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Transit Plan Has Route Around Backups

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2008

WESLEY CHAPEL - It's no accident that nearly every house in this fast-growing subdivision has two cars in the driveway.

In an area that until recently was dominated by cow pastures and country roads, the family car is the primary way people get to work, schools and stores.

County officials hope to change that in the next few years by expanding Pasco County Public Transportation - the county-sponsored bus system - into the sprawling communities of central Pasco.

The bus system, which carried nearly a million riders last year, has its strongest support among residents and workers along the U.S. 19 corridor in west Pasco. The system has also seen recent growth in the Dade City area.

The county's new 10-year transit plan - approved last week by the county's transportation planning agency - calls for adding a cross-county route following State Road 54 in 2011 and a closed-loop circulator in Land O' Lakes four years later.

Routes within Wesley Chapel and between Wesley Chapel and Zephyrhills would follow in 2018 and beyond.
Transit officials see the new routes as a way to connect potential workers in west Pasco with thousands of retail jobs slated to open up in the coming years as three major malls take off in Wesley Chapel.

Kevin Wiatrowski

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