Tampa, Fla., Bayonne, N.J., to mark rail growth
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefFederal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff will attend the Jan. 31 dedication of the TECO heritage streetcar line extension in downtown Tampa, Fla., acting as keynote speaker of the line’s Whiting Street Station. The 1/3-mile extension was put into operation last month.
Rogoff’s visit is viewed by some as a political tactic to shore up rail supporters in the Sunshine State, since a $5 million operating endowment created when TECO began operations in October 2002 is expected to be exhausted by year-end. A task force of the Tampa Historic Streetcar Inc. and the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, including city officials, is trying to reach a new operating agreement to keep the line operating without cutting service.
Regional residents last November also rejected plans for a more modern and extensive light rail transit system, while the state of Florida continues to debate establishing high speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.
Another extension, this one roughly one mile, also will be dedicated Jan. 31 in Bayonne, N.J., as New Jersey Transit’s Hudson-Bergen-Light Rail Transit (HBLRT) opens its 8th Street Station, serving a densely populated neighborhood. Still uncertain at press time is whether Gov. Chris Christie, often criticized as being at best disinterested in rail transit improvement, will attend the opening ceremonies.
HBLRT’s first segments began revenue service in April 2000, but Bayonne residents and public officials were vociferous in stressing their desire for LRT to serve their city. Three current Bayonne stops generate a substantial percentage of overall system ridership; the city’s 34th Street Station also serves as a transfer point for buses operated by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) that link Staten Island (south of Bayonne) with Manhattan.
