RALLY ATTENDEES VOTE FOR TRANSIT

Nearly 10% Take HART Service to Obama Event

May 22, 2008 - Tampa, Florida - In the campaign to relieve traffic congestion in Tampa, many people voted for transit on Wednesday to access the Obama for President Rally at the St. Pete Times Forum.

About 3,000 rides were taken on the TECO Line Streetcar System and In-Town Trolley Purple Line during the event. That's equivalent to the number of streetcar rides normally taken for an entire Saturday, the system's busiest day of the week.

With about 1,500 round trips taken, HART estimates that public transit riders accounted for approximately 10% of the event's 15,000 attendees.

"With transit at the top of everyone's minds these days, it's great when we can demonstrate how well an efficient system can work," said HART CEO David Armijo. "We carried a large number of people to the event quickly and easily, and helped keep traffic congestion to a minimum. That's what a good transit system can do for a community every day."