August 26, 2020
By: Jim Frankowiak
PLANT CITY, Fla. – The Hillsborough Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) in collaboration with Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) and the City of Plant City is inviting Plant City area residents to attend a virtual open house August 26 at 5 p.m. via GoToWebinar. To register for the virtual public open house, visit: https://tinyurl.com/PCTransitSurvey. In addition to participating in the virtual open house, interested parties have the option of commenting on the survey at https://tinyurl.com/PlantCityTransitPlan through September 13.
The project is focused on the feasibility of re-initiating transit service from Tampa to Plant City through a travel market analysis. Plant City is one of the fastest growing areas in Hillsborough County with more than 40,000 residents and is strategically located between Tampa and Lakeland. Currently, there is no bus service in Plant City. There have been several temporary bus service initiatives in the mid-2000s, both within Plant City and from Plant City to Tampa, but ridership was not sufficient to maintain operations.
The scope of the current study is to identify transit service feasibility, including the re-initiation of a bus service from downtown Tampa to downtown Plant City; circular bus service within downtown Plant City and the establishment of bus service to Polk County in the near future. Community involvement in the study is an ongoing goal. The final study alternatives will be presented to the MPO Board, the HART Board and the Plant City Commission at a date to be determined.
Additional information on the Plant City Transit Study is available at: www.planhillsborough.org/plant-city-transit-study/.