Is Tampa Bay big enough to support rail lines? (Miami: 2014, taxes)

[planedition]

As I was driving along the Selmon expressway today, I thought they could easily build a rail line down that thing. Do you think Tampa has a population willing to support this kind of public transit? I just think it might run empty most of the time. People here don't seem interested in public transit.

To clarify, the main hub/station of my imaginary "Bayrail" system would be downtown Tampa. And then we could have lines fan out from there down 275 north (to service north tampa) and south (to service st. pete), the Veterans (to service north tampa), the Selmon (to service Brandon).

Our rail system map could look like Milan's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Milano_Subway_map.svg

But with fewer stations, lines, etc.

[gonzoUSF]

This a very prominent and on going subject in the Bay area and a touchy one at that, because you have about half the people for rail and about half the people against it.

It's been long discussed, so I won't really rehash what has already been said and/or can be found online, but to answer your question, yes, Tampa Bay and Tampa can both support mass transit.

That being said, we will never see a rail line going through the middle of the Selmon not to mention a rail line to Brandon is about midway down on the list of priorities when it comes to establishing light rail. Specifically for Tampa and the county alike the number 1 and number 2 routes that will first get rail is USF->Downtown and then Downtown->TPA. A Brandon route is 10-15 years away and would most likely be a heavy commuter route and would use existing CSX tracks ROW.

Eventually and when I say eventually this is 15-20+ years from this could be a mass transit system:




And for the interested here is the HART 2011 presentation on rail: (pdf)http://pinellasontrack.com/sites/def...0HART%20AA.pdf

[kmarc]

I like the idea of light rail in Tampa Bay, I think the vision has come from that Ed Turanchik guy (hope I have the name correct). I think all cities should have some sort of light rail and like the idea of running hydrofoils or ferries across and up and down the bay, too, as part of the system. I used South Florida's tri-rail system to get from Broward County to downtown Miami when I lived over there and I really got a kick out of watching the back-ups on 1-95 as the train calmly passed by all that. Of course, I did live close to one of the station stops in Easter Broward, so it was easy for me.

My only concern about light rail is I don't want to be a sitting duck for gangbangers. But I think, before they try to connect Tampa, Orlando and Miami with a major train line, light rail should be developed in the major cities first to get people to and from work.

[algia]

It would be nice, but the type of ppl living/moving here will oppose it because they are tired of "taxes" from up north! Because they have a hard time thinking about others who might benefit from it!

[EngGirl]

People in Tampa don't care about public transit. After high speed rail project was killed, there is no future for better than we have now public transit options...

[bnepler]

Now who do think will have to pay for a mass transit rail line? Most people that don't ride on them.

[gonzoUSF]

Eventually we are going to have mass transit, no question about it. If Tampa can get a city only referendum on the ballot, it will pass. It would have passed in 2010 had it been city only. The problem is the rest of the county is going to continue to vote it down, because they would be getting taxed for it, but would never use it. The key is getting the city only referendum.

And to say the people of Tampa don't care, is quite generalizing. Tampa, specifically the City of Tampa and its residents do care about mass transit and rail and facts prove that. There are numerous polls that show city residents support light rail. Again it's the rest of the county, the people in the suburbs that do no want mass transit, or at least publicly funded mass transit.

[tampagator89]

Originally Posted by bnepler

Now who do think will have to pay for a mass transit rail line? Most people that don't ride on them.

That doesn't mean it won't benefit them. If the system gets enough usage then the congestion on 275 and surrounding roads is very much alleviated, and business growth is spurned downtown and at Westshore. That and drunk driving rates plummet.

If the area keeps growing at its current rate then sooner or later people will have no choice but to vote "yes" for light rail, unless they want it to take 2 hours for them to get to and from work.

[tampagator89]

One of the reasons this area doesn't have light rail yet is because there are a lot of retirees that live here that only drive to get groceries, if they drive at all. I'm not blaming them, why would they vote yes for this? The nature of this area still has to change before we see something like this (more business growth will do it).

Hopefully a TIA-Downtown-USF general line is approved within the next 5 years, succeeds, and is expanded upon quickly after that.

[algia]

Originally Posted by bnepler

Now who do think will have to pay for a mass transit rail line? Most people that don't ride on them.

Thanks for proving my point!