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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 (2009 figures)
Daily ridership	3,378 (weekday) 1,539 (Saturday) 458 (Sunday)
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, 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

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
  • 1 Hospital/Town Park
  • 2 Stony Hill Rd/Newtown Rd
  • 3 Mill Plain/Brewster
  • 4 Brookfield
  • 5 Bethel Center
  • 6 Danbury Fair Mall/Lake Ave
  • 7 New Milford
• 15 Danbury-Norwalk Route 7 Link, operated formerly along with WHEELS, is a weekday-only commuter line which connects Danbury to Norwalk and communities along the Route 7 corridor now solely run by HARTransit.
• 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.
  • 12 Danbury-Brewster
  • 16 Ridgefield-Katonah
  • 14 New Fairfield-Southeast
• Nighttime/Sunday LOOP services: Four 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.
  • 8 Mall-Mill Plain Road LOOP
  • 9 New Milford LOOP
  • 10 Rose Hill- Hospital LOOP
  • 17 Stony Hill-Newtown Road LOOP
• Saturday Trolley: Starting on June 25, 2016, the Saturday Trolley began operations and is free to ride. It operates occasionally 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.

Fleet

HARTransit's fleet is made up of Gillig fixed-route buses (35' BRT Low Floor series and a single low floor trolley) and Ford cutaway minibuses with Goshen Coach and StarTrans bodies. 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 System in Westchester County, New York) and the Orion VII. In addition, HARTransit formerly operated RTS buses.

Gallery

• A Gillig Low Floor trolley replica
• Two Gillig BRTs
• A now-retired Gillig 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

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

References

1. ^ NTD Program filing for Housatonic Area Regional Transit, 2009
2. HARTransit Pulse Point Ticket Window (Google Maps)
3. Brewster Metro-North station page
4. Katonah Metro-North station page
5. Southeast Metro-North station page
6. "Take the trolley to Danbury's farmer's market Saturday". 21 June 2016.
7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2016-06-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-08-20. Retrieved 2016-06-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Housatonic Area Regional Transit - CPTDB Wiki". cptdb.ca. Retrieved 2024-04-13.

External links

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

v t e Danbury, Connecticut
Landmarks	Danbury Fair Danbury Hospital Danbury Ice Arena Danbury Museum and Historical Society Rogers Park The Summit at Danbury NRHP Ball and Roller Bearing Company Charles Ives House Hearthstone Castle John Rider House Locust Avenue School Main Street Historic District Octagon House P. Robinson Fur Cutting Company Tarrywile Union Station (Danbury Railway Museum)
Neighborhoods	Beaverbrook Beckettville Germantown Great Plain Hayestown Lake Waubeeka Long Ridge King Street Mill Plain Miry Brook Pembroke
Government	Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury
Education	Danbury Public Schools Danbury HS ACE Henry Abbott Technical HS Immaculate HS Westside Middle School Academy Naugatuck Valley Community College Danbury Campus Western Connecticut State University
Transportation	Danbury Municipal Airport Danbury station Housatonic Area Regional Transit North Danbury station
Sports teams	Current Danbury Hat Tricks Danbury Westerners Former Connecticut Whale Danbury Mad Hatters Danbury Titans Danbury Trashers Danbury Whalers New England Stars

v t e Public transportation in Connecticut
Bus services	CT Transit Divisions Hartford New Haven Stamford Waterbury, Meriden, and Wallingford New Britain and Bristol Operators Collins Bus Service Dattco HNS Management New Britain Transportation North East Transportation Peter Pan Arrow Line Acquisition, LLC Bonanza Acquisition, LLC Services CT Fastrak dash Other bus agencies Bridgeport Enfield River Valley Housatonic Milford Northeast CT Northwest CT Norwalk Southeast Windham Former bus and streetcar agencies 1900-1950 Danbury and Bethel Street Railway Mastco New York and Stamford Railway Shore Line Electric Railway Groton and Stonington Street Railway New London and East Lyme Street Railway Norwich and Westerly Railway Waterbury and Milldale Tramway 1950-2000 Bridgeport Traction Connecticut Company Danbury Bus Comapany Intercity Coach NECTAR New England Transportation Company White Lines Since 2000 Arrow Line Bonanza Dattco Kelley Transit Middletown Area Transit
Rail services	Metro-North New Haven Line New Canaan Branch Danbury Branch Waterbury Branch Amtrak Acela Amtrak Hartford Line Northeast Regional Valley Flyer Vermonter CT Rail Hartford Line Shore Line East Proposed Central Corridor Rail Line
Other	Connecticut Public Transportation Council Connecticut Department of Transportation New Haven–Springfield Line Northeast Corridor

• Bus transportation in Connecticut
• Bus transportation in New York (state)
• Organizations established in 1972
• Transportation in Putnam County, New York
• Transportation in Litchfield County, Connecticut
• Transportation in Fairfield County, Connecticut
• Danbury, Connecticut
• Surface transportation in Greater New York
• Transit agencies in Connecticut