HRPTA Blog
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HRT CEO, Philip Shucet, Goes Out in the Style He Rode In On: Success!
Source: HRT Outgoing HRT CEO on remaining agency officials: “These people tell the truth” By Jon Cawley, DailyPress.com 3/22/12 HAMPTON — Outgoing Hampton Roads Transit CEO Philip Shucet attended his final meeting Thursday of the agency’s governing board. And in true Shucet style, he didn’t mince words. Shucet began his monthly management report to the board, that is comprised of local and state officials, by referencing his being hired two years ago to right the listing transit agency. That was done in the wake of a scandal over mismanagement of the Norfolk light rail construction project that resulted in the [...]
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HRT Plans To Boost Bus, Ferry Service as Toll Alternative #HRVA
Source: HRT By Debbie Messina The Virginian-Pilot December 14, 2011 Don’t want to pay tolls at the Downtown and Midtown tunnels starting next year? Mass transit may be an alternative. As part of the public-private deal to build a second Midtown tube, the private consortium will provide about $2.5 million each year to Hampton Roads Transit to improve bus and ferry service across the Elizabeth River. Service frequencies will be bolstered on two bus routes, from the Victory Crossing Transfer Center and from Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, so that buses run every 15 minutes during peak hours. Those buses [...]
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HRT Offers More Free Rides on The Tide
Source: hamptonroads.com Free rides. HRT has signed up two more businesses for its GoPass 365 program, in which businesses and educational institutions pay an annual flat fee for its employees and students to ride all of HRT’s services for free, including light rail, bus and ferry. Portfolio Recovery Associates, headquartered next to the Military Highway station with 1,200 employees, and Glasser & Glasser law firm downtown with 220 employees are now participating. Tidewater Community College is considering the program. They join Old Dominion University, Norfolk State University, Eastern Virginia Medical School and Norfolk Southern Corp. in the program. In all, [...]
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Buy Your HRT Bus & Light Rail Tickets Online Now
Source: hamptonroads.com Online ticket sales. Starting sometime next month, customers can purchase $3 round-trip fares online through HRT’s website as part of a three-month pilot project. E-tickets will be sent via e-mail that can be printed or downloaded to handheld phones and computers. Shucet said HRT has not found another transit agency using e-tickets. HRT will pay 50 cents per transaction for using the service. It will be evaluated after three months. The Tide is changing. After one month of service, several revisions are underway to make light rail more attractive and user-friendly, including adding wireless to the trains and [...]
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TCC Students Could Soon Ride The Tide For Almost Free
Source: HRT TCC bargaining with HRT to snag special rate for students Tidewater Community College students and staff may be able to use Hampton Roads Transit’s light rail, ferry and bus services at a special rate if contract negotiations between the school and transportation provider prove a success. TCC’s College Board unanimously approved a proposal Tuesday night to begin negotiations with HRT to provide the services, which would be available to students who attend all of TCC’s campuses, said TCC President Deborah M. DiCroce. Currently, TCC provides a free, on-campus shuttle service that takes students to the campuses. Under the [...]
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Harbor Park Multimodal Transfer Station Kicks Off
Source: Inside Business Norfolk has scaled back its plan for a rail, bus and ferry hub, originally costing $16 million. Instead, the city has set aside $3 million in this year’s budget, which began July 1, for a multimodal transfer station adjacent to Harbor Park. “The budgeted amount should allow the city to construct the first phase of the multi-phased center,” said Norfolk’s director of development, Rod Woolard. “The design of the project is now under way with the city having retained Michael Baker Corp.” The phase-one components are a 3,000-square-foot station and a bus transfer facility similar to that [...]
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Long Time Passenger: The Story of a 12 Year Old Boy
Well, I was not real sure where to start. My journey on public transportation began 23 years ago, in Massachusetts. In brief, I was 12 when I started riding the public bus. I had to figure the system out all by myself. The reason I began riding public transportation was a rather sad one, my mother left and my dad was left with two children to raise (my grandparents did help, but only had one car). We lost our car and our house due to what was incurred by that. I’m the older of the two, and was in charge [...]
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Our One-car Household Equates to a Low Transporation Budget
Our Norfolk household has two adult drivers and just one car. We have two HRT bus lines within a 12-minute walk. From those buses, we can make just one transfer to another HRT bus that take us anywhere in Norfolk, or to the Virginia Beach ocean front, or to Portsmouth, or to Chesapeake. Besides all that, we have a ferry. That takes us to the museums and restaurants across the river – and on to baseball games. Next month, our household is going to get a light rail line. And what do all these services cost us? $1.50 per ride. [...]
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Why Do We Need Public Transportation?
A strong public transportation system is essential to the vitality of the regional economy, a key element in helping Hampton Roads maintain its competitiveness. Public transportation provides opportunities for economic development, creates jobs and contributes to a cleaner environment. Our transportation system faces extreme challenges which diminish the region’s competitiveness, productivity and quality of life: congested roadways, inaccessible employment, education and recreation opportunities, lack of mobility for those who rely on transit including the elderly and disabled, and environmental concerns. A strong regional multimodal transportation system will provide real alternatives to dependency on single occupancy vehicles, and include a variety [...]
