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HART Retools South County Stops

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By SUSAN M. GREEN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 15, 2007

RUSKIN - Bookworms will be able to keep their seats on the bus, at least on weekdays, as proposed cutbacks in service were retooled for consideration Monday by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board.

The latest proposal would offer stops at the SouthShore Regional Library twice a day, Monday through Friday, on a route that travels from Wimauma through Sun City Center and on to the Westfield Brandon mall.

On Monday, the HART board adopted a tentative budget, including proposed route changes in south Hillsborough County, along with other service reductions to meet budget cuts. A final vote is scheduled for Sept. 24.

Jim Duffy, who was among SouthShore Roundtable members who pressed for improved bus service in south Hillsborough, asked the board in August to stave off slashing its fledgling routes in the south county area for at least a year.

Also president of the SouthShore Friends of the Library, Duffy particularly objected to the formerly proposed elimination of the library as a stop altogether.

The new proposal offers no weekend library trips, however.

'It's a disappointment,' Duffy said Monday. 'I'm sure no one will use it.'

Duffy said SouthShore leaders attended up to 50 meetings with county and HART officials leading up to expanded bus service that started about 10 months ago.

He said he was told that routes would take up to two years to become accepted and would be evaluated then. Instead, the south Hillsborough routes were targeted in budget reductions because HART said their rider numbers are low.

'We didn't do a good enough job of promoting ridership,' Duffy said. 'I really thought we had a couple of years.'

Proposed service cuts have been revised a few times. HART staff agreed to keep an express route to the mall, but it would run only twice a day on weekdays. Two other routes that transport people between Wimauma and Ruskin would be combined into a single route.

Duffy said rural and south county residents pay taxes for transit service that largely benefits Tampa. Two years ago, when meeting with HART officials, he had envisioned that the agency might offer bus runs into Balm or Fort Lonesome.

'We took a good shot,' Duffy said. 'But HART is not going to be an effective transit method for south county.'

Public hearings on the proposed long-range South County Transportation Plan have been delayed a few months until December, said Ned Baier, Hillsborough's transportation and land development review manager.

In July, county officials held workshops in Riverview and Ruskin to get public input on the plan, which is expected to accommodate and shape development for the next 40 years.

The transportation plan is part of proposed comprehensive plan amendments that were to go to county commissioners this fall.

Baier said significant changes were made to the plan, and county officials want to hold another round of public meetings in October before taking recommendations to county commissioners.

The recommendations are available at www.hillsborough county.org/pgm.

Reporter Susan M. Green can be reached at (813) 865-1566 or sgreen@tampatrib.com.

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