Could rail get Rays' attendance on track?

Wishful thinking or not, city leaders hope a proposed light-rail system can help boost Tampa Bay Rays attendance and even quiet rumors that the Rays are Tampa-bound.

Witness the comments at a Thursday night St. Petersburg City Council meeting.

Speaking about Tropicana Field, Councilman Wengay Newton said light rail "is going to be a huge factor, because if you've been there, getting out of there is a huge nightmare."

Councilman Karl Nurse noted how the Rays supported the failed campaign to build light rail in Hillsborough County. The Rays have a "clear understanding" of light rail's importance, Nurse said.

Linking rail and the Rays hasn't comforted some skeptics of the huge price tags they may bring — a half-billion plus for a new stadium these days and as much as $1.7 billion in light-rail startup costs.

What's more, any talk of a link so far has focused on Tropicana Field — a home the Rays say they want out of.

Still, exploring the idea isn't that far afield: Other baseball cities have invested heavily in light-rail stations near their ballparks. And by some measures, fans seemed to have embraced them.

Meantime, Rays or no, light rail supporters in Pinellas County are deep into planning for a 24-mile route connecting downtown Clearwater, the Gateway area of central Pinellas and downtown St. Petersburg.

One idea is to pay the startup costs with a new penny-per-dollar sales tax and some federal funds.

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Tired of hearing about the Rays' weak home attendance, the city council has been looking for ways to help boost turnout lately. That's one reason among several that the council has supported light rail in Pinellas.

Rail might help ease parking problems around Tropicana Field and make it easier for fans to reach, said Jeff Danner, a city councilman who sits on the light-rail initiative's advisory board.

Eventually, Pinellas' proposed train system might even connect to a train system in Hillsborough County via a rebuilt Howard Frankland Bridge.

Danner said a light-rail system might not eliminate the need for a new stadium, "but it certainly can't hurt."

In a brief statement last week, Rays President Matt Silverman said, "We are supportive of all measures to make Rays games more accessible to fans throughout the region."

Nationwide, cities and counties have invested heavily in rail connections to professional sports teams, said Mark Rosentraub, co-director of the University of Michigan's Michigan Center for Sport Management.

Outside of the big Northeastern hubs with their subways, San Diego, Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., and Denver all have built train stops near their sports centers. Rosentraub believes fans are taking trains to ballgames.

"Large numbers do and continue to take light rail," he said.

San Diego opened Petco Park, its downtown stadium for the Padres, in 2004. Originally, the crowds hopping the train to the ballpark were so big the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System couldn't accommodate them all, said Rob Schupp, a transit system spokesman.

Today, about 15 percent of the Padres' fans take light rail to an average game, Schupp said. That's down, he said, but he didn't immediately have a comparison from 2004. He said the transit system remains happy with the Petco Park rail stations.

Fewer people may be hopping the train to the ballpark nowadays because the Padres' attendance is down and fans have become accustomed to parking downtown. The Padres' previous stadium was east of downtown.

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All the talk of Rays and rail is unsettling to Norm Roche, a member of the Pinellas County Commission.

He noted that light rail came up in an "alternatives analysis" that city and county leaders conducted on improvements in local transportation.

"The alternatives analysis didn't have as one of its goals increasing attendance at Tropicana Field," Roche said.

He acknowledges skepticism of light-rail systems. Often, ridership projections are inflated and costs are low-balled, he said.

Meantime, he's reserving judgment on the need for a new stadium. Last week, he asked the chairman of the Pinellas County Commission to schedule a discussion about rail.

An aide to commission Chairman John Morroni said the issue will probably come up at a future commission work session.

Eventually, it would be up to the Pinellas County Commission to put a tax for a light-rail system up for a public referendum. Voters could face a ballot question as early as 2013.

Supporters can only hope that a Pinellas train system fares better at the polls than Hillsborough's did: Hillsborough County voters shot down a one-cent tax for light-rail and enhanced bus service in November 2010.