HART

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority approved transferring a $4.8 million federal grant to its Pinellas counterpart to buy one or two boats that could replace the Cross Bay Ferry.

It approved a nearly $5 million grant to purchase two new ferries, and now awaits a vote by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority.

For now, the Cross Bay Ferry — which has operated since 2016 — is no longer in service.

The number of passengers has increased to more than 5,000 per weekday, which has improved on-time performance and taken cars off roads.

Hillsborough's transit agency is receiving $23 million that will go toward major fixes for the facility, which was originally built for trucks in the 1980s.

HART says it is phasing out its normal paper fare cards as a way to make the boarding process quicker and more efficient.

Route 1 has 56 stops and runs from USF to downtown Tampa.

The buses are washed and repaired each night at the 44-year-old building, which has had its fair share of problems, including flooding, cramped space and mechanic bays with stifling heat.

Many pots of money, such as ride fares, were larger than projected, while operating cost expenses were lower.

HART's budget is on par with cities like Bridgeport, Connecticut and Buffalo, New York that each serve roughly 1.5 million fewer people.

David Green discusses the hardships the organization faced in recent years, and what would need to change if a similar effort were to take shape.

The initial version of the bill, filed by Zephyrhills Republican Sen. Danny Burgess, brought up exploring the potential dissolution of HART within its first few sentences, and mentioned it seven times throughout the legislation’s language.