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, 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
* 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[3]
* 16 Ridgefield-Katonah[4]
* 14 New Fairfield-Southeast[5]
* 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.[6][7][8]

## Fleet

[edit]

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.[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 System in Westchester County, New York) and the Orion VII. In addition, HARTransit formerly operated RTS buses.

### Gallery

[edit]

* 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

[edit]

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

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b 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

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Housatonic Area Regional Transit.

* 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

Greater New York region bus transit

* Transportation in New York City

Operators|

| New York|

Public
MTA Regional Bus
Clarkstown
Dutchess
Hudson Link
Huntington
Long Beach
Nassau
Orange
Putnam
Rockland
Roosevelt Island
Suffolk
Ulster
Westchester
Private
Academy
Coach USA

Community
Olympia
Rockland
Short Line
Suburban
Columbia
Hampton Jitney
Hampton Luxury Liner
Hudson Rail Link
Liberty
Monsey
Trailways
Spanish

|

New Jersey /
Pennsylvania|

Public
NJ Transit Bus
Monroe
Hunterdon
Private
Academy
Coach USA

Community
Olympia
Rockland
Short Line
Suburban
Greyhound
Klein
Lakeland
Martz
OurBus
Rutgers
Spanish
Princeton
Trans-Bridge

Connecticut|

Public
CT Transit

Stamford
New Haven
Waterbury
Bridgeport
Housatonic
Milford
Northeast
Northwest
Norwalk
River Valley
Southeast
Private
Peter Pan

Routes|

| New York|

* Bronx
* Brooklyn
* Manhattan
* Queens
* Staten Island
* Express within NYC
* Nassau
* Suffolk
* Westchester

|

New Jersey|

* Bergen / Passaic
* Essex / Hudson / Union
* Mercer
* Middlesex / Monmouth / Morris
* North Jersey to NYC
* Special event and park-ride
* Suburban

Connecticut|

* Bridgeport
* Danbury
* New Haven
* Norwalk
* Stamford

Pennsylvania|

* Monroe

Defunct
operators|

| New York|

* Atlantic Express
* Caravan Transit
* Poughkeepsie
* Varsity & Command
* Fifth Avenue Coach (earlier 5th Ave Transportation)
* Green
* Jamaica
* Liberty
* Madison Avenue
* Long Island
* New York Bus
* New York City Omnibus
* New York Transportation
* North Shore
* Queens Surface
* Soundview
* Steinway
* Surface
* Triboro
* Z & M

|

New Jersey /
Pennsylvania|

* A&C
* Bieber
* DeCamp
* PABCO
* Public Service / Transport of New Jersey

Transit
centers|

| New York City|

* 165th Street
* Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
* Eltingville
* Fordham Plaza
* George Washington Bridge
* Jamaica Center
* Port Authority
* Ridgewood Intermodal
* St. George
* Victor A. Moore
* Williamsburg Bridge Plaza

|

Long Island|

* Long Beach
* Mineola Intermodal
* Rosa Parks Hempstead

Hudson Valley|

* New Rochelle
* Mount Vernon-Petrillo Plaza
* White Plains
* Yonkers
* Spring Valley

New Jersey|

* Broadway (Paterson)
* Exchange Place
* Hackensack
* Hoboken Terminal
* Irvington
* Journal Square
* Lakewood
* Newark
* Passaic
* Red Bank
* Ridgewood
* Weehawken

* 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 Commuter Rail Council
* Connecticut Department of Transportation
* New Haven–Springfield Line
* Northeast Corridor

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