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TBARTA puts regional master plan before public
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Published: May 1, 2009
The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority has unveiled a new master transportation that will feature light rail, commuter rail, dedicated lanes on interstates for buses and carpools, and more lanes for express bus traffic.
TBARTA members say the plan will allow for seamless travel between the seven counties in its region, if all of it is implemented, and give residents and visitors more options to get where they want to go.
The full concept, if built by 2050, would provide between 124 million and 243 million trips a year.
Although that number may seem small, a quality transit system service the Westshore Business District in Tampa could provide 3,690 daily trips on transit, rather than with auto traffic, the master plan states.
"Realistically, 10 percent or less of the trips would use the network," said Bob Clifford, executive director of the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority.
The entire community, however, would benefit from relieving congestion on highways, reducing harmful environmental impact of vehicle emissions, reduction of fossil fuel usage and economic development.
Improving mass transit has been a key priority for local economic development officials who must compete with cities whose transportation networks are more efficient than Tampa's.
TBARTA Chairman Shelton Quarles said the authority did a lot of research to come up with its plan.
"We've been around the country to Charlotte, Denver and Dallas to see how they ran their systems. We've seen some of the things they did right and some of the things they did wrong," said Quarles, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker. "One of the biggest things that I got is how everybody was willing to work together."
The plan will be developed over two phases:
•A "Mid-term regional network for 2035" that would cost between $13.7 billion and $25.8 billion over 25 years. That would amount to each household in the region paying $125 a year for 25 years.
•A "Long-term regional network for 2050" would increase the projections to between $19.3 billion and $25.8 billion over 40 years.
Local residents could see some elements of the system well before 2035, Clifford said this morning.
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