HART Sets All-Time Ridership Record

Oct. 10, 2014
The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) has two big reasons to celebrate this week — total annual ridership reached more than 14.9 million passengers in FY2014 and September 2014 arked the highest September on record in HART history.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) has two big reasons to celebrate this week — total annual ridership on HART reached more than 14.9 million passengers in FY2014 (October 1, 2013 - September 30, 2014), and September 2014 marked the highest September on record in HART history.   

This year's achievements include increases in ridership and slight increases in revenue, while delivering services under budget. County-wide, HART enjoyed a 2.2 percent increase in ridership over the previous year by breaking last year's record by 325,993 trips. This total represents the 5th straight year of setting another record for the authority. We've hit record ridership 10 of the past 11 years.    

During 2014, HART provided an average of 51,426 local and express rides each weekday-enough passengers to completely fill the Amalie Arena, The MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre and George M. Steinbrenner field combined.

"We are encouraged with the results achieved in FY2014," said HART Interim Chief Executive Officer Katharine Eagan. "We strive every day to provide dependable, beneficial transit options for the community, and we'll continue to work with our community partners to provide excellence in customer service and to ensure maximum value for the taxpayers of Hillsborough County."

FY2014 Ridership highlights: 

  • FY2014 bus ridership was up by nearly 325,993 trips or 2.2 percent, compared to last year (FY2011: 13,730,705; FY2012: 14,314,610; FY2013: 14,640,375).
  • Combined mode ridership exceeded 15,482 million and was up 2.1 percent compared to FY2013. 
  • FY2014 bus ridership marks an all-time high for HART and breaks the annual record for the fifth year in a row!

FY2014 bus ridership breakdown:

  • Weekday average ridership up 3.5 percent
  • Saturday average ridership up 4.0 percent 
  • Sunday average ridership up 13.0 percent

"As ridership continues to grow, so does the need to expand service to keep pace with the growing demands of the county," said HART Board Chair Councilman Mike Suarez. "The HART Board will continue to explore ways to provide a transit system that will serve our current customers and our new customers as well."   

September 2014 Ridership highlights: 

  • September 2014 totaled 1,298,526, or an increase of 7.1 percent compared to September 2013.
  • September 2014 ridership marked 86,543 more trips than the same month last year.  
  • MetroRapid ridership was 50,761.
  • 18 days exceeded 50,000 riders.
  • September 3rd saw the highest daily ridership throughout the month with 61,030. 
  • The September 2014 ridership level is the highest September on record at HART.  

HART Highlights in FY2014: 

  • MetroRapid North-South continues to catch the public's attention, since its May 2013 launch, 684,980 passengers have taken MetroRapid.  
  • On April 24, HART celebrated the grand opening of its $5.5 million Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling facility at a ribbon cutting ceremony, as it became the First Public Transportation Agency in Florida to convert from diesel fuel to CNG.  
  • 31 shelters (HART installed 23 and 8 by private developers), 82 ADA landing pads throughout Hillsborough County, including Cities of Tampa and Temple Terrace, and six bus bays were built and/or installed by HART.
  • On September 8, HART rolled out OneBusAway's new Text Messaging feature which provides transit customers their real-time bus arrival information via text message.
  • 2014 Summer Blast Pass net revenue increased by 47 percent and 346 more passes were sold compared to FY2013. This year, 58,055 trips were taken as part of this program, compared to last year's ridership of 57,049.
  • HART Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) Core Team completed the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) Environmental Management Systems (ESMS) Training and Technical Assistance program and are now on the road to ISO 14001 certification.  
  • HART and Hillsborough Community College kicked off the HCC semester pass pilot program.