We’re in downtown Tampa, a bus stop at Jackson Street and HART Transit Parkway.

The sun has risen, and all the commuters from the Quail Hollow and Wesley Chapel commuter HART bus have gotten off and are walking to their respective jobs.

Some tote satchels with laptops in them; others drag briefcases on wheels.

Natalia Cerrito just packed up her laptop on the bus. “I’m taking a break,” she announced earlier, a few minutes before the bus stopped. She says the main reason she takes the bus is money.

“I would pay $400 a month in gas or parking fees,” she said. “So I’m saving a good amount.”

She takes the bus to work every day.

“I like it.”

Riders such as Cerrito and Nell Penny say the commuter buses are a godsend for people living in the suburbs and working downtown.

“I tell everybody,” Penny says. “Before, I thought the bus was for people who didn’t have cars or were strapped for cash.”

When she moved to Wesley Chapel recently, she drove to her job downtown for about three days.

“It was an hour-and-a-half trip, and I tried all different routes,” she says. “I was frustrated.” She started taking the bus and has never looked back.

HART spokeswoman Kathy Karalekas says that last year’s ridership broke a record set in 2006, which broke the record set the year before that.

“We’ve broken the record for every year for the past three years,” she said, “and we’re on track to reach 12 million rides this year.”

The increase could be due to other factors as well. Tweaking the bus schedule, adding night and weekend and express routes, brings in business, she says. The high gas prices add to the bus business, she says.

Says Penny: “I fill up my car once every two weeks. If I drove to work, I would be filling it up every four days.”

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