It’s that time again, that time where we all gather with our families for Thanksgiving. Now, this year is going to be a bit different with some retail stores being open on Thanksgiving Day. However, most transit districts will be keeping in the tradition of running limited weekend-level services on Thursday, November 27, 2013, with some districts not operating at all. As in the past as well, some districts may run only limited services on Black Friday, which is Friday, November 28, 2013. Please see the matrix below to see what level schedule your area transit district will operate at during the Thanksgiving Weekend.

This year, I’ve complied information from various transit agencies here in Tampa Bay, as well as LYNX and SunRail in Orlando, StarMetro in Tallahassee, and HRT in Hampton/Norfolk, VA and placed the information onto an Excel Spreadsheet, which can be downloaded from Dropbox. Don’t have a Dropbox account? Not a problem! Anyone can access and download this file. Even then, Dropbox provides a free “basic” service for you to upload and share files to.

For transit service information in the New York City metropolitan region, please visit mta.info, as their schedules may greatly vary depending on day and transit mode. For PATH train and interstate bus service information, please visit the NY/NJ Port Authority website.

The Chicago CTA typically runs a SUNDAY SCHEDULE on major holidays. Please visit the CTA website for further information.

Thanksgiving Holiday Schedule

• Access the Winter 2014 Holiday Transit Schedule Table for the following agencies.
  • HART (Hillsborough County/Tampa)
  • PSTA (Pinellas County/St. Pete/Clearwater)
  • MCAT (Manatee County/Bradenton)
  • SCAT (Sarasota County/Sarasota)
  • PCPT (Pasco County)
  • Hernando THEbus (Hernando County)
  • Citrus County Transit Services
  • Polk County Transit Services
  • LYNX (Orlando Metro Area)
  • SunRail (FDOT)
  • StarMetro (Tallahassee)
  • HRT (Hampton/Norfolk, VA)

Customer Service Hours

UPDATE – 11/24/14: LYNX (Orlando Metro Area) Customer Services will close beginning at 5:00pm on Wednesday, November 26, 2014, which includes the customer service window at the LYNX Central Station. Their call center will close at 5:30pm the same day. Customer service will reopen on Friday, November 28, 2014. Please keep this in mind as you go about your day on Wednesday. (Source).

Hours of operation for customer service centers vary by district. If your district does not operate service on Thanksgiving Day, their customer service centers will also be closed that day. Some centers will also be closed on Black Friday, or may have limited hours. Please contact your district directly to see what hours their customer service department will operate.

Below, I’ve listed information for HART, PSTA, and HRT.

• HART (Tampa) – 813-254-4278
  • Customer Service Centers will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day
  • InfoLine will be staffed from 8am to 5pm both Thanksgiving and Black Friday
  • Customer Service Centers will be open from 7am to 5pm on Black Friday
  • HART Customer Services at Tampa City Hall will also be CLOSED on both Thanksgiving and on Black Friday
• PSTA (St. Pete/Clearwater) – 727-540-1900
  • Customer Service Centers and InfoLine will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day
  • Customer Service Centers will be staffed regular weekday hours on Black Friday
  • InfoLine will be staffed from 8am to 4:30pm on Black Friday
• HRT (Norfolk/Hampton) – 757-222-6100
  • Customer Service Centers and InfoLine will be CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day
  • Customer Service Centers and InfoLine will be staffed from 9am to 4pm on Black Friday

The following transit district provide Ticket Vending Machines (TVMs) for your convenience.

• HART (Tampa)
  • TECOline Streetcar Corridor
  • Select stations along the HART MetroRapid Corridor
  • Northwest Transfer Center
  • West Tampa Transfer Center
• HRT (Norfolk/Hampton) – IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT A RECENT SYSTEM UPDATE – PLEASE READ.
  • The Tide LRT Corridor
  • Hampton Transfer Center
  • Newport News Transfer Center
  • High St Ferry Station (IMPORTANT NOTICE).
  • HRT Facility on 18th St in Norfolk
• CTA (Chicago)
  • Various locations throughout the system
• NYCMTA (New York City)
  • Various locations throughout the system

As always, if you see something here that is incorrect, please let me know.