Posted on 10/26/2002 1:37:55 PM PDT by foreverfree
Tampa streetcars running again
A restored streetcar line opened Saturday, October 19 in Tampa, Fla., 50 years after the city scrapped its streetcar system.
The yellow TECO streetcars link downtown with the Ybor City entertainment district. The $53 million project includes a 2.3-mile route with 10 stations. The line’s seven cars run every 7 to 15 minutes between the Marriott Waterside Hotel in downtown Tampa and 8th Avenue/20th Street in Ybor City.
The line is initially expected to carry 950 riders daily; a mile of track remains to be completed.
foreverfree
Quotable
“It’s ironic that President Bush’s lack of support for Amtrak is contributing to the fall of a company that his great-grandfather helped make a success. President Bush and Congress can change this…by working to give Amtrak the funding it needs to rebuild."
--Stu Nicholson, administrative director of the Ohio Association of Railroad Passengers, regarding the near demise of Buckeye Steel Castings Corp. of Columbus, which has suspended operations.
The company, an OARP corporate member that supplied passenger car components to Amtrak, began 121 years ago as the Murray-Hayden Foundry. President George W. Bush’s great-grandfather, Samuel Prescott Bush, was president of Buckeye Steel from 1907-1927.
"I don't pay about 90% of the time. I believe truly that I shouldn't have to pay for public transportation."
--Dallas Area Rapid Transit commuter Star Besio, quoted in a Dallas Morning News story on the relatively low level of fare cheaters on the transit system. A DART survey concluded that just 2.6% of rush hour commuters ride without paying, costing the transit agency about $250,000 annually. It would cost more than that to mount an intensive effort to nab all of the fare-beaters, DART says.
If someone can provide a link to the Dallas News article referred to above, please do. Thanks in advance.
foreverfree
That 950 people per day fiqure is a large fantasy.
They saying, please ride our wonderful new trollies so we don't look like dummies who spend your tax dollars to make ourselves feel good.
Tampa is famous for great ideas that would up being boondoggles
foreverfree
If true, it doesn't seem to justify the investment. It's about $56,000 Bucks capital per passenger. Even at a 5% interest rate you'd need to make $7.64 per passenger, above operating costs and depreciation, - on a 2.3 mile course - to justify this investment.
Ridiculous.
I know, repeat after me
...but given enough time, money and the right people, it will work
The Boondoggle mantra
I wonder how much of that $53 went to the Mob?
Interesting statistic -- and, interestingly enough...
I took the cost of the system and wondered how long it would take to pay it off if each rider (assuming the projected 950/day) were charged a $20 fare (yeah, I know) with no interest or depreciation figured in.
7.64 years! Interesting; no fares were mentioned.
Hey, the Bucs lost a tough one in Philly. But they are winning!!! I still love them.
Now the stadium is a different story.
I wonder how much of that $53 went to the Mob?
Do you mean "The Mob", or "City Hall Mob" Not a whole lot of difference now days
Light rail aka streetcars are another story. On a case by case basis light rail systems need to by examined, not only by the success stories but also by the failures. In Cincy the light rail fever has caught on, but they never mention the Los Angeles green line. It is a story of political corpution, technical incompetence, and very poor vision. Proposals seeking 80% federal funding rarely mention this.
foreverfree
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