TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

County Plans System Of High-Speed Buses

Tribune graphic; Source: HART

Hillsborough Area Regional Transit is proposing a bus system designed to move passengers more quickly than on traditional bus routes. The two potential routes outlines here would have limited stops to minimize downtime; buses would be equipped with devices to prolong green lights at intersections.

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICH SHOPES, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 6, 2007

TAMPA - Even after recent budget cuts, the county's transit agency is moving forward to create a high-speed bus network.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority just trimmed its budget by 3 percent and faces the prospect of a 10 percent reduction a year from now if voters back a referendum in January to slash property taxes statewide.

However, that fiscal uncertainty hasn't slowed plans to launch the bus rapid transit network in 2010 to help tackle congestion. Planners have identified two routes and a few dozen tentative stops.

Bus rapid transit is like express service, but with a high-tech twist: The buses are sleeker, low to the ground and allow drivers, at the flick of a switch, to get through intersections before the light turns red.

The entire system is designed to emphasize speed. The bus stops, spaced a half-mile to a mile apart, come with ticket dispensers to eliminate cash transactions on the vehicles and post real-time updates to tell riders when to expect the next bus.

Hillsborough County commissioners, citing the county's explosive growth and congestion, voted this year to award $40 million toward the project. It's doubtful HART would have been able to launch the service so soon if not for the windfall.

The plan comes as Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, HART and county commissioners have talked for months about the need for a light-rail network stretching from the University of South Florida to downtown to Tampa International Airport.

Prelude To Light Rail

The project to bring the high-speed buses to Tampa could tie into those plans through eventual stops at or near rail stations. HART officials are quick to point out, though, that a rail system could be a decade or more away.

HART Executive Director David Armijo said the high-speed bus system "is very much a prelude to light rail."

"The message we're hoping to share through BRT is that we're trying to bring the future of transit to Tampa today, within the next two or three years," Armijo said.

BRT, as Bus Rapid Transit is commonly known, exists in Orlando, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston and a handful of other U.S. and foreign cities. A cross between rail and traditional bus service, BRT routes usually operate on old railroad beds and separate, painted vehicle lanes.

Tampa's version of BRT will have neither because HART cannot afford to purchase separate rights of way for bus routes.

Money approved in September by the commissioners will go toward design and construction of one route, on Nebraska and Fletcher avenues, and foot the design bill for a second route on Hillsborough Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

HART hopes to attract enough state and federal grants in the next few years to construct the Hillsborough-MLK corridor, including more than a dozen stations and curbside pullouts, as work on the Nebraska-Fletcher corridor nears completion.

New Corridor Routes Seen

The Nebraska-Fletcher route would stretch 15 miles from a park-and-ride lot at Interstate 75 and Fletcher to downtown Tampa with stops, among other places, at USF, Seminole Heights and downtown Tampa. Riders at the 22 stops would wait 10 minutes during peak periods and 15 minutes at midday for a bus. The plan is for the system to start operating in late 2010.

The Hillsborough-MLK corridor would run 18 miles, have about 15 stops and carry passengers from Temple Terrace to Tampa International Airport, with stations at the Netpark Transfer Center, Nebraska Avenue, St. Joseph's Hospital and near International Plaza, among other places. The wait time on that route would mirror that of Nebraska-Fletcher, and both routes would operate from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Scores of details need to be worked out. HART officials say location of stops could change over the next year.

Also unknown is when the Hillsborough-MLK route will launch - it depends on federal and state funding - and how many buses HART will acquire for both routes, again at the mercy of funding.

Public transit buses run as high as $350,000 each.

Mary Shavalier, the agency's director of planning, said HART likely would buy some new buses and retrofit existing ones to save money. The fares for BRT passengers also have to be determined.

"We'll know more closer to the launch, as we hold public hearings," HART spokeswoman Jill Cappadoro said. The next public meeting is set for 4 to 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at Seminole Heights Baptist Church, 801 E. Hillsborough Ave.

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT