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HART sees ridership decrease

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By TED JACKOVICS

tjackovics@tampatrib.com

Published: November 4, 2009

TAMPA - Hillsborough Area Regional Transit ridership has fallen for the first time since 2002. Ridership during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 dropped by 3.1 percent to 12.3 million passengers.

However, the year-over-year comparison does not reflect longer range trends in steady ridership growth, HART officials pointed out. That's because gas prices soaring beyond $4 a gallon in 2008 contributed to a record 12.7 million passengers that year.

By comparison, HART's 2009 regular and express bus ridership was 4.4 percent higher than 2007.
Van pool traffic declined 9.6 percent from 2009 over 2008, local bus service fell 3.5 percent and paratransit dropped 2.4 percent. Paratransit service provides transportation for people with disabilities.

The downtown streetcar gained 5 percent, and express bus service gained 2.3 percent compared with 2008.

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