HART will study light-rail extension to Tampa airport

The county's transportation agency agreed to study extending a light-rail line to Tampa International Airport from a proposed bus transfer station on Spruce Street.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority board today decided to look at ridership and routes to the airport as part of an analysis of possible expanded public transportation networks if voters approve a sales tax referendum that would pay for light-rail lines as well as more bus service.

The analysis would examine a 1.8-mile light-rail extension to the airport terminal from a proposed HART bus transfer station at Spruce and O'Brien streets, where the current route study ends.

Adding the airport to the route study would not delay the timeline for determining routes that calls for the transit authority to begin picking rail and bus routes in August and holding public hearings in September.

The airport studied possible routes through its property to the terminal in 2007, accomplishing some of the work of the analysis, said George Walton with PB Americas Inc. a consultant working on the studies.

Once the authority board picks the projects, the agency will apply to the Federal Transit Administration for engineering funding. The application probably won't happen until after the tax referendum to ensure the agency has matching local money, Walton said.

Before the meeting, John Wheat, executive director of the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, called light rail a great solution to get passengers from the downtown high-speed rail station to the airport.

He also said it was imperative for Tampa International Airport to have a link between the airport and the proposed high-speed stop downtown, near the old Morgan Street jail.

In a choice between high-speed or light rail connecting to the airport, light rail would be preferable, Wheat said.

Last week, the Tampa City Council threw its support behind extending a high-speed line from downtown to the airport.

But Wheat told the HART board that discussion about high-speed links to the airport was premature because there is no estimate of how many people would take the train.

"No one has done an analysis," he said.

Part of the airport's long-range plan includes building a connection to the airport terminal from a light-rail station on airport property, he said.