For more information
Contact: Richard Schreiner
(203) 744-4070 x129
H.A.R.T. ANNOUNCES ‘NEW FAIRFIELD-SOUTHEAST’ SHUTTLE BUS
TO SERVE SOUTHEAST, NY TRAIN STATION COMMUTERS
Free Dunkin’ Donuts $5 gift cards offered to the first 50 shuttle bus riders
Danbury, CT—May 12, 2009 -- The Housatonic Area Regional Transit District (HART) will launch a new weekday shuttle service to Southeast Train Station on May 18th for New Fairfield-area commuters bound for White Plains, N.Y., Grand Central Station and other intermediate stations on the MTA Metro-North Railroad’s Harlem Line.
Commuters can park free and board the New Fairfield-Southeast Shuttle from three park and ride lots: Company A Firehouse at 302 Ball Pond Road (30 spaces) and Ball Pond Firehouse at 7 Fairfield Drive (15 spaces) in New Fairfield, Conn.; and Temple Beth Elohim (30 spaces) on Mt. Ebo Road North in Brewster, NY.
The shuttle bus service is supported by the New York State and Connecticut Departments of Transportation to help to ease the parking situation for a growing number of commuters who use Southeast Train Station, and to reduce congestion on local roadways. The service is expected to provide 100 rides daily by the end of the first year. HART already operates rail shuttle services to the Brewster and Katonah stations in New York.
A 20-passenger shuttle bus will meet five AM departures from Southeast Train Station to NYC at 6:13, 6:41, 7:11, 7:20 and 7:51 AM. In the evening, buses meet eight arrivals from NYC at Southeast Station at 5:47, 6:10, 6:33, 7:04, 7:18, 7:51, 8:13 and 8:47 PM. Buses will drop off and pick up in front of Southeast Train Station.
Metro-North Railroad will offer a guaranteed ride program for holders of the Monthly UniTicket, a combined bus/rail pass that can be purchased through MTA. UniTicket fares to Grand Central are $327 for the monthly ticket, and $103.75 for the weekly ticket (effective through July 10th, 2009).
Individual shuttle bus fares are $1.25, $.60 for seniors/disabled, and $.90 for students K-12. Discount 10-ride and monthly bus passes are available through HART. Individual MTA rail fares to Grand Central are: one-way peak, $13.75; one-way off-peak, $10.25; and senior/disabled, $6.75.
“The rail shuttle services have been a great success for us,” said Richard Schreiner, service development director for HART. “Ridership has tripled on the Danbury-Brewster shuttle, that we’ve been running for more than 10 years, and doubled on the Ridgefield–Katonah shuttle that started in 2002; and the number of riders continues to grow.”
The service was made possible through the cooperation of local officials from the towns of New Fairfield, Conn. and Southeast, N.Y., as well as from Putnam County in New York and the Housatonic Valley of Connecticut.
The first 50 riders to take the shuttle bus are eligible for a free $5 Dunkin’ Donuts gift card, compliments of HART.
For more information contact HART at 203-748-2034, or visit www.hartct.org.
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