Tampa – More Trolley Cash

Rail Transit Online, February 2000

The Florida DoT has restored $500,000 to the Tampa-Ybor City streetcar project, raising hopes that the second phase of the 2.4-mile line can get underway.  Last November a DoT advisory panel rejected the funding request from Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, Tampa’s transit operator, but it was unexpectedly included in the department’s budget by Transportation Secretary Thomas Barry.  “As I understand this, the money can only be used for phase two,” Steve Carroll, Director Of Engineering And Development for HART, told the Tampa Tribune.  “We don't know when that phase will begin or how much it will cost.”  The money, which would help extend the line into downtown, comes from a fund created when Gov. Jeb Bush canceled the proposed high speed train connecting Miami, Orlando and Tampa.  The budget must now be approved by the legislature and signed by the governor, both of which are expected.