| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 3400 Victoria Blvd. Hampton, VA |
| Locale | Hampton Roads |
| Service area | Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Smithfield |
| Service type | bus service, light rail, ferry, carpool |
| Routes | 71 |
| Hubs | Cedar Grove (Norfolk), Hampton Transportation Center, Newport News Transportation Center |
| Stations | Rail: 11 Ferry: 3 (additional port at Harbor Park for baseball games) |
| Fleet | Bus: 304 Rail: 9 Ferry: 3 |
| Daily ridership | 52,845 as of September 2009 |
| Fuel type | Diesel, Diesel-electric |
| Web site | gohrt.com |
Hampton Roads Transit a.k.a. "HRT" formed in October 1999 by the voluntary merging of PENTRAN (Peninsula Transportation District Commission) on the Virginia Peninsula and TRT (Tidewater Regional Transit a.k.a. Tidewater Transit District Commission) in South Hampton Roads and currently serves over 22 million annual passengers within its 369-square-mile (960 km2) service area around Hampton Roads.
Its service area consists of the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Williamsburg (Colonial Williamsburg) and the town of Smithfield. HRT also serves the area's major college campuses of Norfolk State University, Old Dominion University, Thomas Nelson Community College, and Tidewater Community College.
HRT's Board of Directors and its funding comes from its seven member cities. Funds additionally come from federal and state sources, advertising revenue, and farebox collections on buses and ferries.[1]
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HRT is overseen by a Board of Directors with representatives appointed by the elected officials of various cities and towns within its service area. The seven Hampton Roads cities that participate rotate the chairmanship each year. The Honorable James L. Wood (Virginia Beach) is the outgoing current chairman and on June 25, 2010, the HRT Board elected Councilman Paul Riddick of Norfolk to succeed Wood.
HRT is currently functioning under the leadership of an interim Executive Director, Phillip A. Shucet as it seeks a permanent replacement for long-time executive director Michael Townes, who was pressured by the Board of Directors and ultimately agreed to step down after the revelation of a $100 million dollar cost overrun and a one year delay on Norfolk’s light-rail starter line, which has been named "the Tide". Shortly previously, Townes had been criticized for his handling of an employee embezzlement scheme. While he had not been directly involved in the earlier problem, a majority of the board members cited poor management and communication on his part in calling for him to step down.[2]
NOTE: This section begins with the introduction of rubber-tired buses to the transit operations in Hampton and Newport News, following many years of public transit service performed earlier and during the transition by horse-drawn and electrically powered streetcars utlilizing rails imbedded in the streets and roads of the area.
| Year | Activity | Cities served |
| 1944 | The Virginia Transit Company begins operating rubber-wheeled bus service in Hampton Roads. | Norfolk, VA |
| 1945 | The Citizens Rapid Transit Company begins operating rubber-wheeled bus service on the Virginia Peninsula, thus ending an era of streetcar service in Hampton Roads. | Newport News, VA and Hampton, VA |
| January 1973 | Tidewater Regional Transit (TRT) service begins, with the creation of the Tidewater Transportation District Commission (TTDC); and acquires the Virginia Transit Company, Norfolk Division | TRT service begins in Norfolk and Virginia Beach |
| January 1974 | Peninsula Transportation District Commission (PTDC) created | |
| April 1975 | PENTRAN service begins, as the PTDC acquires the Citizens Rapid Transit Company | PENTRAN service begins in Newport News and Hampton |
| May 1975 | The TTDC acquires the Community Motor Bus Company of Portsmouth | TTDC expands, with TRT service to Portsmouth, VA |
| 1977 | James City County Transit begins service within Colonial Williamsburg and James City County, Virginia | Williamsburg, VA not yet served by PENTRAN, nor TRT until 2004. |
| late-1970s/early-1980s | Service expansion to Chesapeake, VA, including communities such as South Norfolk, Great Bridge, Western Branch, Deep Creek and to the newly opened Greenbrier Mall | Chesapeake, VA |
| early-1990s | Service expansion to Suffolk, VA, exclusively to Tidewater Community College and downtown Suffolk | Suffolk, VA |
| 1997 | Crossroads service begins, linking the Virginia Peninsula cities with South Hampton Roads with local bus service for the first time in the region since special tunnel buses were discontinued many years earlier. | |
| October 1, 1999 | TRT merges with PENTRAN and forms Hampton Roads Transit (HRT). | HRT begins with bus service already existing in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, and Suffolk. |
| June 2008 | The MAX (Metro Area Express) began service with eight routes linking all seven Hampton Roads Cities. | Norfolk (Norfolk Naval Base, Downtown Norfolk), Virginia Beach (Silverleaf, Oceanfront), Chesapeake (Greenbrier Mall, Chesapeake Square Mall), Portsmouth (Downtown, Victory Crossing, Newport News (Transit Center, Northrop Grumman), Hampton (Transit Center), and Downtown Suffolk. |
| August 2011 | The starter line of the Tide Light Rail opens to the public after a year and a half of delays and overruns. Passengers were offered free rides from the August 19th grand opening until August 28. | EVMC/Ft. Norfolk, York St./Freemason, Monticello Avenue, MacArthur Square, Harbor Park, Norfolk State University, Ballentine/Broad Creek, Ingleside, Military Highway, and Newtown Road. |
Hampton Roads Transit's Bus Fleet are usually decorated with all white buses with a two line blue & green wave from the system's (T) logo which is similar to math's approximate (≈) symbol. New buses since 2006 have a wave going from the back, then becomes smooth through the front and have frameless windows. All Hybrids and the two 2006 Optima Opus' are in the blue background. All MAX buses have a silver background with sky blue & solid blue wave colors. Select buses which had the two-line wave logo have been repainted with the newer back wave design and the exterior window rows are painted black around the windows to resemble the newer buses.
| Number | Year | Model | Image | Length | Engine model | Transmission | Fuel | Garage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 901 - 933 | 1993 | Orion 05.501 | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Detroit Diesel 6V92TA | Allison HT-748 | Diesel | 18th Street |
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| 934 - 949 | 1995 | Orion 05.501 | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Detroit Diesel 6V92TA | Allison B400R | Diesel | 18th Street |
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| 501 - 534 | 1995 | Gillig Phantom | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Detroit Diesel Series 50 | Allison B400R | Diesel | Victoria Blvd Hampton, 18th Street Norfolk |
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| 1201–1229 | 1999 | Gillig Low Floor | 35 feet (10.67 m) | Cummins ISC | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
Last buses under Pentran and TRT. | |
| 1230–1239 | 2000 | Gillig Phantom | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISC | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | 18th Street | First buses purchased under HRT. | |
| 1240–1263 | 2001 | Gillig Phantom | 35 feet (10.67 m) | Cummins ISC | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | 18th Street | ||
| 1301–1305 | 2000 | Gillig Low Floor | 29 feet (8.84 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard Suffolk |
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| 1400–1409 | 2001 | Chance Opus | 30 feet (9.14 m) | Cummins ISB | Diesel | 18th Street | |||
| 1500–1516 | 2002 | Gillig Low Floor | 35 feet (10.67 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
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| 1600–1614 | 2002 | Gillig Low Floor | 29 feet (8.84 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street Suffolk |
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| 1700–1715 | 2003 | Gillig Phantom | 35 feet (10.67 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | 18th Street | ||
| 1800–1810 | 2004 | Gillig Phantom | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.3 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
First coach-style buses purchased by HRT. 1800, '02, '03, '09 & '10 are MAX buses. |
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| 1900–1909 | 2004 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
First 40-foot low floor buses. | |
| 2000–2020 | 2006 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | 18th Street | First buses with frameless windows | |
| 1410–1416 | 2006 | Optima Opus | 30 feet (9.14 m) | Cummins ISB | Diesel | 18th Street | 1415 & 1416 are the system's first blue background colors, originally test buses for shuttles, however they are used for any regular route in the system. | ||
| 2021–2039 | 2007 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
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| 2007 | Startrans Candidate Ford | 21 feet (6.40 m) | For HRT's "Handi-Ride" service for disabled patrons | ||||||
| 3000 - 3025 | 2007 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Clean Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
Coach styling MAX buses |
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| 4000 - 4025 | 2008 | Gillig BRT Hybrid | 29 feet (8.84 m) | Cummins ISB-02 | Allison EP40 hybrid system | Diesel-Electric Hybrid | Trolley Base-Virginia Beach, 18th St.-Norfolk | First hybrids purchased by HRT, usually found in Virginia Beach.
Buses 4015-4024 are the BRT roofed hybrids used for Downtown Norfolk's NET shuttle. |
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| 2040–2046 | 2008 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Clean Diesel | 18th Street Norfolk | First buses with square sided windows on bus doors | |
| 3026 - 3035 | 2008 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Clean Diesel | Victoria Boulevard 18th Street |
Coach styling MAX Express Buses, also equipped with cargo attachments above some seats. |
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| 2010 | Startrans Candidate Ford | 21 feet (6.40 m) | For HRT's "Handi-Ride" service for disabled patrons | ||||||
| 2047–2052 | 2011 | Gillig Low Floor | 40 feet (12.19 m) | Cummins ISL | Voith D864.5 | Clean Diesel | Victoria Blvd Hampton | Newest regular service buses on HRT's fleet | |
| 4026-4036 | 2011 | Gillig BRT Hybrid | 29 feet (8.84 m) | Cummins ISB-02 | Allison EP40 hybrid system | Diesel-Electric Hybrid | Virginia Beach Trolley Base | Newest Hybrid shuttle buses on HRT's fleet |
On July 18, 2011, it was announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia has signed an umbrella contract with New Flyer Industries for the provision of buses to any Virginia transit authority.[3] It remains to be seen whether or not the contract will include buses for HRT.
The Tide Light Rail began service on August 19, 2011 with nine of the trainsets entering to revenue service.
| Number | Year | Model | Image | Length | Width | Traction Motors | Garage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 400-408 | 2009 | Siemens Avanto Light Rail | Delivered on October 2009-used since August 2011 when The Tide Light Rail began service. |
HRT operates 64[4] local fixed routes and seven express bus routes[5] in the region.
Southside Routes
Suffolk Routes
Peninsula Routes
Peninsula Commuter Routes
MAX Express Routes
Handi-Ride is HRT's ADA Paratransit service, and is available within 3/4 of a mile of regularly scheduled bus routes. Fare is $3.00. Certification and reservations are required. Reservation hours are from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Reservations must be made no later than 5:00 PM the day before you need transportation and you can reserve a ride up to 3 days in advance, at this time.[6]
TRAFFIX is a service provided by Hampton Roads Transit. It encourages citizens throughout Hampton Roads to use alternative forms of transportation that reduces use of single occupancy vehicles. TRAFFIX oversees and promotes regional commuter initiatives, including carpooling and telecommuting, by reaching out to area employers. Some of its key clients include the U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman, Wal-mart, and Canon. To date, TRAFFIX has removed nearly 800 vehicles off the road and has saved consumers over 600,000 gallons of gas and over $1.8 million in vehicle related expenses. For more information, visit www.traffixonline.org
HRT's Paddlewheel Ferry is a system of three 150-passenger paddle-wheel ferry boats: The Elizabeth River Ferry II, Elizabeth Ferry III, and the James C. Echols. The Ferry travels between North Landing and High Street in Portsmouth and downtown Norfolk at The Waterside and Harbor Park.
The Ferry operates every 30 minutes, with 15-minute service at peak times on weekends. The Ferry is wheelchair accessible and allows boarding passengers to board with their bicycles. The general cost to board the ferry is $1.50, and 75 cents for seniors and disabled patrons.
The ferry connects with buses at County & Court in Portsmouth.
Effective Monday, October 12, 2009 the service on the Elizabeth River Ferry will begin one hour earlier on weekdays only ( Monday-Friday ). The Elizabeth River Ferry service will now begin service at 6:00AM each weekday morning. This service change is being placed on a 65-day trail and will be reviewed based on customer demand[7]..
Norfolk Electric Transit or NET is the complimentary downtown bus service provided by the City of Norfolk and operated by Hampton Roads Transit. Service, using 29-foot Gillig BRT Hybrid buses, connects the park and ride lots with the major employment sites downtown.
The VB Wave runs through the main areas of Virginia Beach.
Route 30 Atlantic Ave (May 1-October 2 8am-2am, About every 15 minutes) which serves all the stops along the Atlantic Avenue boardwalk, This includes the Old Coast Guard Station Museum, the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier, plus the north beaches HRT transfer.
Route 31 Museum Express (Daily, Memorial Day-Labor Day 8am-2am, About every 15 minutes) Serves the Virginia Aquarium, Ocean Breeze Waterpark, Owl Creek Municipal Tennis Center, Holiday Trav-L-Park Campground, and KOA Campground.
Route 32 Shoppers Express (Daily, Memorial Day-Labor Day 10am-9pm, About every hour) Serves the Shops at Hilltop, and ends at Lynnhaven Mall.
VB Wave Service Fares: Adults/Children $1.00 Child (under 38" tall) Free Seniors, patrons with disabilities and Medicare card holders $0.50 Farecard holders for regular bus routes:[8]
The MAX is the first regional express service connecting all of Hampton Roads. The bus service uses dedicated Gillig buses equipped with coach-style seating to make a more comfortable ride. All MAX buses are equipped with Wi-Fi. The routes connect area Park and Ride lots to Downtown Norfolk and other major employment locations in the area. There are four other express routes (Routes 37, 64, 113 and 121) that are not branded as MAX routes, although Route 121 often uses MAX buses.
The Tide, Norfolk's Light Rail System, runs from Eastern Virginia Medical School through downtown Norfolk to Newtown Road (near Sentara Leigh Memorial Hospital). The Groundbreaking Ceremony was held on December 8, 2007.[9] Primary construction began in early 2008, and the Tide became fully operational on August 19, 2011. The first train set arrived on October 6, 2009.[10]
http://www.gohrt.com/about/development
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