HART moves All For Transportation-funded project list

hart bus McClain
The agency plans to restore service to shuttered routes.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority is moving forward with spending plans using new sales tax revenue despite legal challenges to the All For Transportation charter voters approved last November. 

HART staff is recommending a series of new spending plans including restoring previously canceled service, expanded weekday and weekend bus service and ongoing discussions about new bus rapid transit routes and future rail possibilities.

The board is sending the agency’s recommendations to the Independent Oversight Committee established to ensure spending plans align with the tax charter’s intent. 

The recommendations include restoring three shuttered routes. Those are Route 46 serving the Palmetto Beach area, Route 4 in South Tampa and MacDill Air Force Base and Route 41 on Sligh Avenue. Those routes were eliminated after HART had to cut service to balance its budget. 

The restored service will cost the agency $4.4 million.

The recommendations also call for 97,000 additional hours of operation including more weekend service with 30-minute bus frequency and expanded weekday service. Those enhancements would cost $2.1 million for weekend service and $3.9 million for weekday service. 

The plan also calls for 16 new buses by the end of 2020, which would be needed to expand and restore service. 

The HART board on Monday also expressed ongoing commitment to the agency’s downtown and Ybor City Streetcar partnership with the city of Tampa that’s currently under consideration for expansion. They also expressed support for a bus rapid transit study along the Florida and Nebraska Avenue corridors.

Discussions will also continue about the future of light rail in Hillsborough County,

The plan is made possible by the 1 percent sales surtax for transportation and transit in Hillsborough County that was on the ballot last year. 

Under that voter-approved tax, HART would receive about $120 million more revenue in its first year.

But the funding is in jeopardy. A judge ruled the tax constitutional earlier this year after Hillsborough County Commissioner Stacy White challenged it. White and another plaintiff are appealing that ruling to the Florida Supreme Court. 

It’s not clear when that legal challenge might be settled, but in the meantime Hillsborough County residents continue to pay the additional tax. 

All For Transportation organizers are confident the appeal will uphold the tax and are celebrating HART’s efforts to move forward as the issue works its way through the appellate process.

“Voters made a historic investment to address our community’s transportation crisis in November. Now HART is answering that call to action by restoring previously cut bus routes, adding thousands of additional service hours, and pushing forward on new transit options. HART’s proposed All for Transportation project list for next year is a strong start for this transformational investment,” said All For Transportation Chair Tyler Hudson.

Final approval for the priority list is expected September 9 at HART’s board meeting.

Janelle Irwin Taylor

Janelle Irwin Taylor has been a professional journalist covering local news and politics in Tampa Bay since 2003. Most recently, Janelle reported for the Tampa Bay Business Journal. She formerly served as senior reporter for WMNF News. Janelle has a lust for politics and policy. When she’s not bringing you the day’s news, you might find Janelle enjoying nature with her husband, children and two dogs. You can reach Janelle at [email protected].


One comment

  • Linda Walker

    August 8, 2019 at 9:21 am

    Mr. White wants HART to cover the cost of a ferry project that will be $36 million to $44 million. Yet he does not want the tax. So sad.

Comments are closed.


#FlaPol

Florida Politics is a statewide, new media platform covering campaigns, elections, government, policy, and lobbying in Florida. This platform and all of its content are owned by Extensive Enterprises Media.

Publisher: Peter Schorsch @PeterSchorschFL

Contributors & reporters: Phil Ammann, Drew Dixon, Roseanne Dunkelberger, A.G. Gancarski, Anne Geggis, Ryan Nicol, Jacob Ogles, Cole Pepper, Gray Rohrer, Jesse Scheckner, Christine Sexton, Drew Wilson, and Mike Wright.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @PeterSchorschFL
Phone: (727) 642-3162
Address: 204 37th Avenue North #182
St. Petersburg, Florida 33704




Sign up for Sunburn


Categories