Telephone Interpreting Services to Impact 104K Florida Residents

3-Year Contract Makes Interpreters Unlimited Sole Language Service Provider for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority

SAN DIEGO, CALIF., Oct. 13, 2016—The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) recently awarded Interpreters Unlimited with a three year contract for on-site interpretation, telephone interpretation and document translation to serve limited English proficiency (LEP) persons. Under this contract, HART seeks to ensure LEP persons are not left behind and aims to increase awareness through professional language services. HART’s current operation includes 182 bus routes for the cities of Tampa, Temple, Terrace, parts of unincorporated Hillsborough County, Florida with connections to Pinella County.

According to a September 2015 passenger survey, 23% of riders are Hispanic and 13.3% of Hispanic riders listed Spanish as their household language. Among provisions, HART required at minimum (in addition to Spanish) the vendors to supply at least 200 languages for spoken interpretation with a minimum requirement of English, Creole (Haitian), Mandarin, French and Vietnamese. At this time, Spanish is the only requirement for written translations.

Telephone interpretation services will connect an LEP person with an interpreter in minutes via a conference line. Document translations will provide the phone number and instructions for Florida residents to obtain access. “Utilizing technology is crucial for effective communication and is cost-effective,” explains, Shamus Sayed, VP marketing of Interpreters Unlimited. “We look forward to learning more about supporting HART’s passengers and anticipate a long-term relationship.”

In the past year, 15,449,510 HART transit trips were recorded which indicate a need for such services. HART also indicated that the service area of the transit system reaches 104,338 people who Speak English less than very well, according to a 2010 Census and American Community Survey 5-year Estimate Projected to 2015.

For more information about Interpreters Unlimited please visit www.interpreters.com or call 800-726-9891.

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About IU

The IU Group of companies include: Interpreters Unlimited, Accessible Communication for the Deaf, Albors & Alnet and Arkansas Spanish Interpreters and Translators, and are headquartered in San Diego, California as a minority owned company.  IU Group is committed to providing equal opportunity in the work environment with its diverse team to aid in supplying linguistic and cultural interpretation services to clients. A combined 70 years in the industry and 9,000 contracted linguists demonstrates a surplus of leadership and best practices, which helped establish its respected role in the language services community. Its services include foreign language interpretation, American Sign Language interpretation, and document translation.

Media Contact

Anita Mackie
(858) 866-0500 x 1003
anita(dot)mackie(at)iugroup.com