Date: Fri 30-Jan-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

HART-Hawleyville-bus

Full Text:

HART Bus To Discontinue Trips To Hawleyville

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Bus service operated by Housatonic Area Regional Transit (HART) to the park

and ride lot at Exit 9 in Hawleyville will be discontinued after February 6.

Instead, the bus routes from Danbury will terminate at the Jungle Garden

Nursery on Stony Hill Road (Route 6) in Bethel. The HART bus had made as many

as 17 trips on weekdays between downtown Danbury and Hawleyville, and ten

trips on weekends.

HART spokesman Richard Schreiner said bus service to Hawleyville began about

two years ago after the D'Agostino nursery on Stony Hill Road closed.

"We needed a place to turn the bus around at the end of the route and that had

been D'Agostino's -- until it closed," he explained. "When the Jungle Garden

opened in the same location, the owners agreed to allow us to use that

location again."

Mr Schreiner said only about six passengers a day used the Hawleyville

location.

"There just weren't a lot of people for the amount of mileage involved. It

wasn't cost-effective," he said.

But William Honan, Newtown's representative to the HART board, said there

might have been more riders if HART had publicized the fact that the buses

were going into Hawleyville.

"They never advertised the route," he said. "I told them they should put out a

press release to let more people know, but my comments never went anywhere."

Mr Honan said each passenger who uses the Hawleyville stop between now and

February 6 will be notified of the impending change. He said it isn't clear

yet whether riders will be able to park cars at the Jungle Garden.

HART is the transit district for greater Danbury. It operates fixed-route

service between Danbury and Bethel, Brookfield, New Milford and Ridgefield.

SweetHART, a demand-response door-to-door transportation network for the

disabled and those over age 60, will not be affected by the change. SweetHART

buses serve Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown,

Redding, and Ridgefield. HART also operates the CenterCity Trolley in downtown

Danbury.

The HART offices are moving this week from Danbury-Newtown Road to a new

garage and office building at 62 Federal Road. HART expects to open in its new

location next week.