Hillsborough transit CFO lays out funding options for transit improvements

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 be filled.

“Adding 250 buses to the fleet, several hundred miles of new, local bus routes, addition of 7 express routes, 13 new flex routes and over 70 miles of new fixed guide way MetroRapid service. Again, just as the last scenario we discussed, it would require a new operating facility and we would have extensive capital infrastructure with new bus stops and maintenance needs.”