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Housatonic Area Regional Transit

Transportation provider in and around Danbury, Connecticut

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Housatonic Area Regional Transit

2019 Gillig BRT 400 series in Danbury
Parent	Housatonic Area Regional Transit
Founded	1972
Headquarters	62 Federal Road Danbury, Connecticut 06810
Service area	Greater Danbury, and surrounding areas
Service type	Local and shuttle bus service
Routes	15
Fleet	28 fixed route 34 paratransit[1] (2009 figures)
Daily ridership	3,378 (weekday) 1,539 (Saturday) 458 (Sunday)[1]
Operator	HARTransit
Chief executive	Rick Schreiner (CEO)
Website	www.hartransit.com

Housatonic Area Regional Transit, known popularly as HARTransit (formerly as HART), is the provider of public transportation for Danbury, Connecticut and surrounding communities. HARTransit was founded in 1972 as the Danbury-Bethel Transit District by the two municipalities. The name was changed to Housatonic Area Regional Transit in 1979 after the addition of other municipal members. The agency receives funding from municipal contracts, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration and (on a limited basis) the New York State Department of Transportation. Prior to HARTransit's establishment, Danbury had gone without transit service since 1967 when the privately owned ABC Bus Company which had replaced the Candlewood Bus Company a few months before, ceased operations. The first local bus transit operator in the area, Danbury Power & Transportation Company, operated bus services in Danbury and Bethel from 1926 to 1965. HARTransit provides service to a greater number of towns than its predecessors.

In 2009, HARTransit was recognized as the Urban Community Transportation System of the Year by the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA).

The municipalities served by HARTransit are as follows:

• Connecticut: Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Bethel, Redding, Roxbury, and Ridgefield. Norwalk and Wilton also see limited HARTransit service but are served primarily by the Norwalk Transit District WHEELS Services.
• New York: Brewster, Katonah, Lewisboro and Southeast. Brewster and Southeast are also served by PART, while Katonah is primarily served by the Bee-Line Bus System.

Services[edit]

HART currently provides the following services:

• Urban Fixed Route: HART operates 7 urban fixed routes which run on a "pulse point" system in which all buses meet at a terminal in downtown Danbury to easily facilitate transfers. The site is near the Danbury Metro-North station^[2]
  • 1 Hospital/Town Park
  • 2 Stony Hill Rd/Newtown Rd
  • 3Mill Plain/Brewster
  • 4 Brookfield
  • 5 Bethel Center
  • 6 Danbury Fair Mall/Lake Ave
  • 7 New Milford
• Route 7 Link, operated formerly along with WHEELS, is a weekday-only commuter line which connects Danbury to Norwalk and surrounding communities now solely run by HART.
• SweetHART: HARTransit operates ADA paratransit service for the disabled which parallels the hours and service area of the fixed route system. This service is not offered to those in WHEELS territory or New York. HARTransit also operates Senior (65 or older)/disabled SweetHART dial-a-ride service for Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Newtown, New Fairfield and Ridgefield. Dial-a-ride hours and policies vary by municipality.
• Bus to Rail Service: Peak hour shuttles which connect Danbury to the Brewster station on the Harlem Line and Ridgefield to Katonah, also on the Harlem Line. A third shuttle, connecting New Fairfield to Southeast, began operations in 2009.
  • Danbury-Brewster^[3]
  • Ridgefield-Katonah^[4]
  • New Fairfield-Southeast^[5]
• Nighttime/Sunday LOOP services: Three routes serving Danbury, New Milford, Brookfield and Bethel which operate during nighttime hours and on Sundays and holidays to offer increased economic opportunities to low-income workers though anyone can use these services.
  • Mall-Hospital LOOP
  • Newtown Road-South Street LOOP
  • New Milford LOOP
• Saturday Trolley: Starting on June 25, 2016, the Saturday Trolley began operations and is free to ride. It operates during the season in which the Danbury Farmer's Market is open and makes stops at West & Main, Park Ave. School, Wooster Manor, Elmwood Hall, Roger's Park, Walgreens, Danbury Library, and then the Pulse Point which is located on one side of Kennedy Park where the Farmer's Market is held.^[6][7][8]

Fleet[edit]

HART's fleet is made up of Gillig fixed-route buses (mostly from the Low Floor series) and Ford cutaway minibuses with Goshen Coach and StarTrans bodies.^[9] In past, Orion buses were also a part of the fleet, specifically the Orion V (some of which were formerly owned by Bee-Line Bus SysteminWestchester County, New York) and the Orion VII. In addition, HART formerly operated RTS buses.

Gallery[edit]

• 
  AGillig Low Floor trolley replica
• 
  Two Gillig BRTs
• 
  AGillig Low Floor
• 
  A now-retired Orion VII
• 
  A now-retired Orion V
• 
  A now-retired Orion V, formerly owned by Bee-Line Bus System

See also[edit]

• Norwalk Transit District
• Putnam Transit
• Bee-Line Bus System

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Housatonic Area Regional Transit.

• HARTransit Homepage
• History of transit in Greater Danbury, CT