Tampa streetcar deal reached

TAMPA — Just a month ago, a plan to run Tampa's electric streetcar into the heart of downtown appeared to be in serious trouble. If it wasn't dead, it was at least on life support.

But officials who were at odds hammered out an agreement today to extend the tracks from the Tampa Convention Center to the Tampa City Center esplanade beginning next year.

The ultimate goal is to get more local passengers and office workers on board, not just the tourists and conventioneers who ride the streetcar now.

"The missing link" is what David Mechanik calls the four-block extension.

"We have always wanted to make this connection to the downtown core," said Mechanik, president of the board that oversees the streetcar. "This opens up the opportunity for people to use it as a commuter service to get to and from work," especially as the Channel District is expected to fill up with residents over the long term.

-- Mike Brassfield, Times staff writer

Comments

[Joe]

How about running it to say other South Tampa Communities as well, oh and not closing it when it could do the most to prevent DUI.

[JH Skyscrapercity]

^A trolley, which does roughly 10-13mph for most of its route, isn't practical as anything beyond a circulator, which is what they're doing with it. If our leaders get their act together, light rail will hopefully be developed in a few years, connecting neighborhoods to downtown and Westshore.

Oh, and if they want to do something really useful during this expansion, speed up the service... HART needs to set up kiosks at stations, so that people buy their pass BEFORE boarding the trolley. Also, make the traffic lights controllable, so that the trolley can roll through intersections with the green light, not stop and wait for it. Those two moves alone would shave several minutes off of a typical ride, making the trolley that much more compelling for potential users along its route.