Tampa Spending $1.2M to Study Streetcar as Option - And Jax Get's A New Bus...

[Ocklawaha]

RAIL - MASS TRANSIT MAGAZINE
FL: Tampa Spending $1.2M to Study Streetcar as Commuter Option
CHRISTOPHER O'DONNELL ON DEC 2, 2015

TAMPA -- With the outcome of the Go Hillsborough transportation referendum still uncertain, Tampa is pushing ahead with plans to transform the Tampa Historic Streetcar into a genuine commuter option for city dwellers.

Three consulting firms have submitted their qualifications to bid for a $1.2 million contract to study extending and modernizing the 2.7-mile streetcar line that runs from Channelside to Ybor City. City leaders have identified the project as a critical part of revitalizing downtown Tampa and catering to millennials who want alternatives to the automobile.

All three firms -- HDR Engineering, AECOM Technical Services and Jacobs Engineering -- have been shortlisted for the contract. The winning firm will be chosen by a city selection committee.

The study, largely funded by a $1 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation, will evaluate potential expansion routes and make recommendations on upgrading the system's vintage style streetcars, which are widely regarded as suitable for tourist trips but not a robust commuter service.

The completed study will be submitted to the Federal Transit Authority to put the city in line for federal funding.

In January, the three firms will make presentations to the selection committee, which will include officials from the city and the state transportation department. The committee will make a recommendation to Mayor Bob Buckhorn before a contract is presented to the city council for approval perhaps in March.

"The mayor will authorize negotiations with that firm," said Mike Chucran, director of contract administration. "It will be a few months out before it goes to council."

Jacobs Engineering worked on the 2010 Hillsborough transportation referendum and the alternatives analysis that helped form the Greenlight Pinellas transportation plan. While the Greenlight plan went down to defeat at the ballot box, the firm points out that its plan was evaluated as technically sound by third parties.

The Jacobs team includes design firm Tindale Oliver and Parsons Brinckerhoff, the firm that conducted the majority of the outreach effort for Go Hillsborough.

Meanwhile in Jacksonville the 'Transportation Authority' has convinced the city that BRT Lite is 'Light Rail on Rubber Tires.' And we've come to the end of the line with our massive investment in fixed transit downtown as the Skyway rolls it's last miles. Convert it to a rapid, elevated, expandable at the surface level streetcar? NO! These geniuses are actually considering making a 2.4 mile, $200 Million dollar jogging track out of it. Great stewards of the public trust.  UNBELIEVABLE!

[Tacachale]

Tampa's streetcar is more of a joke than the Flyer bus and Skyway combined. I don't know why you talk about it like it's a positive thing.

[thelakelander]

This is a good study for Tampa's streetcar. Right now, it's a tourist train. Find a way to actually get it into downtown and some surrounding areas, like UT and Tampa Heights, and it would be a lot more effective than what it is today.  However, I don't see how this study is largely different from what JTA is doing with the Skyway right now.

[Ocklawaha]

Tampa's streetcar is more of a joke than the Flyer bus and Skyway combined. I don't know why you talk about it like it's a positive thing.

Excellent question my friend!

1. Tampa's little tourist ride was rather poorly planned, following the Skyway concept of going from nowhere to nothing and you can't get anywhere in between. It carry's about 1K persons on a really good day. Pathetic.

2. Over $1 Billion dollars in new development (TOD) along the streetcar route.

3. Property near the Convention Center (streetcar district) increased in value by 313% over a six year period.

4. Even with it's dismal (pre-free ride) Skyway like performance look what they accomplished. Like the Skyway, Tampa has speared the City core with a streetcar line built to LRT standards (meaning it can easily be used by streetcars, rapid streetcars, modern, heritage or modern light rail vehicles).  They also "overbuilt"  a huge maintenance and carbarn facility.

5. Unlike the Skyway, this streetcar is easily expandable and minus whistles and bells can be expanded for as little as $5-$10Million a mile. Compare this expandability to the $103,587,979 (adjusted for inflation) per mile we paid for our Skyway.

6. The Streetcar plan presented and adopted by the DDA in 1980 ran from Union Terminal (The Prime Osborn) to the stadium using the length of Water-Independence and segments of Bay Street. Tampa's streetcar is a carbon copy of that plan.

7. So in summary, Streetcars have enormous capacity, are as simple as the battery toy cars we played with as kids and are economical and flexible enough to be easily expandable. A good thing? YES! A very good thing.

[Tacachale]

I don't know that I buy that the Tampa streetcar has resulted in that much TOD. There's a lot going on in the areas that it happens to run through. The one thing it does have going for it is that it will be easier to expand than the Skyway will be, but that's not saying much at all (and obviously it will be more expensive than expanding a bus line). It would be just as easy to expand any streetcar system in the country.

I think the study will be good for Tampa, and hopefully it finally takes off. But it seems a little strange to praise them for finally starting a study of their crappy streetcar while criticizing JTA, who just built a new bus line and are already studying what to do with our comparatively less crappy Skyway.

[thelakelander]

Being from the general area, I've had the opportunity to see the Channel District, before and after, the planning and implementation of the streetcar....which happened to replace a people mover:



Without a doubt, the TECO Streetcar line has helped stimulate infill development along its alignment. However, land use policies and public investment in placing public destinations along the line have also helped. Unfortunately, since it's a tourist train, operations don't begin on Monday through Friday until 12 noon. The best thing they can do is expand it into downtown, a few adjacent neighborhoods and expand weekday operational hours. Do that, and you'll see more development spring up within walking distance of its stations.

One of these days, I'll upload my late 1990s/early 2000s images of the Channel District to show how things have changed since the 2002 opening of the streetcar line.