A light-rail route between Tampa International Airport and downtown could be operational by 2015 - three years early - under a scenario the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority would consider if county voters approve a sales tax increase on Nov. 2.
HART chief executive David Armijo said at a meeting Monday night that revenue from the 1-cent-on-the-dollar sales tax increase could jump-start the area's first light-rail route, instead of waiting for federal matching funds for that segment.
That would mean local expenditures to build the airport-to-downtown route could be considered as matching funds to obtain federal money to build the proposed 18-mile downtown-New Tampa light-rail route.
HART has been working on the assumption that 2018 likely was the earliest the city could complete its first light-rail line.
Being able to finish the airport-to-downtown segment by 2015 would enable a connection at Tampa's high-speed rail station scheduled for completion early that year, providing a passenger connection with Florida's Tampa-Lakeland-Orlando high-speed rail route.
On Monday, Tampa airport officials provided a boost to the light-rail plans by proposing two on-airport sites for a rail maintenance yard and shop, easing fears that sufficient land might not be available.
HART's board on Monday also approved a $62.7 million operations budget and $74.1 million capital budget for 2011. The budget is scheduled for approval at a Sept. 27 public hearing.
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