After a two-week soft opening that included free rides, regular fares began on Monday for HART's new North-South MetroRapid line.
The 17.5 mile route runs north on Nebraska Avenue from downtown Tampa and then east along Fletcher Avenue to the new Park-and-Ride facility off Hidden River Road near I-75 — the site of Monday morning's official ribbon cutting.
"This is the first rapid transit bus system in the state of Florida. We are the first to offer this service, and we are proud of it," said HART chair Fran Davin. Davin kicked off the ceremony shortly after 9 a.m. on Monday morning in front of dozens of attendees ranging from PSTA chair Jeff Danner to transit aficionado Ed Turanchik to HART employees and board members.
This article appears in Jun 6-12, 2013.
