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Tampa’s streetcar will stay fare-free through September after the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency voted to fund it earlier this month, but council members say this is only a temporary solution.
The TECO line streetcar has been free for riders since 2018 because of an annual $700,000 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation.
But that grant expired, and now Tampa’s Community Redevelopment Agency Board hesitantly voted 6 to 1 this month to replace the funds.
CRA Board member and City Council member Charlie Miranda voted against it.
City Council member Bill Carlson expressed concern about the streetcar’s fare-free future past that date.
“We’ve got to figure out a different funding source for this in the future. It seems to be a success that it’s free, but if the state and federal government are not going to fund it, how do we figure this out? It’s not sustainable the way it is,” Carlson said.
Luis Viera is a city council member and CRA board member.
“This is very very temporary, and all this does is push this issue off a little bit more,” Viera said.
Funding from the Ybor City, Channel District, and Downtown CRA will be used to fund this fare-free initiative.
The Streetcar set an annual record last fiscal year, with over 1.3 million trips taken, according to the City of Tampa.
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