County seeks transit route to Pasco
BROOKSVILLE –
Hernando County is moving forward with plans to establish a new route connection that would take riders into Pasco County.
County Commissioner and Metropolitan Planning Organization Chairman Wayne Dukes, fired off a letter to his Pasco County counterpart, Henry Wilson, expressing his desire for Hernando’s mass transit system (THE Bus) to make a connection with Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT).
That connection would be at Pasco-Hernando Community College’s Spring Hill campus, on U.S. 19, about one-quarter mile north of the Pasco County line.
“PHCC has generously provided the infrastructure needed to make this location an ideal transfer point between our two systems,” Dukes wrote to Wilson.
Pasco County is formulating its Access Pasco-Transit Development Plan 2013 and Dukes said incorporating the PHCC connection into that plan would “enhance the mobility of transit riders between Pasco and Hernando counties.”
The initiative is being hailed as a major update to Pasco County’s 10-year transit development plan.
“This connection would serve to benefit the citizens of both Hernando and Pasco counties economically and socially,” Dukes said.
Dukes said there is an increased emphasis on public transportation and believes the connectivity between both counties would be a plus.
It is undecided where or how far THE Bus would take patrons into Pasco County once the connection point is agreed on by both sides.
There has been speculation that the Gulf View Mall in Port Richey would be a possible stop.
There is already a study under way by the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) looking into the possibility for a more regional route.
Hernando County, he said, plans to work closely with all stakeholders to make the connection possible.
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