Although several members of the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) board have never hidden their disdain for the top-down study — led by Clearwater state Sen. Jack Latvala — of a possible merger of HART with their Pinelllas County brethren, it has led them to realize that there needs to be more cooperation between themselves and PSTA.
Next week both Bay area transit agencies will convene in St. Petersburg to recommend to their staffs what they want McCollum Management Consulting to study in their proposed merger analysis, which has a formal due date of next February, just in time to hand in to the state Legislature before the 2013 session formally gets underway.
On Monday, HART COO Katherine Eagan gave a presentation to the board, and said the current work study being conducted is not a merger of a consolidation survey. She also said that the research done shows that there are just "limited opportunities" to save resources, but added that a combined agency could deliver a more effective and friendlier service.
Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman has been one of the most vocal HART board members to express her skepticism about a merger, but sounded like she was softening up to the idea.
"I think there is some willingness to have some more formal joint partnering between the agencies down the road," she said.
Murman is serving on aHART/PSTA Coordination Study Oversight Committee. But she still thinks a full on merger isn't appropriate.
This article appears in Nov 29 – Dec 5, 2012.