Avenue crossing, and a short section of double track between Brorein Street and Cumberland.

Looking south from Whiting;
new station will soon take shape on the left

The next big step is construction of the brand new station stop, which begins this month and should be wrapped up in November.

So by Christmas, when you take the TECO Line Streetcar System toward downtown, you won't just have to glimpse those tall buildings. You'll already be there (shout out to our friend Dave Pinero over at the Tampa Rail blog for the downtown photo below).

For more information and updates on the TECO Line Streetcar System's extension to Whiting Street, click here.

Your final destination!

Summer Has Been a Blast!

With the dog days of summer at their sweltering peak, what's a teen without wheels to do? Increasingly, they're hopping aboard HART buses with their Summer Blast Passes.
Back in 2006, HART introduced a special pass that lets kids 17 and younger pay one low price and ride all summer long. And this summer is shaping up to be the best yet for the Summer Blast Pass. So far, HART has sold more than 1,200 passes this year - the previous high was in 2008, when just over 800 passes were spoken for.

Why the dramatic increase? A few reasons. In past years, HART promoted the Summer Blast Pass through a paid media program of print ads and billboards, but this year's campaign relied heavily on no-cost or low-cost promotions. In particular, social media played a big role in the promotion this year, with tons of Twitter "tweets" and Facebook posts starting early and often. Our hundreds of followers and fans then helped spread the word by re-tweeting and sharing our posts.

Kicking off the social media outreach even before summer began, HART promoted a "Staycation" week in the spring that "springboarded" (so to speak!) our special offers for families by getting more teens and their parents interested in HART just before sales for the Summer Blast Pass kicked off. The Staycation promotion led to 34,000 trips in April, giving us great momentum and a head start on social media heading into summer.

Also, as the first day of school draws closer and closer, HART dropped the price of the Summer Blast Pass in mid-July so kids who didn't jump in at the start of summer could still get in on the fun. And of course, we let everyone know all about it on Twitter and Facebook!

It's an axiom of business that you go where your customers are. For the 2010 Summer Blast Pass Program, HART found our young customers by diving into the social media pool.

To learn more about HART's Summer Blast Pass, click here to download our PDF flyer. And check out a news story on the Summer Blast Pass that aired on News Channel 8 here.

Transportation Expert in 2010 Leadership Tampa
HART sends congrats along to our friend Karen Kress, the Tampa Downtown Partnership's Director of Transportation and Planning, on her selection to the 40th class of Leadership Tampa. The program, put on by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, is a proving ground for future community leaders.

Web Wednesday - Google Transit & RouteShout

New feature for our new blog - Web Wednesdays! Each Wednesday, we'll highlight some of the great stuff you can do with HART's website, www.goHART.org. Today's feature: Google Transit and RouteShout!

Get There With Google Transit and RouteShout
OK, let's say you want to give HART bus service a try, but you're not really sure where to go, which route you need, how long it will take...basically, you're a newbie in need of help. Where can you turn? Just check out the Google Transit application on http://www.gohart.org/.

Google Transit is FREE, easy and will have you riding the bus like a pro in no time. At the bottom of each page on HART's website, you'll see fields where you can enter your starting address, destination address, and the date and time you want to travel. Just enter your info and click "Get Directions." That will take you to a Google map of your trip, with a listing of routes you can choose from, the exact locations of stops closest to you, how long it will take, and what your fare should be. You just choose your route and trip, show up at the bus stop, and you're on your way!

Once you get to your bus stop, you can always check for the next scheduled arrival on HART's new RouteShout service.

You just text RouteShout the stop ID number, and minutes later you'll receive information about the next buses scheduled to come your way. If you have a smartphone, you can download the RouteShout app from your service's app store. If you're rocking the web-enabled cell phone, you can go to m.routeshout.com for your virtual schedule-on-the-go.

Learn more about RouteShout by clicking here.

If you find you still need some help, or just like a more personal touch, you can always call the HARTinfo Line at (813) 254-HART (4278) for customized trip planning assistance and answers to all of your questions.

Another Million-Ride Month

Wow! Your transit agency is definitely on a roll. For the fifth consecutive month, HART's bus ridership has exceeded one million rides. It's the first time in the 30-year history of HART that we've had that kind of streak. The previous million-ride streak of at least four months was in July - October 2008. HART's bus ridership is on track for 12 million riders in fiscal 2010.

The total for July was 1,025,657 rides.

The sustained high numbers of rides suggests that many people have come to see public transportation as a viable alternative to driving their cars. It's also a positive sign that improvements HART has made to the system in recent years are working to make transit in Hillsborough County easier, more convenient and more efficient.
 

If you haven't hopped aboard yet, what are you waiting for? It's one way to be one in a million.

On Board

County Center was the site of today's monthly meeting of the HART Board of Directors. Let's hit the highlights:

Thank You, Councilman Dingfelder
After five years of service on the HART Board, former Tampa City Councilman John Dingfelder bid adieu today to his colleagues at the transit agency. Mr. Dingfelder, who resigned his City Council seat to pursue a spot on the Hillsborough County Commission, was an active, enthusiastic member of the HART Board. After receiving a commemorative crystal bus mounted on a wooden pedestal, Mr. Dingfelder noted the need for a diverse board to work together.

"When you serve on a Board like this, that's multijurisdictional, including city and county representatives, Temple Terrace, and the private sector, we all work together for the betterment of this community," Mr. Dingfelder said. "I'm proud of what we accomplished, and I'll be with you all the way to November and help in any way I can (for the referendum)."

Welcome, Councilman Stokes
Due to Mr. Dingfelder's departure, the HART Board welcomed its newest member, Tampa City Councilman Curtis Stokes. Councilman Stokes, former president of the Hillsborough County NAACP, was named to City Council in July to replace the departing Linda Saul-Sena.

Reviewing the Plans
Self-help gurus are always saying something like, "how do you know where you're going if you don't know how to get there?" In other words, you gotta have a plan. At HART, we spend a lot of time and effort looking ahead, planning how to get where we need to be - which is providing the absolute best service we can with the resources available.

The Board got an overview today of a couple of HART's roadmaps to the future - the Transit Development Plan and the Alternatives Analysis.

The Transit Development Plan, or TDP, is something we update every year as part of our requirement for a $3.5 million grant. This year's effort is considered a minor update, with a more in-depth update to come next year. The TDP takes a look at local needs and what would be needed to meet them, including countywide services and projects, rapid transit in corridors currently being studied, flex service, and more local and express service.

One area of need identified that the Board took interest in at the meeting was local connection to the new high-speed rail (HSR) station planned for the north end of downtown. The plan notes that HART will need to connect people to the new HSR system from areas like Brandon and the Northwest County area.

Also, a tidbit of information reported to the Board as part of the TDP presentation portends a bit of good news for HART. Farebox recovery, which represents the proportion of revenues that come from fares, has increased over the last few years, going from 19% in 2007 to a projected 22% in 2010. That increase indicates that the system's efficiency is improving.

Next Meeting August 16
The Board will next meet on August 16 at 8:30 a.m. at HART's administrative offices in Ybor City. This meeting will be a wrap of the Alternatives Analysis.

Want more details on the TDP, AA, and Rapid Transit Investment Plans? It's all on HART's website, http://www.gohart.org/. Plus, you can review the informational packet for each Board meeting, AND get a link to watch the regular monthly meetings right from your computer.

 There's a whole lot going on at HART - stay tuned and we'll help you keep up!