August 2020 – The MPO initiated a transit study this year to explore the needs and feasibility of implementing transit service to Plant City to serve the residents and fulfill their daily needs and provide access to jobs and recreation. This study is conducted in partnership with Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) and will analyze the feasibility of operating a commuter service to downtown Tampa and a circulator service within Plant City.
An initial Stakeholder Focus Group meeting was held in February at City Hall in Plant City to identify the needs of the community including the existing corridors, activity centers, and future areas of growth.
Following the first focus group meeting, the study team analyzed four transit alternatives for the commuter express route and two alternatives for the circulator route, which includes an on-demand service. The options were presented to stakeholders at a second focus group meeting, conducted in a virtual format to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic situation in May of 2020. To help the study team gather better public feedback on the alternatives there was a survey distributed to the focus group and the public following the meeting, which had approximately 120 responses.
Staff will present the alternatives through a public open house which will be held virtually on August 26, 2020, from 5:00–6:00 PM. Register for the virtual open house. The public can also participate in the open house via phone by dialing 1.213.929.4212 and entering the following access code: 872-562-112. A recording of the open house will be available on the MPO’s YouTube page after August 26.
The survey website will be open to the public from August 24 through September 13 for review and to provide comments. The results from the survey will be compiled and presented to the MPO Board, HART Board, and Plant City Board at the end of the study. The dates for the Board meetings will be announced later.
View more information on the study.
