Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on the Streetcar:
Transportation
Time to consider streetcar expansion, Murman says
A streetcar makes a stop in Ybor City. Hillsborough County Commission Chair Sandy Murman said Monday it’s time to consider expanding the system. ANDY JONES/STAFF
By Yvette C. Hammett | Tribune Staff
Published: January 5, 2015 | Updated: January 5, 2015 at 07:46 PM
TAMPA — With huge growth plans for the Channel District and downtown Tampa gearing up, it is time to take a serious look at expanding the streetcar system and hammering out who will pay for it, Hillsborough County Commission Chair Sandy Murman said Monday.
“We need to look at it now, not wait,” said Murman, who sits on the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority board. After reviewing a study that outlines the potential cost of expanding and modernizing the TECO Line Streetcar System — up to $60 million — several HART board members discussed the need to partner with, among others, the City of Tampa, Port Tampa Bay and with Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik, who recently unveiled a $1 billion development plan for the Channel District.
Right now, the streetcar line, which has limited stops between Channelside and Ybor City, is too expensive and doesn’t run often enough, some HART board members said. Expanding it to cover more real estate, upgrading its vintage cars to modern streetcars and boosting its stop schedule could turn it around, they said.
“HART’s role in this is as its operator,” said HART Chairman Mike Suarez, a Tampa city councilman. “Any other choices or sources of revenue, whether it’s community redevelopment dollars or whatever, most of this is probably going to fall on the city and other partnerships, combined with federal and state funds,” he said.
“We are not the driving force,” Suarez said. “We are going to need all those folks to be involved to push forward for any kind of extension.”
Murman called the streetcar extension study “a small piece of a big puzzle. This needs to be coordinated with the port, the Vinik group, the mayor’s office.” The big hurdle is the $400,000 HART must pay each year for insurance to cross the CSX Railroad lines, she said. “Before we can move forward, that is the single No. 1 problem we have to overcome before we can really plan for the future of the streetcar.” She said she is hoping for a legislative remedy this year.
Murman suggested that if the street car line is extended and upgraded, private partners should consider subsidizing fares so that commuters can ride for free, since private interests will ultimately benefit from a better transit system through Channelside and downtown.
She said the Port Authority Board, which she sits on, will be discussing the streetcar issue at an upcoming meeting. Port officials did not return phone calls Monday for comment. In a one-line email to the Tribune, Port spokesman Andy Fobes said, “Port Tampa Bay continues discussions with HART regarding the streetcar as it relates to the Channel District.”
HART Director Bryan Crino, who sits on a committee for the streetcar line, said attending those committee meetings has been depressing, since ridership is dropping. “It is going to take leadership from a lot of different places to solve the problem. I believe it is the responsibility of this board to push this development and solutions and move the streetcar forward.” Crino said this initial study is a good first step.
Steve Schukraft, a consultant with HDR Inc., the company that completed the streetcar study, said it is very preliminary and a lot more detail would have to be studied to know how successful a streetcar extension would be, in terms of ridership and to be more precise about the cost of expansion.
