The Florida Senate passed a bill on May 4 that would require the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) to conduct a study of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority’s (HART) operations and organizational structure. The legislation, which passed the Florida House on April 26, garnered near unanimous support among the state’s lawmakers with only a single “nay” vote that was later switched to “yea” in the Senate.
The bill now heads to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
HART’s past three chief executive officers departed the agency amid controversies. The legislation cites the state’s rapid population growth for the need to coordinate and plan regional service mobility. It questions whether “changes to the organizational structure and governance of HART would result in operational efficiencies and improvements to transit services.”
Florida Sen. Danny Burgess (R-23), who sponsored the Senate version of the bill, tweeted “With HART no longer meeting the needs of residents who rely on public transit, this will allow us to gather information on how best to move forward.”
If Gov. DeSantis signs the bill into law, FDOT or its consultant will evaluate HART on:
- Its governance structure, board membership, funding, representation, terms, powers, duties and responsibilities
- Financial assets and obligations
- Facilities and operations
- Impacts to the potential dissolution of HART and options to continue transit services in Hillsborough County
- Impacts of merging HART with a neighboring county’s service provider
While the passed legislation does not include Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) by name, a previous version of the bill included language to explore a potential merger between HART and PSTA.
FDOT will be required to submit a final report of the work by Jan. 1, 2024, to the governor, president of the Florida Senate and the speaker of the Florida House.
