Page 9 - Florida Sentinel 10-2-15 Edition

Local
HART Approves $84.7M Budget
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
With politics taking over the mission of HART and the Go Hillsborough Coalition’s efforts to put more funding into public transportation, HART has approved their sta- tus quo budget of $84.7 mil- lion for the next fiscal year.
The Go Hillsborough Ini- tiative was seeking to get County Commissioners to allow a half-cent sales tax to be put on a referendum for voters in November 2016. That initiative has met oppo- sition from local Republicans.
Marco Sandusky, HART Special Manager, said with the approval of the budget this past Monday, some transit services will be implemented as part of their action plan.
“There will be improve- ments on bus routes 12, 15, 46, 53LX, and HARTFlex Brandon. We’re also going to start a HARTFlex zone in New Tampa.
“We are going to pilot a first mile, last mile program that will involve riders mak- ing trips from where they are to connect to the transit net- work.”
The route changes will be:
Route 12 going to a 20 minute frequency throughout.
Route 15 extending to 10 p.m. with 30 minute frequency.
Route 46 will have Sat- urday service.
Route 53LX will have a consistent schedule with hourly service through- out the day.
Sandusky said the route changes will start in Novem- ber.
“Also, HARTFlex Brandon is adding Saturday service.
“In approving the budget, we will be replacing some ve- hicles and also there will be more operational positions added, such as drivers and mechanics.”
These are some of the compressed gas buses HART added to its fleet during the past year.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 9-A