Radioactivity Wednesday October 18 2017
Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up we’ll have a discussion about the major changes to HART bus routes in Hillsborough County. There’s been some pushback from riders who say the changes make the bus system harder to use.
Earlier this month HART- the transit authority in Hillsborough County instituted a new plan called Mission Max. Hart says:
“Mission MAX is a comprehensive schedule change of the HART network that will provide simplified routes, more frequent routes with better connections and extended morning, evening and weekend service on select routes.”
We’ll talk with HART CEO Katharine Eagan Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority in a moment.
Not all HART riders are happy with the plan.
The Tampa Bay Times reported this month that HART’s budget is relatively small: “The agency’s $72 million 2017 operating budget remains one of the lowest in the country for a region its size. Jacksonville spent $89 million on its bus system that year. Budgets in similar-sized Detroit and Milwaukee dwarf HART’s at $122 million and $160 million, respectively.http://www.placead.tampabay.com/news/transportation/masstransit/depend-on-a-hart-bus-to-get-around-life-could-get-harder/2340074
Our second guest is a local professor named Will Clark. Will uses the bus system and told me this about the changes:
“The problems created by the new Mission Max bid system are multifaceted and bountiful, but the essential problem totals into the fact that there are many people in Tampa Bay that no longer have a safe and reliable transportation to their home/work, and HART’s best solution is a shrug of the shoulders and a shunting to TBARTA’s vanpooling program.
Contact HART by calling: 813-254-HART.
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