Housatonic Area Regional Transit

Housatonic Area Regional Transit, known popularly as HART, is the provider of public transportation for Danbury, Connecticut and surrounding communities. HART was founded in 1972 as the Danbury-Bethel Transit District by the two municipalities. The name was changed to HART 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 HART'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. HART provides service to a greater number of towns than its predecessors.

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

The municipalities served by HART are as follows:

• Connecticut: Danbury, Bethel, Brookfield, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Bethel, Redding, Roxbury, New Fairfield, and Ridgefield. Norwalk and Wilton also see limited HART service but are served primarily by the Norwalk Transit District (aka "WHEELS").
• 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 and adjacent to the Peter Pan bus 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
    • The Route 7 Link, operated with WHEELS, is a weekday-only commuter line which connects Danbury to Norwalk and surrounding communities.
• SweetHART: HART 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. HART also operates Senior (60 or older)/disabled SweetHART dial-a-ride service for Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Newtown, New Fairfield Ridgefield and Roxbury. 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, recently began operations.
  • Danbury-Brewster
  • Ridgefield-Katonah
  • New Fairfield-Southeast
• Nighttime/Sunday LOOP services: Funded in part by the Connecticut Department of Social Services, three routes serving Danbury, New Milford, Brookfield and Bethel 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
• CityCenter Danbury Trolley: On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the off peak period, HART runs a replica trolley service which connects the Danbury central business district with the Danbury Fair Mall and other points of interest.

Fleet

HART has had a long history with Orion Bus Industries, having purchased the Orion I (and its US predecessor, the TMC CityCruiser), Orion II and the Orion V, plus one example of the Orion VII low-floor bus. Currently, HART operates Orion, Gillig and a few older NovaBus RTS buses on fixed route service. El Dorado Aerotech and Startrans "Senator" body-on-chassis buses are used on LOOP and Shuttle routes and in SweetHART service. The Route 7 Link is served by a mixture of New Flyer buses leased to HART from ConnDOT, Orion V vehicles and Gillig low-floor buses owned by the Norwalk Transit District.

HART placed ten Gillig low floor buses in service, replacing its 1995 RTS fleet.

See also

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

References

External links

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