The Republican National Convention is putting the brakes on most downtown Tampa public transportation. Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, or HART, announced today, the majority of downtown routes will be detoured or closed from August 27th through the 31st.
Aside from a shuttle to Tampa General Hospital, all other downtown Tampa bus routes will temporarily change during the RNC. The detours will keep most of the bus traffic north of Kennedy Boulevard.
HART Spokeswoman Marcia Mejia says along with route changes, riders also should expect delays. She adds all county commuters should give themselves some extra time to get to their destinations.
"Although the main detours are obviously happening in downtown Tampa, that does impact the entire transit network." Mejia adds, "If you know routes that connect from downtown Tampa to other parts of the county, if its being delayed in downtown, it's going to be delayed by the time it gets to its final destination, too."
The route changes will include:
- Route 4
- Route 8
- Route 19
- Route 24X/Route 25LX
- Route 22X/27LX, 28X and 47LX
- Route 30
- Route46
- In-Town Trolley
- Route 100X/300X
- TECO Line Streetcar Service
HART will temporarily shut down streetcars to the Tampa Bay Times forum and the Tampa Convention Center. Mejia adds commuters can sign up for RNC rider Alerts through the transit Authority to stay up to date.
