TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

HART ridership down

ADVERTISEMENT

By TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: August 6, 2009

TAMPA - Public transit ridership fell 6 percent in June to 974,054 passengers compared with a year ago, a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority report states.

Despite declines in May and June, ridership for the first six months of the year was off just 1.5 percent to 9.2 million passengers.

"Last summer was the height of the gas price spike, and our ridership was up about 8 percent at that time," HART spokeswoman Kathy Karalekas said. "So a lot of those riders who might have tried HART service for the first time last year have stuck around."

The main reasons for the June decline were local unemployment reaching 10 percent and lower fuel prices for motorists, the report says.
Streetcar ridership in June declined 24.3 percent to 24,532 passengers compared with a year ago.
Express bus service was down 10.7 percent to 23,192 passengers but is up 9.2 percent for the first half of the year.

The five top express routes this year are MacDill Air Force Base-South Brandon, MacDill- FishHawk and the routes connecting downtown with south Brandon, north Brandon and South Shore.

Reporter Ted Jackovics can be reached at (813) 259-7817.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT