Hillsborough Area Regional Transit

HART provides the HART Flex Service consisting of commuter vans that have routes in designated areas. Walk-up service is provided at regular HART stops along the Flex service route, or patrons can reserve a pick-up or drop-off at a location not a HART stop by calling to reserve between 2 and 72 hours in advance. Walk-up service may be limited by the number of reservations. Fare is $1 per way, and an all-day flex pass available for $2. There is no discount available for seniors, Medicare or disabled as there are on other HART routes; however, up to 3 kids under 6 are free with fare-paying rider. Regular HART 1-Day and 31-Day passes are accepted. The service areas are typically 2.5 miles from a preset route, although at least one Flex area does not have a specific route.

HartFlex Routes

• 570 - Brandon Flex - Clockwise Loop from Westfield Brandon Mall to JC Handley PnR.
• 571 - Southshore Flex - Bi-Direction from HCC Southshore Campus to La Estancia Apartments Guadalupe via Sun City Center.
• 572 - Northdale Flex - Bi-Direction from Fletcher Ave/Dale Mabry Hwy to St. Joseph's Hospital North via Dale Mabry Hwy.
• 573 - Town ‘n County Flex - Clockwise Loop From Northwest TC to Tampa Community Hospital.
• 574 - South Tampa Flex - Counter Clockwise Loop from Britton Plaza to SSA - Frontage Rd/Laural St

In 2004, HART revised its express bus route system. The changes included new routes to Brandon and Pasco County, changes to existing routes (such as Route 28X), and the addition of 12 new Gillig BRT buses to the existing HART bus fleet. Almost all of the Commuter Express routes connected to Downtown Tampa. You can identify express routes by looking at the suffix letters at the end of the number (X means Express and LX means Limited Express). Some express routes operate on a Peak Direction schedule early morning and late afternoon. Others operate on an All-Day schedule. Due to changing ridership patterns, these routes were modified as needed. With the 2016 Mission MAX restructuring, Routes 21LX, 22X, 27LX, 28X, 47LX, 61LX, and 200X were all eliminated. Routes 60LX and 360LX were into service on the day Mission MAX was established. They’re also the first All-Day Limited Express Routes HART has established providing stops to Brandon, Downtown Tampa, Tampa Int’l Airport and South Tampa seven days a week. Route 275LX became the third All-Day Express Route replacing Route 51X serving Wiregrass, UATC, Downtown Tampa and TIA. There’s also talk about a NEW All-Day Express Route serving the Tampa Airport, Westshore, Downtown Tampa and Plant City. Although the official date of operation is unknown.

MetroRapid is HART's "light" Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, which launched on May 28, 2013. Between May 28 and June 7, HART provided customers a chance to use MetroRapid for free. This allowed customers to get a feel for the new service, while allowing HART staff to work out any last-minute problems before the start of revenue service. MetroRapid officially began revenue service on June 10, 2013, with a formal ribbon cutting held at the Hidden River Corporate Park grounds in Tampa Palms.

MetroRapid currently consists of one line, the North-South line (numbered as Route 400), which runs from Downtown Tampa (MTC) to the University Area Transit Center (UATC) via Nebraska and Fletcher Avenues every day, every 15 minutes. It replaced Route 2.

This service is a 2.7-mile streetcar line that runs along Downtown Tampa, through the Channel District, and Ybor City. The system features historical replica streetcars of the original Tampa Streetcar Line. The TECO Line Streetcar is now FREE with extended morning and late night hours.

In its heyday, Tampa's streetcars whisked passengers to and from Ybor City, Ballast Point, Hyde Park, Sulphur Springs and points beyond. Operated by uniformed conductors, the Birney cars were a welcome sight, and the familiar clang of the streetcar bell was music to the ears. To ride the streetcar was to feel the pulse of the community.

Tampa's first electric streetcar lines built in 1892 quickly became an essential part of everyday life as workers took the streetcar downtown and to the cigar factories of west Tampa. And families climbed aboard for a picnic or ball game in DeSoto and Macfarlane parks. Reaching the peak of its popularity in the 1920s with almost 24 million passengers in 1926, Tampa's streetcar system rolled to a stop in August 1946 following World War II.

Today, electric streetcars are back in Tampa, supporting continued growth in Downtown, the Channel District and Ybor City. The TECO Line Streetcar System is a 2.7 mile section that connects these three areas, improving transportation capacity, supporting Tampa's thriving cruise industry and transporting workers to and from their jobs

• WestShore Plaza - WestShore Business District: Routes 15, 45, and South Tampa FLEX.
• Britton Plaza - South Tampa/Interbay: Routes 17, 19, 36, 360LX, South Tampa FLEX, and PSTA Route 100X.
• SouthShore Regional Service Center - SouthShore/Ruskin: Routes 31 and SouthShore FLEX.
• Westfield Brandon - Brandon: Routes 8, 31, 37, 46, 75LX, and Brandon FLEX.
• Yukon Transfer Center - Sulphur Springs: Routes 14, 16, 42, and 45.

Constructed in the 1980s, the Marion Street Transitway provides a line of bus shelters along the street to allow patrons to easily board and deboard buses within Downtown Tampa. The transitway runs from the Marion Transit Center to Whiting Street and was originally a "fare-free" zone until 2008. All of the shelters along the transitway were equipped with departure time signage at one time, allowing patrons to view when the next bus would arrive. Such technology in the past have malfunctioned and were removed as a result. The remaining "shells" of this signage will eventually be removed as well, being replaced with new technology.

HART and the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority have been discussing plans to build a transfer center at Tampa International Airport since 2008. Originally, the facility was to be located at the corner of O'Brien and Spruce streets but was dropped in 2011 in favor of a site closer to the TIA terminal. Plans for any type of transfer center on TIA property collapsed in 2012 following the impact of global economic downturn and the consolidation of the airline industry on TIA's broad terminal expansion plans. In March, 2013, plans were unveiled for a possible Multi-Modal center along Interstate 275 in the WestShore Business District that could cater to multiple bus connections, light rail or commuter rail lines, and a People Mover system connecting the airport. This plan is heavily dependent on whether public transit in both Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are able to further expand. This in-turn, would be dependent on future funding situations .

According to HART's 2008 Community Report, efforts are currently underway to construct an intelligent transportation system (ITS). Elements of this project include installing surveillance cameras and audio monitoring equipment, GPS systems, automated annunciator systems, real-time information display signs and other elements to all HART buses and several transfer centers. Such systems will allow patrons in the future to see in real-time, upcoming departures, major intersections, landmarks, and connecting routes. Many of these elements, including GPS, security, and automated annunciator systems were installed during the course of 2008 through 2010.

Bus #2223 (Gillig Low Floor - 30ft) in the blue/white livery similar to that of the purple Commuter Express buses. The Gillig Phantom bus behind it was retired in September 2009.

Another improvement to HART's existing bus fleet is the repainting of buses to better match the livery that is already carried by Commuter Express buses. However, instead of the purple and white livery of the express buses, local buses are being repainted in a blue and white scheme (matching the colors of HART's logo). Bus #2015 was the first bus to be painted in the new colors, returning to service in August 2008, upon the receipt of federal stimulus funds in 2009, HART accelerated the repainting process, allowing more buses to sport the new livery.

In 2008, the agency acquired 12 25-foot Champion/Freightliner T-300 buses (from Dallas Area Rapid Transit) to be used on the fixed-route system while its existing fleet was repainted. These buses were retired in March and April 2010, with the arrival of the 29 40-foot 2010 model (10XX) Gillig Low Floor buses.

Beginning in August 2009, HART retired its fleet of Gillig Phantom buses, which the agency purchased in 1996 and 1997 to replace Flixible Metro buses purchased during the 1980s. These buses were replaced by 30 2009 model (29XX) year 40-foot (12 m) Gillig Low Floor buses that were purchased with the help of federal stimulus funds. Although seven of the 30-foot (9.1 m) Phantoms were already taken out of service in 2007, HART kept three (#s 602, 608, and 609) in service beyond that time. By mid September, 2009, all of the 30-foot (9.1 m) Gillig Phantom buses were retired, along with most of the 35-foot (11 m) models. The final nine buses that were phased out during the week of September 30, 2009 included #s 703, 708, 711, 713, 717, 720, 723, 725, and 726, with #725 being featured at HART's 30th Anniversary Ceremony on September 30.

In 2010, HART retired all but two of its 2000 model (20XX) 30 ft Gillig buses after the arrival of the 10XX Gillig fleet. Bus #2005 and #2015 (which were repainted in HART's new livery) will remain active until 2012, due to extended downtime earlier on in 2008/2009. In 2009, bus #2006 was retired due to an accident that permanently put it out of service. During the summer and fall of 2010, the 25XX and 26XX buses were all repainted in HART's blue and white livery. The MetroRapid system will bring forth another fleet of new buses, including the possibility of articulated buses further down the road.

HART is slated to receive just over $15 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 that President Barack Obama signed into law in February 2009. Among the improvements that HART proposed to make: an expansion and upgrade to its operations facility in Ybor City, secure the purchase of 30 forty-foot Gillig Low Floor buses, streetcar extension, and the repainting of HART's existing fleet. ()

In November, 2011, HART was awarded a $2.3 million federal grant to build a CNG fueling station at its operations facility. This will allow all of HART's existing fleet to gradually be replaced by CNG fueled vehicles. Construction is slated to begin sometime in 2012, with completion in 2013 .

In September 2019, HART has several plans for the future of transportation in Hillsborough County under the hashtag #TRANSitFORMATION. Some of these plans include improvements and added services on select routes, more detailed information and improvements in bus shelters, adding electric bus pilots to their fleet and replacing select gas/diesel fuel buses, adding more Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes along Florida Ave, Nebraska Ave and Fowler Ave. also, HART has planned future commuter passenger rail or high speed rail transport across Hillsborough and its neighboring counties among the CSX rail corridor and possible future extensions for the TECO Streetcar Line.