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Top regional mass transit option identified

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BY TED JACKOVICS

MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

Published: September 4, 2009

A 52-mile passenger rail route linking Wesley Chapel, Tampa and St. Petersburg would draw the highest ridership among five potential light rail lines under study by the Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority.

A 25.4 mile rail TBARTA route from Carrollwood to Westshore, downtown Tampa and Brandon ranked second in potential ridership, followed by Clearwater-Carillon-Tampa, Clearwater-North Pinellas-USF and Clearwater-St. Petersburg rail lines.

TBARTA released a draft report for discussion that adds detail to the seven-county initiative for a combination of rail and bus transit routes, with the first service expected by 2035 provided local counties can generate funding to draw matching funds.

For example, the Wesley Chapel-Tampa-St. Petersburg rail route could cost between $2.8 billion and $5.7 billion for construction and equipment with annual operating and maintenance costs of $39.1 million, the TBARTA report created for the Florida Department of Transportation showed.

It would draw between 14,950 and 25,199 daily boardings. Officials emphasized the routes and costs were projections with a wide degree of variance.

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