Tuesday 31 August 2010

BEHIND THE LEGEND

What's in it for Me?

Meeting with residents on our transit plans
With transit talk starting to heat up around the area, have you found yourself asking "what's in it for me?"

We can help you answer that question.

If voters approve the 1% transportation tax this November, HART will start phasing in a plan that would add transit benefits for residents across Hillsborough County. From New Tampa, to Plant City, to Riverview, we've worked to build a plan that accommodates the needs of this very diverse community.

Most areas would see more service and improved connections to the entire HART system, less wait times, better access to important destinations like downtown Tampa, the airport, USF, hospitals and shopping centers, and the addition of new routes, facilities and services.

Want to see exactly what would be in store for your area? Check out our fact sheets by clicking on the links below.

South Hillsborough County
Northwest Hillsborough
Downtown Tampa
East Hillsborough County (Plant City, Thonotosassa, Seffner)
East Central Hillsborough (Brandon, Valrico, Riverview and surrounding areas)
Central Tampa
East Tampa
North Tampa
West Tampa & Westshore

Don't forget, you can read HART's entire Rapid Transit Investment Plan on our website at www.gohart.org/whytransit.

OVER SEAS






We just touched down in Thailand.. Look out for more fliks from the Asia tour.

Monday 30 August 2010

Local High-Speed Rail Meeting; Labor Day Service Schedule

Local High-Speed Rail Session Tomorrow
Last week, we reported that an informational session for contractors and other vendors interested in the high-speed rail project was set for Lakeland. This week we got word that a public meeting for citizens who would like general information on the project will take place here in Tampa. According to the Tampa Downtown Partnership, the Florida Department of Transportation is holding a public information meeting on the Tampa - Orlando high speed rail project on Tuesday, August 31st at the Tampa Convention Center at 6:30pm.

Florida Rail Enterprise officials will present an overview of the project followed by question and answer sessions. Public comment cards will be available. The public meetings are free, open to the public and require no advance registration. For details, visit the project website at http://www.floridahighspeedrail.org/.

Labor Day Service
Planning your Labor Day weekend? So are we! HART service will operate on a Saturday schedule next Monday, September 6. That means routes and other services that normally do not operate on Saturdays, such as Commuter Express routes, will not be in service on Monday. Call the HARTinfo Line at (813) 254-HART for more information.

PHOTO, FLASH, FOCUS, RECORD








Here are a couple more images of the Machete Screening courtesy of EribertoOriol.com.

Sunday 29 August 2010

SOUL SUNDAY


Here is the Original of a song that was remade by Mayer Hawthorne on his latest album.

Saturday 28 August 2010

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

<


If you dont know who you are going to go see this film with, you better get it together.
It will be in theaters in 7days.

Go Bucs! Go Bulls! Go HART!

HART's West Tampa Transfer Center
Happy Saturday! And let's give a cheer for the start of football season!

With the Buccaneers' home preseason schedule winding down tonight, and the USF Bulls' regular season starting next Saturday, we're all getting ready for some football - including your friends here at HART.

Since there are always lots of street closures and other traffic management efforts underway on gameday, you will see an impact on HART services around the stadium. Here's all you need to know to get where you're going when Raymond James Stadium is hopping.

West Tampa Transfer Center Closed
HART's hub on Himes Avenue will be closed for several hours on gameday due to traffic management measures. The following routes are impacted by the closures:

Route 7 – West Tampa/Citrus Park
Route 32 – MLK Boulevard
Route 36 – Dale Mabry/Himes Ave.
Route 41 - Sligh Ave.
Route 45 – UATC/Rome/Westshore Plaza

HART buses will serve a temporary stop at St. Isabel Street and MacDill Avenue, behind St. Joseph's Women's Hospital, during major stadium events. In addition, some streetside stops around the stadium will be inaccessible to buses and cannot be served. For details, please call the HARTinfo Line at (813) 254-HART (that's 4278).

Click here for more information, USF and Tampa Bay Buccaneers schedules, and a map of the stadium detours on HART's website.

Friday 27 August 2010




Her are some more fliks of the screening of Machete on Wednesday..
Get ready to see the film in Theaters Sep. 3rd.

Thursday 26 August 2010

VIVA MACHETE





Just a couple pictures of last night.. Congrats to our good friend and"Mexican Super Hero" Danny Trejo Code Name: Machete on the film and thanks to everyone who participated. Also to my brothers and car club LIFESTYLE, gracias for making it happen.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It

Transportation is making local headlines.
Have you heard? From high-speed rail to bike trails, transportation is in the news this week.

High-Speed Rail Meeting in Lakeland
Questions about Florida's high-speed rail project? If you don't mind making the trek to Lakeland, you can attend a public information meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 1 at 2:30 p.m. at the Lakeland Center's Lake Hunter Room (if you've lived around these parts for a while, you might know it better as the Lakeland Civic Center).

One facet of the meeting appears to be making contact with contractors and other potential vendors for the project. For more information on the meeting, click here to read the story in The Ledger.

Keep in mind, this meeting is regarding the state high-speed rail project, which is the Tampa-to-Orlando line that received federal funding last year. That project differs from Hillsborough County's proposed light rail system that would serve passengers traveling from northern Hillsborough County, through downtown Tampa, and on toward Tampa International Airport. The light rail line is part of HART's Rapid Transit Investment Plan, which you can take a closer look at here.

Local News on Sharpe Victory
In Tuesday's elections, Hillsborough County Commissioner and HART Board member Mark Sharpe won the District 7 Republican primary despite a vigorous challenge based on his support for the upcoming transportation referendum. ABC Action News wonders if Commissioner Sharpe's victory might be a predictor for what could happen in November. Watch the story here.

MPO Plans Tampa Bike Trail
This week, Hillsborough County's Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) gave residents a chance to preview a proposed bike trail that would connect Ybor City, downtown Tampa and Bayshore Boulevard.

The trail would follow the path of the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway, connecting to the TECO Line Streetcar System and the Marion Street Transitway, HART's transit thoroughfare in downtown Tampa.

Click here to read the full story from the St. Petersburg Times.

Wednesday 25 August 2010

THE DAY IS HERE




The day is here!!

Web Wednesday - Let's Socialize

You tweet your way through the day. You have tons of Facebook friends. Maybe you even star in your own YouTube videos. Social media is where more and more people are finding friends and getting info - and now your networks can help you connect with HART, too.

Follow us on Twitter
HART's Twitter page has just passed the 300 follower mark, and is still growing. Our tweets run the gamut from detour alerts to sharing some of the crazy ways people get around.  So, if you follow us @GoHART, you'll get some great tidbits of information, updates on projects, service alerts, and even a touch of fun. Check out our Twitter page here: http://twitter.com/gohart

Be a Facebook Fan
On Facebook, you can join the conversation! Read more updates about service and other great info, leave your comments on the wall, upload photos and more. Plus, let us know if you like what you read. It's like walking into a room full of friends - or maybe like making a busload of new ones! Join the in-crowd at http://www.facebook.com/HillsboroughTransit.

See What's Happening on YouTube
If a picture's worth a thousand words, then video must be just about priceless. HART's YouTube channel lets us put our plans in motion, so you can see what the future of transit could look like. There are renderings of the new MetroRapid service, a peek at how the Marion Street Tansitway in downtown Tampa could function as a rail line, and a new video that explains why transit is important to our community. Plus, you can check out HART's series of TV commercials (in English and Spanish), and see how we celebrated 30 years of serving our community. Tune in to HART at http://www.youtube.com/harttransit.

Blogging In
Since you're reading this post, you already know about "In Transit," HART's new blog. We're keeping you up-to-date with the latest info straight from the folks in the know at HART. If you haven't subscribed yet, hop aboard! You don't want to miss this train as it leaves the station.

And there's lots more to come. Hang with us on all your social media sites, and keep connected to HART!

Monday 23 August 2010

SHE DEVIL




She is has her eye on you...

Letter from HART CEO in Local Newspapers

HART CEO David Armijo
The weekend editions of the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times each ran a special column by HART CEO David Armijo that sheds some additional light on the ongoing Alternatives Analysis. In case you missed it, here's the full text of the piece as it appeared in Saturday's Tribune.

Mapping out county's transportation future
By DAVID ARMIJO Special To The Tampa Tribune

Just over a year ago, HART launched a major study to determine how best to serve this county's transportation needs. Today, we've made much progress.

At last Monday's meeting of HART's Board of Directors, we presented cost and ridership information from the study. A lot of questions were answered during the presentation, but there is still much work to do and many voices to be heard.

Here's a look at where we are now and what's next:

The study, known as Alternatives Analysis (AA), started in July 2009 as an important first step toward securing federal dollars for transit investment. The AA is an in-depth assessment of the proposed improvement area that considers which alternatives would best meet the transit needs of that area, whether it's a rapid-transit system like rail or bus-rapid transit, regular bus service or no improvements.

It takes into account factors including travel patterns, cost and ridership estimates, and construction issues, including right of way, bridge crossings, property impacts and public preference.

The AA study includes two separate corridors, west and northeast, and initially identified 30 possible rapid-transit routes. Three review phases narrowed these possible alignments to five.

In fact, it was public preference that added a significant piece to this puzzle. After input at more than 235 community meetings, the AA study now includes direct service to Tampa International Airport and extending service under Interstate 75 as far north as Cross Creek via Bruce B. Downs Boulevard. Our customers and residents requested service that would connect more neighborhoods to employment centers and destinations.

So what happens next?

In November the HART board will choose the "locally preferred alternative" (LPA), which is essentially the final routing and type of system (rail, bus rapid transit, regular bus improvements) that we'll then take to the Federal Transit Administration for our capital funding request. The board's choice will be based on recommendations that will come from the final stage of the AA, which is underway now.

As part of that final stage, we're developing recommendations to address two central questions:

• Which of the remaining alternatives - two in the west corridor and three in the northeast - best meets needs and opportunities in each corridor?

• What is the most effective strategy to implement the locally preferred alternative in each corridor?

To select the locally preferred alternative, each of the five remaining alternatives is being reviewed against a comprehensive set of measures, including ridership, travel time, service quality, cost efficiency, land use and environmental impacts.

The five alignments under review include three in the northeast, with two using the CSX freight rail line and one that runs along I-275. Both would serve New Tampa, the USF area and medical facilities, and downtown. The two west corridor alignments being considered are Cypress Street and I-275 between the airport and downtown.

Over the next two months we will complete the modeling work and determine a final cost for each travel technology and alignment.

The HART board will then choose between light-rail transit, bus-rapid transit and enhanced bus service based on factors such as ridership, cost and redevelopment opportunities. We will present public comments, along with our study findings, to the board, which is scheduled to deliberate Nov. 15.

It's HART's goal to complete this process in as timely and transparent a manner as possible so you can make an informed decision.

But when considering such a large investment, it's important that everyone who wants to voice their opinion has a chance to do so.

That's why we've included one more round of public outreach before making the final alignment choice. It's the right thing to do.

What has not changed throughout the process is the commitment of HART to dramatically improve the quality and quantity of public transportation for Hillsborough County residents and visitors as resources become available. In these unprecedented times of uncertainty it is prudent to be careful and deliberative as we contemplate changes that will help shape our future for decades.

You can get information about the AA on our project website, www.gohartaa.org. Or join us at one of the final two public hearings on Sept. 25 and Sept. 30 or at upcoming community workshops.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sunday 22 August 2010

Saturday 21 August 2010

Friday 20 August 2010

Transit Vote Passes in WA; HART Leaders Nominated for National Board

Across the country, transit is pulling into the station!
A couple of news items today.

First up, the residents of Olympia, Washington went to the polls this week and voted, by an overwhelming margin, to fund transit improvements for their community with a .2% tax increase.

The measure, which passed with about 63% of the vote, is expected to provide an additional half-million dollars a year for Intercity Transit.

Olympia, Washington isn't exactly a giant transit mecca along the lines of New York or Chicago - or even nearby Portland, Oregon. But the residents there decided, even in the face of difficult economic times, that a better transportation system was important to them. And lots of communities across the country are making the same decision.

Read more about the Olympia vote here.

Hewitt, Armijo Nominated for APTA Executive Committee
The American Public Transportation Association announced the nominees for its 2010-2011 slate of officers. Included on the list are HART Board Vice-Chair Alison Hewitt and CEO David Armijo.

Both Ms. Hewitt and Mr. Armijo have active leadership roles in the public transit trade association. Ms. Hewitt is Vice-Chair of APTA's Transit Board Members Committee, and a member of the organization's ADA Subcommittee and High-Speed and Intercity Rail Committee.

Mr. Armijo is a member of the American Public Transportation Foundation Committee, along with the Bus and Paratransit CEOs Committee, the Human Resources Committee, the Legislative Committee and the Rail Transit CEOs Committee. He is also a 2001 graduate of the Leadership APTA program.

The APTA Executive Committee and members-at-large complete the full board of directors, which includes designees of 20 of APTA’s largest dues-paying transit agencies and 10 of its largest dues-paying business members, as well as the chairs of 25 committees.

The slate will be presented to the APTA membership for approval at the APTA Annual Business Meeting and Election of Officers during the 2010 APTA Annual Meeting in October.

LICK A SHOT




HE IS COMING..
&
"The Sister"
has his Back.


Thursday 19 August 2010

Feeling Stressed?

If you live here in the Tampa Bay metro area, apparently you are. Forbes magazine has just released its list of the most stressful cities in the U.S. and, - you guessed it - we're on it.

Tampa came in at number 4 overall.

The magazine ranking considered factors like health, unemployment, long work hours, limited exercise and...wait for it...long commute times. Yep, sitting in traffic has an adverse effect on your general well-being, and makes you one stressed-out cookie.

Could transit help? Hard to say. But don't you think it might add to your quality of life to ride in comfort instead of white-knuckling it on the highway? Just sayin'.

Check out the Forbes report here.

BRASS MONKEY



Here is a recent piece on a client who wanted to get a piece that captures a moment from his childhood. He told a story of his zoo experience at the age of 5..

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Web Wednesday - There's a Map for That

What could transit look like 25 years from now? New lines in new places? More choices for more people? New types of transit we don't have today?

Would you believe - "there's a map for that"?

Well, there is. HART has created a map of what Hillsborough County's transit system could look like in the year 2035 if the agency's Rapid Transit Investment Plan is implemented. It gives you a look at how we might serve some of the areas that are currently underserved or not served at all, and it shows you how new types of service could be woven into the transit fabric. 

In fact, there's so much service on this map - you almost can't see the map! It's a great way to envision what the future of transit could be.

Click here for the future map, and get and lots of other information about HART's Rapid Transit Investment Plan on our website, www.goHART.org/whytransit.

SI SE PUEDE





For all of you that have been waiting for Machete to drop.. We have private screening for you. Here are all the details. First 300 people will get to see the film. So get Ready!
NO CELL PHONES OR RECORDING DEVICES!!

Tuesday 17 August 2010

A Toll Lane for Transit?

HART, Expressway Authority to Study Innovative New Solution
Last week, HART and the Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority announced that they had partnered up to win a federal grant to study Bus Toll Lanes for Tampa Bay.

What's that, you say? Transit and highway agencies working together? What's next, dogs and cats getting along?

Actually, this is a perfect partnership. Bus Toll Lanes (or BTLs) can offer a solution that works for drivers and riders alike to help ease congestion, promote transit ridership and make for a quicker commute.

Here's how it works. The BTL creates dedicated lanes for transit on local highways that automobile drivers can also use for a toll. Price management of the toll lanes, in which costs increase or decrease based on the amount of traffic, keeps the lanes flowing smoothly. So, if you want to hop off a heavily congested highway, you can pay a little more to get where you're going a little sooner. At times of lighter congestion, you might choose to stay on the main roadway.

Nothing really new so far, right? You've probably heard of price-managed toll lanes before. The difference with a BTL is the incorporation of public transit with a pricing strategy that puts transit first, giving customers the best service for the lowest price.

The $800,000 grant awarded by the Federal Highway Administration will allow HART and THEA to conduct a study assessing the benefits and costs of a BTL network in the Tampa Bay area. The study will identify a sample set of corridors where BTL may be implemented and also provide initial estimates of the social and economic benefits of the program.

You can read news coverage of the BTL study at the Creative Loafing website, and on TBO.com.

SPANISH CARAVAN




Here are a couple fliks of us posted up at the place Lifestyle C.C. named "The Lot" and the place we have held meetings for over 35yrs..

Monday 16 August 2010

A Tale of Two (Rail) Cities

Tampa and Orlando Get Ready for Rail
Last year, the federal government had a decision to make: which regions of the country would share in the $8 billion it had decided to put toward high-speed rail?

High-speed rail is coming to Florida, and local agencies
are making plans for it.
After reviewing plans and hearing arguments, a proposed line linking Tampa and Orlando was one of the final choices. Today, we here in Tampa Bay and our friends in Central Florida are working with the state agency developing the HSR system. And things are really moving along.

An article on the Huffington Post website (thanks to the Tampa Downtown Partnership for pointing us toward this piece) sketches the efforts of the two communities to integrate the high-speed system into local projects, and the different approaches they're taking.

How important is coordination with the high-speed line? For HART, it's very important.

As the author notes, Tampa and Hillsborough County have been keeping a close eye on the state's plans. The location of the new HSR station will be a stone's throw from HART's Marion Transit Center, a major transit hub that also figures prominently into the light rail line proposed as part of the agency's Rapid Transit Investment Plan. Ideally, passengers would be able to hop off the HSR line after the speedy and relaxing trip from Orlando and hop aboard a bus or train to hit a local destination. The transition should be convenient and as nearly seamless as possible. Much coordination still needs to be done, but rest assured the HSR project is certainly factoring into HART's plans for the future.

AA Study Findings Released at Board Meeting
HART's Board of Directors met this morning to get a first look at some of the findings from the Alternatives Analysis. For complete coverage of the results, check out these reports in the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times.

HOLE IN THE HEAD



Trip out on this recent piece inspired by a classic record by Cypress Hill..

Sunday 15 August 2010

SOUL SUNDAY



We are going to give you some double up of The Continental IV for all you loyal
Soul Sunday followers!

Friday 13 August 2010

End of Summer Deals from HART

Take a bite out of the dog days of summer with HART
Ahhh...can you feel that touch of fall in the air?

OK, this is Florida, where summer feels as though it could last forever - but HART does have some deals to thank our wonderful customers for making this year a great one, and to help take the bite out of those seemingly never-ending dog days of summer.

Today, August 13 - Sunday, August 15
BOGO Your Ride during the state sales tax holiday! Everybody loves the BOGO - which, of course, means "buy-one-get-one." This weekend only, hop aboard HART buses with a friend, neighbor, relative, or whoever you want to bring along, and one of you rides free with cash fares or when you use your 1-Day Unlimited Ride fare card.

Friday, August 20
Attention Brandon and East Tampa passengers! Ride Route 37 FREE all day on August 20! If you're traveling between Netpark, the Grand Regency shopping center (across from Westfield Brandon mall), and the Brandon hospital, we've got you covered. Plus, you can enter to win a free restaurant gift card on Route 37 buses. Click here for the Route 37 schedule, and here for a PDF map.

Friday, August 27
Frequent riders - here's your chance to save. For one day only, you can buy one 10-pack at any HART sales outlet and get another 10-pack for half price!

Saturday, September 11
Leaving on a jet plane? Find out how to get there with HART! We'll take you on a travel training tour of HART's airport service on Route 30. You'll get a free fare card for a future trip, and you can visit the great shops and restaurants in and around the airport while you're there.

Monday, September 13 - Friday, September 17
Flex your transit pride in South County! If you haven't tried the brand new HART Flex service in the Ruskin, Sun City Center and Wimauma area, here's your chance to ride for FREE! Call (813) 449-4555 to make your reservations up to one week in advance. For more information about HART Flex, click here.

Monday, September 20 - Saturday, September 25
Brandon Flex-ers, it's your turn to try out the new service for free!

Free Field Trips in September
Teachers, parents, school administrators, youth group leaders, here's an assignment for you. Take note that in the month of September you can get your whole group to a local field trip destination for free! HART will be offering complimentary fare cards for groups of up to 25 to use regular HART service to get to your field trip destinations. Call HART's community relations department at (813) 449-4747 for details.

If you have any questions about the Dog Days of Summer deals, you know who to call - the HARTinfo Line, (813) 254-HART (that's 4278 if your phone doesn't have those handy letters on the dial).

ITS A FAMILY AFFAIR



One of our clients from Lowrider came thru to get his kids names tattooed on his hands.

Thursday 12 August 2010

Narrowing the Alternatives


HART's look at a proposed new transit plan for Hillsborough County is nearing the final stages. But while our team has been at work on the Alternatives Analysis for just over a year, this is really a story several years in the making.

In 2002, HART completed a study on transit improvements in Hillsborough County, including a new light rail system. Before that, a 1993 Commuter Rail Feasibility Study considered creating a regional system serving the Tampa Bay area's largest counties. Back then, the necessary local funding couldn't be identified and the plans had to be put on the shelf for another time.

Fast-forward to 2010. HART's team of staff and consultants will present its findings in the current AA study to the agency's Board of Directors at a special meeting to be held Monday, August 16 at 8:30 a.m. in the HART administrative offices in Ybor City. The next step in the process will be public input leading to the selection of a final "Locally Preferred Alternative."

So What's an AA, Again?
Here's a refresher. Before applying for any federal assistance in building a new transit system, the Federal Transit Adminstration requires local authorities to make an in-depth assessment of the proposed area. The study must consider which alternatives would best meet the transit needs of that area, whether it's rail, bus rapid transit, regular bus service, or no improvement at all. Hence the name "Alternatives Analysis."

Routes Still on the Drawing Board
The planners and engineers at work on the study have been looking at routing alternatives in the Northeast (Downtown Tampa to University of South Florida) and West Corridors (Downtown Tampa to Westshore). Alignments still under consideration to date are:

Northeast Corridor
• 30th Street and CSX, with option to connect to High Speed Rail Station and south into the
downtown peninsula
• Interstate 275 (east side of interstate)
• 30th Street, Busch Boulevard, 22nd Street, and CSX (with High Speed Rail and downtown connection)

West Corridor
• Cypress Street and Cass Street
• Interstate 275

At Monday's Board meeting, the study team will present detailed information on the findings of the evaluation of these alternatives, including ridership projections, travel time, impact, constructability, cost and land use considerations.

Public Comment Vital
From there, the next step is all about you. If the Board approves on Monday, HART will be scheduling a public communication and outreach program for September that will let residents of the community have their say in the study's final recommendation.

The outreach effort will entail stakeholder group meetings, including neighborhood and community associations and business groups; distribution of a project newsletter and posting updated information on the project website, http://www.gohartaa.org/; six public information sessions at locations throughout the study area; and two public hearings to provide formal opportunities for members of the public to present comments on the alternatives.

Feedback received through these various channels will be presented to the Board and used to help develop the final recommendations.

Keep checking here, and at HART's website, http://www.gohart.org/ for dates, times, locations and other information about the upcoming public outreach effort. For more information on the background and progress of the AA, you can visit the project website, http://www.gohartaa.org/.

For details on this meeting, and all upcoming HART Board meetings, click here.

REMEMBER THE RAIN



This is one on a client who came in from Australia to get a memorial piece.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

PROGRESS



Here is a piece from Last night. We have one more session to go.

Web Wednesday - We've Got Plans

Last month, the American Public Transportation Association named HART its Outstanding System of the Year. As someone pointed out, in the transit industry, that's like winning the Super Bowl or the Oscar for Best Picture. In other words - a pretty big deal. Of course, bringing home an award like that takes a lot of hard work, determination, and a pretty big vision.

Turning that vision into reality is all about having a plan. And you can get a first-hand look at some of HART's plans for the future right on our website.

Rapid Transit Investment Plan
This is the big enchilada, the major plan for adding hundreds of miles of new service and introducing new types of transit systems to Hillsborough County. The Rapid Transit Investment Plan lays out exactly what you can expect if the November referendum to fund additional transit service is approved. For example:
  • More service on existing bus routes, including 10-minute frequency on our busiest routes during peak travel times
  • Longer operating hours, with selected routes operating 24 hours
  • Expanded service for people with disabilities
  • New local and express routes
  • Expanded HART Flex neighborhood transit service
  • Introduction of new rapid service like bus rapid transit and light rail
There's a whole lot more - like a frequently asked questions section, implementation timeline, financial plan, and "what's in it for me" page. You can view the plan and all the other details on the "Why Transit?" page on HART's website by clicking here.

To download an information-packed brochure on the plan in PDF version, click here.

Planning and Projects Page
There are other projects in the works at HART that you can learn about on the website. The Planning and Projects page gives you an overview of MetroRapid (HART's bus rapid transit system), a link to the TECO Line Streetcar System extension project, and the results of our bus stop evaluation study.

With all the information you can access on HART's website, you could say the future of HART is just a point and click away.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

The Case for Transit in 6 Minutes

Most of us understand that transit matters, and that having a viable transit system is good for our community. But do we really know why - or how to make the case for transit?

HART has a great new video you can check out that explains just how a strong transit system helps to make a community great.

Community leaders like Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe and Pastor James Favorite of Beulah Baptist Institutional Church take turns with everyday bus passengers, drivers and others to talk about what public transit means to our community and the individuals who use it - and to those will use it in the future.

HART CEO David Armijo points out that the Rapid Transit Investment Plan, HART's long-range vision of what Hillsborough County's transit system could look like, adds up to 500 miles of new bus and rail service to today's foundation.

"HART is really going through a fantastic transformation," Commissioner Sharpe tells us.

"Thirty years of success got us to this point - a lot of effort, a lot of evolution, a lot of people working together," Mr. Armijo says. "This is a great community and it is a great time to be here."

Check the new video out on HART's YouTube channel - www.youtube.com/harttransit. It's called "We're Going Your Way."

And for all you e-book fans out there, don't miss the on-board reading choice of a HART customer at about the 3:23 mark in the video.

Just another way transit adds to your quality of life!

ANGELS AND DEMONS



Here is a piece on one of our clients from N.Y. who came thru to get blessed with a religious piece of St. Michael..

Monday 9 August 2010

Sunday 8 August 2010

SOUL SUNDAY


This is a rare record for all of you Lovers out there from Skip Mahoney & The Casuals
"We Share Love"

Friday 6 August 2010

Streetcar Extension is Making Tracks

When you hop off the TECO Line Streetcar System at its current terminus near the Tampa Convention Center, you can just about catch a glimpse of downtown. "Just a little farther," you might think, "and it would be right there!"

Well, soon it will be right there. A 1/3-mile extension of the system to the corner of Franklin and Whiting Streets has been underway since October, and is right on schedule to open by the end of this year. Let's take a look!

Here's where the current line ends on Franklin.
First, we'll get our bearings. Right now, the streetcar line ends on Franklin Street, just south of Channelside Drive - which is just about at the front door of the Tampa Convention Center, next to the Embassy Suites hotel.

The extension will take the line north on Franklin, under the Selmon Expressway overpass, through the Brorein intersection, and just past the Ft. Brooke garage. The new end of the line will be between the downtown YMCA and Hattricks, and across the street from the Poe Plaza esplanade.

Got it? If you need more visuals, click here for a map.

Double tracks near the Ft. Brooke garage let streetcars pass
Now that you know where we're going, let's see how we're going to get there. As of this writing, new tracks have been installed from the current end of the line all the way up to Whiting Street, including a section of double track between Brorein and Cumberland that will allow two streetcars traveling in opposite directions to pass each other. In addition, the system of overhead catenary wires that powers the streetcars has begun with installation of the pole foundations.

Lots of work has been done on utilities and stormwater drainage, along with demolition for the new station stop at Franklin and Whiting.

Track installation is expected to be completed this month with the finishing of a turn-out, the Cumberland Avenue crossing, and a short section of double track between Brorein Street and Cumberland.

Looking south from Whiting;
new station will soon take shape on the left
The next big step is construction of the brand new station stop, which begins this month and should be wrapped up in November.

So by Christmas, when you take the TECO Line Streetcar System toward downtown, you won't just have to glimpse those tall buildings. You'll already be there (shout out to our friend Dave Pinero over at the Tampa Rail blog for the downtown photo below).

For more information and updates on the TECO Line Streetcar System's extension to Whiting Street, click here.



Your final destination!

FAMILY FIRST



Our good friend and Loyal Client brought in one of his boys to get a piece to show the love for his family..