PLANT CITY, Fla. — Plant City residents could have public transit bus service restored in their area, depending on the results of a new transit study in Hillsborough County.
Hillsborough County leaders are in the process of completing a study that looks at what it would look like to re-initiate a commuter bus service from downtown Tampa to downtown Plant City, provide a circulator service within Plant City downtown and establish service to Polk County in the future.
Currently, there is no bus service in Plant City.
Plant City is one of the fastest growing areas in Hillsborough County with over 40,000 residents and strategically located between Tampa and Lakeland, according to Hillsborough County.
HILLSBOROUGH NEWS | The latest headlines from Hillsborough County
According to Hillsborough County, in the mid-2000s, HART and Plant City operated the Strawberry Connector service to provide circulator trips within Plant City, which ceased operation during 2008.
Starting in 2012, HART operated a commuter express service (Route 28X – East County Express) from Tampa to Plant City.
HART had to eliminate that service by 2017 since there was not enough ridership to serve it.
This is a short term study that is estimated to be completed by mid-summer of 2020. This study will serve as a Transit Master Plan for Plant City, according to Hillsborough County.
