News & Public Affairs
Howard Frankland span replacement could spell transit improvements over Tampa Bay listen
05/07/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: transit, PSTA, HART, FDOT, Howard Frankland Bridge
The Northbound section of the Howard Frankland Bridge will need to be replaced sometime in the next decade or so. That leaves a host of options for transit agencies on both sides of Tampa Bay.
During a stakeholder meeting in Pinellas County Tuesday, the Florida Department of Transportation’s district planning manager, Ming Gao said the plans could include some premium transit options.
Be the first to comment“We know the in-kind replacement is around $367 million. You’ve got the transit option; you’re tal...
Regional transit in Tampa Bay is getting an updated vision listen
04/26/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, PSTA, HART, transit, rail, buses, transportation
The board coordinating transit agencies from all over the Tampa Bay area is updating its master plan this year. The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority discussed the changes during its meeting Friday. Even though the board considers the update minor, it includes opportunities for increased regional connectivity.
Much of the focus will be on making it easier to get between Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties. Bob Clifford is TBARTA’s executive direct...
1 commentsLocal transit
04/01/13 Jon ButtsSustainable Living and Alternative Health Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, HART, PSTA, transit
On today’s program we talked with four people involved with our local transit systems. Our guests included Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) Chief Operations Officer Katharine Eagan, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) External Affairs Officer Bob Lasher, Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) Director of Programs and Operations Sandi Moody and also TBARTA’s Communication Specialist, Al...
Be the first to commentTampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says transit merger is not TBARTA's problem listen
02/22/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bob Buckhorn, transportation, HART, PSTA, TBARTA
Even though the idea of a cross-bay merger is off the table for now, the boards of the transit agencies in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties still say they want to work on some projects together. After a state mandated merger study, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority had requested the state fund a second study taking a deeper look into possible cost savings. HART filed a separate report requesting no further studies. During a Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority meeting, o...
Be the first to commentMobile app for bus riders coming soon to Hillsborough listen
02/08/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, transit, transportation, buses, smartphones, apps
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit authority is trying to make it easier for bus riders to figure out how to get from point A to point B. HART will launch a web-based bus information system for riders this summer. The program is called OneBusAway and was created with the help of USF’s Center for Urban Transportation Research. It will be available on smart phones, through the HART website and through telephone operators. HART’s Information Technology Services coordinator, Shannon Haney ...
Be the first to commentTransit officials in Hillsborough are trying to get rolling on improvements listen
02/01/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, transit, transportation, BRT, light rail, Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County’s transit agency is looking at ways to revamp its system, mostly by improving services it already offers. At a workshop today, community stakeholders and HART officials laid out different funding options for new projects.
More and more people are ditching their wheels and hopping on buses. According to Jeff Seward, HART’s chief financial officer, ridership is already up 3.5% over last year. That leaves a wide gap in bus service for the county that Seward said could b...
Be the first to commentPinellas transit officials stick to plans for merger study after HART flip-flops listen
01/14/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: PSTA, HART, transit, transportation
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s (PSTA) board is sticking to its guns about a recommendation to the Florida legislature that would further study the benefits of combining their agency with Hillsborough’s. Both boards had decided to ask the state to pay for a second merger study, but last week, leaders of the Hillsborough transit authority rescinded that request. PSTA CEO Brad Miller agreed with a board decision during a special meeting Monday to meet with HART once more before each...
Be the first to commentTampa Bay area residents are becoming more transit-friendly listen
12/27/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: transit, transportation, HART, PSTA
A Tampa Bay Times poll released today shows that a majority of Tampa Bay residents would be OK with spending tax dollars on light rail in the region.
Fifty-six percent of Hillsborough County residents polled said they would support using public funding for mass transit like light or commuter rail. In Pinellas County 60% said they’d be on board.
The poll comes after voters in Hillsborough rejected a transit-tax referendum that could have included light rail. Now planners in Pinellas Co...
Be the first to commentPinellas and Hillsborough want to further study transit merger listen
12/11/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: PSTA, HART, transit, transportation, Florida Legislature
Officials for transit authorities in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties are considering merging the two systems to save money. Both PSTA and HART boards plan to ask the Florida legislature to fund a detailed study of the savings that would result from combining staff resources.
PSTA and HART already split the cost of a preliminary state-mandated coordination study. The boards will vote on a final list of recommendations and funding requests based on the results at their meeting next month....
Be the first to commentHART buses will be mobile tributes to Rosa Parks listen
11/30/12 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Rosa Parks, civil rights, African-Americans, HART, transit
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) is installing small brass plaques commemorating Rosa Parks in all of their buses. Transit officials showed them off today at the Yukon transfer center in Tampa's Sulphur Springs neighborhood. The move comes more than fifty years after the civil rights activist was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks just stayed put when a bus driver asked her to move. In an interview...
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