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HART, PSTA will work together to sell Tallahassee on regional bus fare system

 
HART and PSTA are working together to sell Tallahassee on regional bus fare system. 
HART and PSTA are working together to sell Tallahassee on regional bus fare system. 
Published Sept. 1, 2015

ST. PETERSBURG — The bay area's leading transit agencies are taking a second swing at scoring state dollars to help fund a regional bus ticket system — and they hope teaming up will bolster their chances.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority held a joint meeting Monday to discuss their funding priorities for the 2016 legislative session. Both agencies agreed they needed to present a united front and make the regional fare box their top priority if they hope to win over state lawmakers.

The Regional Revenue Collection and Interjurisdictional Mobility Project — known more simply as a regional fare box system and smart card system — would provide a uniform bus payment system for Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee, Citrus and Hernando counties.

Smart cards would streamline the ticket process, speed up boarding time and cut back on time spent counting coins and bills coming out of the bus fare boxes. Riders could buy a card in one county and use it to catch a bus in any of the other six counties.

HART Chairman Mike Suarez, a member of the Tampa City Council, said showing regional cooperation in choosing legislative priorities could increase their chances of earning approval — and funding — from Tallahassee.

"We've tried to show that, and I think our organizations work very well together in terms of figuring out what those priorities are," Suarez said.

Suarez said making the fare box their No. 1 priority was a "no-brainer." The two agencies plan on making joint presentations to the Tampa Bay legislative delegation over the next couple of months. There is talk of pairing up for federal meetings, as well.

The agencies made a similar request last year, but were unable to persuade leaders in Tallahassee to put the project in the state budget. The other counties, including Polk and Pasco, are also on board for the regional system.

While HART focused on the fare box, the PSTA will also advocate for state funding for a rapid-transit bus line along Central Avenue and a connection between Clearwater Beach and Tampa International Airport.

The renewed interest in a unified front comes two years after the HART board balked at a mandate from the Florida Legislature to study consolidating the two agencies to save money. Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, sponsored the original legislation that brought HART and PSTA together to discuss the idea.

But after Hillsborough rebelled, both groups instead advocated for increased partnerships, instead of an official merger.

"It didn't work when you tried to force it," said PSTA Commissioner Janet Long, who sits on the Pinellas County Commission. "But I think this is a wonderful way to show by example that we can do it voluntarily and make it even more powerful."

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PSTA board members also showed interest in HART's plans to potentially partner with rideshare companies Uber and Lyft to help alleviate the first-mile, last-mile problem in transit — how to get riders from where the bus ends to their ultimate destination, like a job or home. HART plans to start the solicitation process in September.

HART's willingness to work with the rideshare companies is unusual in Hillsborough, where the county's Public Transportation Commission has long been at odds with Uber and Lyft. The Hillsborough PTC has tried repeatedly — and without success — to stop the companies from operating in the county.

PSTA Vice Chairwoman Julie Ward Bujalski, the mayor of Dunedin, asked PSTA executive director Brad Miller to monitor HART's rideshare policy in case Pinellas ever adopts the same policy. Uber and Lyft are free to operate within Pinellas, which does not regulate for-hire vehicles like Hillsborough.

"I'm trying to understand what that might end up looking like for us," Bujalski said. "We don't want to have to reinvent the wheel … maybe this is something we can do at the same time."

Contact Caitlin Johnston at cjohnston@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3401. Follow @cljohnst.