# Hampton Roads Transit

Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) is the regional public transit provider for Virginia's Hampton Roads metropolitan area, including the cities of Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News, Williamsburg, and the town of Smithfield.
It currently serves over 22 million annual passengers within its 369-square-mile (960 km$^2$) service area. In 2024, the system had a ridership of 9,670,600, or about 29,100 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2024.

## Transit Services

HRT operates the Tide Light Rail system, buses, ferries, and paratransit, and oversees a Transportation demand management program.

## Tide Light Rail

HRT owns and operates Virginia's only light rail system. "The Tide" runs 7.4 mi (12 km) in Norfolk from Eastern Virginia Medical School through downtown Norfolk to Newtown Road near the city's eastern boundary.
The Tide currently runs 15 minute frequencies serving its eleven stations between Fort Norfolk/EVMC Station & Newtown Road Station. Most stations are served with at least one HRT bus route. The Monticello station is a few blocks away from the Downtown Norfolk Transit Center and the Harbor Park stop is adjacent to the Amtrak Norfolk Station (NFK).
Groundbreaking was held on December 8, 2007. Primary construction began in early 2008. The first of nine train sets arrived on October 6, 2009, and the Tide opened for passenger service on August 19, 2011.

## Ferry service

HRT operates three paddle wheel ferry boats over the Elizabeth River between Norfolk and Portsmouth.
The Ferry travels between North Landing and High Street in Portsmouth and downtown Norfolk at Waterside District and Harbor Park. Harbor Park is only serviced during Norfolk Tides baseball home games. The ferry's High Street dock is three blocks from Downtown Portsmouth's bus transfer area at County St & Court St.
The ferry operates every 30 minutes, with additional 15-minute service at peak times on weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The Ferry is wheelchair accessible and allows boarding passengers to board with their bicycles. The general cost to board the ferry is $2.00 for adults, and $1.00 with eligibility ID for youth (age 17 and under), seniors (age 65 and older), and disabled patrons with eligible ID. Round-trip passes may be purchased for $4.00 for adults, with no round-trip option currently available for youth, senior, or disabled patrons. 1-day passes may be purchased as well for $4.50 for adults and $2.25 for youth, seniors, and disabled patrons with eligible ID. Exact fare is required, the crew and fare boxes can not make change.

## Bus service

Buses provide the bulk of HRT service. HRT operates nearly 60 standard local bus routes, plus multiple special bus services.

### Special bus services

Base Express is a free service serving Naval Station Norfolk with two circulator routes. It was introduced in November 2022. The Gold route serves the Naval Exchange bus stop and the inner portion of the base and runs seven days a week with 30 minute frequencies. The Blue route circles the outer portion of the base, including the piers. It runs Monday-Friday with 15 minute frequencies but no weekend service.
757 Express, formerly MAX, is an intercity bus service connecting Park and Ride lots to the Downtown Norfolk Transit Center and other major employment locations or activity centers in the region. The Service includes commuter routes, limited-stop routes and regular routes that includes 15-minute frequency during peak hours. There are currently three regular routes that are a part of the program, with more planned as of 2023.
Virginia Beach Wave provides service to the Virginia Beach Oceanfront and related destinations during the tourist season from May through September. Route 30 Atlantic Ave (May 1-October 2 8am-2am, About every 15 minutes) serves the Atlantic Avenue boardwalk. Route 31 Museum Express – (Daily, Memorial Day-Labor Day 9:30 AM until 11:10 PM, About every 15 minutes) Serves the Virginia Aquarium, Ocean Breeze Waterpark, Owl Creek Municipal Tennis Center, Holiday Trav-L-Park Campground, and KOA Campground. Route 35 provides service from Arctic & 19th to Shore Drive & Vista Circle. It serves the Oceanfront, First Landing State Park, North End beaches, Chesapeake Bay beaches and Bayfront restaurants. The route runs from May 21 to October 1 all season long. This route runs daily from 8am to midnight for every 30 minutes from Memorial Day to Labor Day and every weekend from 8am to midnight for every 30 minutes from September 8 to October 1. Former Route 32 Shoppers Express – (Daily, Memorial Day-Labor Day 10am-9pm, About every hour) Served the Shops at Hilltop, and ended at Lynnhaven Mall.
Peninsula Commuter Service offers longer distance commuter buses on four routes.

### List of bus routes

Southside routes
* 1 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center/Pembroke East
* 2 Navy Exchange Mall/Downtown Norfolk Transit Center
* 3 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center/Navy Exchange Mall
* 4 Downtown Norfolk/Old Dominion University
* 5 Willoughby/Evelyn Butts
* 6 Downtown Norfolk/South Norfolk/Robert Hall Boulevard
* 8 Downtown Norfolk/Evelyn T. Butts Avenue
* 9 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center/Evelyn T. Butts Avenue
* 11 Downtown Norfolk/Colonial Place
* 12 South Norfolk/TCC Virginia Beach
* 13 Downtown Norfolk/Robert Hall Boulevard/Summit Pointe
* 14 Robert Hall Boulevard/Chesapeake Municipal Center
* 15 Robert Hall Boulevard/Evelyn T. Butts Avenue
* 18 Downtown Norfolk/Hanbury Street and Ballentine Boulevard
* 20 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center/Virginia Beach Oceanfront
* 21 Navy Exchange Mall/Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek
* 22 Newtown Road Station/Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek
* 23 Norfolk General/IKEA/JANAF/Military Circle
* 24 Pembroke East/Robert Hall Boulevard
* 25 Military Circle/TCC/Sentara Princess Anne
* 26 TCC Virginia Beach/Lynnhaven Mall
* 27 Newtown Road Station/Pleasure House Road
* 29 Pleasure House Road/Lynnhaven Parkway
* 33 TCC/Atlantic Avenue/68th Street
* 36 Pembroke East/TCC Virginia Beach
* 41 Downtown Portsmouth/Cradock/Victory Crossing
* 43 Downtown Portsmouth/Bart Street
* 44 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center/Norfolk General Hospital/Midtown Portsmouth
* 45 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center/Portsmouth
* 47 Downtown Portsmouth/Churchland
* 50 Downtown Portsmouth/Victory Crossing
* 57 Robert Hall Boulevard/Airline Boulevard
* 58 Liberty Street and Seaboard Avenue/TCC Chesapeake Campus
VB WAVE routes
* 30 Atlantic Avenue Trolley
* 31 Aquarium and Campgrounds Trolley
* 34 Oceanfront Connector
* 35 Bayfront Trolley
Peninsula routes
* 101 (Kecoughtan) Downtown Newport News/Downtown Hampton
* 102 (Coliseum) Peninsula Town Center/Downtown Hampton
* 103 Downtown Hampton/Downtown Newport News
* 104 (Marshall) Downtown Newport News/Newmarket
* 105 Maple Avenue and 27th Street/Peninsula Town Center
* 106 Newport News/Warwick Boulevard/Denbigh/Fort Eustis
* 107 Newport News/Warwick Boulevard/Patrick Henry Mall
* 108 Riverside Medical Center/Patrick Henry Mall/Lee Hall
* 109 (Pembroke) Downtown Hampton/Buckroe
* 110 Downtown Hampton/Virginia Peninsula Community College
* 111 Virginia Peninsula Community College/Patrick Henry Mall/Woodside Lane
* 115 Buckroe/Willow Oaks/Downtown Hampton
* 118 Downtown Hampton/Virginia Peninsula Community College/Semple Farm Road
Peninsula commuter routes
* 403 Buckroe Shopping Center / Newport News Shipyard
* 405 Newport News Transit Center / Buckroe
* 414 Newport News Transit Center / Jefferson / Oakland
* 415 Newport News Transit Center / Denbigh
* 430 Denbigh Fringe
757 Express routes
* 112 Downtown Newport News / Patrick Henry Mall / Lee Hall
* 114 73rd St. & Warwick Blvd. / Downtown Hampton
* 960 Norfolk / Virginia Beach
* 961 Newport News Shipbuilding / Hampton / Norfolk
* 966 Silverleaf Park and Ride / Newport News Transit Center
* 967 Military Highway Station / Newport News Transit Center
* 972 Virginia Beach / Newport News
* 980 Downtown Norfolk Transit Center / Portsmouth / Chesapeake / Suffolk

## Paratransit

HRT provides ADA Paratransit service, and is available within 3/4 of a mile of regularly scheduled bus routes. Fare is $3.50. Certification and reservations are required. Reservation hours are from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily. Reservations must be made no later than 5:00 PM the day before you need transportation and you can reserve a ride up to 3 days in advance, at this time.

## Traffix TDM program

HRT provides the Traffix Transportation demand management program. It encourages people to use forms of transportation that other than single occupancy cars. Traffix oversees and promotes regional commuter initiatives, including carpooling and remote work by reaching out to area employers. Some of its key clients include the U.S. Navy, Northrop Grumman, Wal-mart, and Canon. To date, Traffix has removed nearly 800 vehicles off the road and has saved consumers over 600,000 gallons of gas and over $1.8 million in vehicle related expenses.

## Governance and history

HRT was created on October 1, 1999, began through the voluntary merger of PENTRAN (Peninsula Transportation District Commission) on the Virginia Peninsula and TRT (Tidewater Regional Transit a.k.a. Tidewater Transit District Commission) in South Hampton Roads.

## District Commission

Hampton Roads Transit is governed by the Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads (TDCHR). The TDCHR was established in accordance with Chapter 45 of Title 15.2 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, referred to as the Transportation District Act of 1964 and by ordinances adopted by the governing bodies of its component governments.
The commission consists of 13 members, one elected official and one citizen representative from each city served by Hampton Roads Transit, and the chairman of the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB), or a designee. The Honorable Richard W. "Rick" West (Chesapeake) is the current chair.
There are five established committees that provide input to the governing body. These committees are: Executive Committee, Audit/Budget Review Committee, Operations & Oversight, Planning and New Start Development, Paratransit Committee, and Commission Effectiveness (Ad hoc).

## Staff leadership

William E. Harrell is the current president and CEO of Hampton Roads Transit. Harrell went to Hampton Roads Transit from Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was the city manager since June 2007. Harrell replaced interim CEO Phillip A. Shucet on April 2, 2012. Prior to Shucet, Michael Townes served as CEO.

## Funding

Hampton Roads Transit has approximately $30,000,000 dedicated revenue source from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Additional funding for service is provided with federal, state, and local funding provided by member jurisdictions and farebox revenues. Local funding is provided based on a "Cost Allocation Agreement" in which each city establishes how much service will be provided within its borders based on how much it is willing to pay for those services after other revenues are applied. This means that the numbers of routes, service frequency, and service coverage areas as operated by Hampton Roads Transit are determined in each city during the annual budgetary cycle.

## Corporate timeline

NOTE: This section begins with the introduction of rubber-tired buses to the transit operations in Hampton and Newport News, following many years of public transit service performed earlier and during the transition by horse-drawn and electrically powered streetcars utilizing rails embedded in the streets and roads of the area.
| Year | Activity | Cities served |
| 1944 | The Virginia Transit Company begins operating rubber-wheeled bus service in Hampton Roads. | Norfolk, VA |
| 1945 | The Citizens Rapid Transit Company begins operating rubber-wheeled bus service on the Virginia Peninsula, thus ending an era of streetcar service in Hampton Roads. | Newport News, VA and Hampton, VA |
| January 1973 | Tidewater Regional Transit (TRT) service begins, with the creation of the Tidewater Transportation District Commission (TTDC); and acquires the Virginia Transit Company, Norfolk Division | TRT service begins in Norfolk and Virginia Beach |
| January 1974 | Peninsula Transportation District Commission (PTDC) created | |
| April 1975 | PENTRAN service begins, as the PTDC acquires the Citizens Rapid Transit Company | PENTRAN service begins in Newport News and Hampton |
| May 1975 | The TTDC acquires the Community Motor Bus Company of Portsmouth | TTDC expands, with TRT service to Portsmouth, VA |
| 1977 | James City County Transit begins service within Colonial Williamsburg and James City County, Virginia | Williamsburg, VA not yet served by PENTRAN, nor TRT until 2004. |
| late-1970s/early-1980s | Service expansion to Chesapeake, VA, including communities such as South Norfolk, Great Bridge, Western Branch, Deep Creek and to the newly opened Greenbrier Mall | Chesapeake, VA |
| early-1990s | Service expansion to Suffolk, VA, exclusively to Tidewater Community College and downtown Suffolk | Suffolk, VA |
| 1995 | Crossroads service begins, linking the Virginia Peninsula cities with South Hampton Roads with local bus service for the first time in the region since special tunnel buses were discontinued many years earlier. | |
| October 1, 1999 | TRT merges with PENTRAN and forms Hampton Roads Transit (HRT). | HRT begins with bus service already existing in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Newport News, Hampton, and Suffolk. |
| June 2008 | The MAX (Metro Area Express) began service with eight routes linking all six Hampton Roads Cities. | Norfolk (Norfolk Naval Base, Downtown Norfolk), Virginia Beach (Silverleaf, Oceanfront), Chesapeake (Greenbrier Mall, Chesapeake Square Mall), Portsmouth (Downtown), Victory Crossing, Newport News (Transit Center, Northrop Grumman), and Hampton (Transit Center). |
| August 2011 | Virginia's first light rail line Tide Light Rail opens to the public. Passengers were offered free rides from the August 19th grand opening until August 28. More than 30,000 people rode the Tide the first day. | EVMC/Ft. Norfolk, York St./Freemason, Monticello Avenue, MacArthur Square, Harbor Park, Norfolk State University, Ballentine/Broad Creek, Ingleside, Military Highway, and Newtown Road. |
| January 2012 | City of Suffolk withdrew contract with HRT to operate public transit in Suffolk. |
| January 2016 | Downtown Norfolk Transit Center | Downtown Norfolk Transit Center opens, giving Norfolk a true bus-hub for HRT services. Sixteen bus bays serves the complex. Previous bus hubs were Monticello Avenue (the current site of the Wells Fargo Tower), the back of Cedar Grove city parking lot (which became a safety issue) & Monticello/Fenchurch as the transit center was being built. |
| Fall 2022 | MAX rebrands as 757 Express | 757 Express is a newly-expanded service serving commuter routes, limited-stop routes & regular routes having 15-minute peak frequency. |

## Light rail expansion
### Virginia Beach extension

The Virginia Beach Extension Study was started in 2009 in an effort to bring light rail or other rapid transit to Virginia Beach, most likely extending along a freight rail corridor eastward from the existing Newtown Road light rail station.
A Draft Environmental Impact Statement outlining potential alternative alignments and designs was published in 2015. However, progress on the Virginia Beach extension stalled in 2016 when a referendum vote among Virginia Beach residents to build the extension failed. 57% of votes cast opposed building the line, largely due to concerns about taxpayer cost. Had the vote passed, the extension was scheduled to have opened in 2019 or 2020.

### Naval Station Norfolk extension

In 2012, the City of Norfolk began to study two alternate alignments for extending light rail to Naval Station Norfolk.
The western alignment would serve more of central Norfolk, including Old Dominion University, while the eastern alignment would provide a faster connection to the Naval station from suburban areas including Virginia Beach.
The western alignment was eventually abandoned in favor of continued focus on the eastern alignment. The eastern alignment remains under consideration with planning continuing as the Naval Station Norfolk Transit Corridor Project

## Bus expansion
### Completed new bus depot

In 2008, the long-standing central bus transfer area at Monticello Avenue and Charlotte Street was moved to the Cedar Grove lot on Monticello Avenue north of Virginia Beach Blvd., to accommodate the Wachovia development on Monticello Avenue.
In 2016, it was moved again to a new Downtown Norfolk Transportation Center (DNTC) terminal at 434 St. Paul's Blvd., closer to the main downtown district and the Tide's Monticello station. As of 2018, Greyhound planned to move into the facility, as its old terminal was being taken for redevelopment, though there was concern as to whether the new facility would be able to accommodate the intercity service.

### Real time bus tracking

In October of 2022, HRT launched live route tracking on its website.

# Vehicle fleet

As of Summer 2024, free Wi-Fi is available on every bus, trolley, light rail car and ferry.

## Light rail rolling stock

Light rail service is provided by nine Siemens-built S70 vehicles.

## Ferry fleet

HRT has three paddle wheel ferries, with two operating in the peak periods. The ferries are named numerically: Elizabeth River Ferry III, Elizabeth River Ferry IV, and Elizabeth River Ferry V. Retired ferries include the James C. Echols (Ferry I) and Elizabeth River Ferry II.

## Bus and van fleet

In May 2024, HRT received 32 new, low-floor model buses from GILLIG, partial fulfillment of an order of 51. There were 21 of the 35-foot models and 11 of the 40-foot versions. The HRT fleet inventory as of December 2024, consisted of 345 vehicles, including 329 diesel buses, 10 trolley-style buses, and 6 battery electric buses. The majority of the fleet, a total of 329 buses, were manufactured by Gillig. The HRT fleet also includes 10 Trolley-style buses manufactured by Hometown Manufacturing.
Hampton Roads Transit's Bus Fleet were originally decorated with all white buses with a two line blue & green wave from the system's former logo which is similar to math's approximate (≈) symbol. New buses since 2006 have a wave going from the back, then becomes smooth through the front and have frameless windows. All MAX buses have a silver background with sky blue & solid blue wave colors. Select buses which had the two-line wave logo have been repainted with the newer back wave design and the exterior window rows are painted black around the windows to resemble the newer buses. Since 2012, several buses were repainted into the silver/blue wave style like the MAX brand with the agency's new stripe logo. Newer buses for the 757 Express Service include a white background with sky-blue and navy-blue triangles connecting at the back. The original 3000 series buses have been re-wrapped to the current 757 Express livery.
In addition to its bus fleet, HRT owns a total of 33 paratransit vans. HER is also leasing an additional 54 paratransit vans from its contractor to meet service requirements.
On July 18, 2011, it was announced that the Commonwealth of Virginia has signed an umbrella contract with New Flyer Industries for the provision of buses to any Virginia transit authority. It remains to be seen whether or not the contract will include buses for HRT, but highly unlikely due to their contract for Gillig buses.

### Retired fleet
# See also

* Transportation in Hampton Roads
* Light rail in the United States