Once again we seem fixated on the future of Tampa’s TECO Line Streetcar. It remains underused and oversubsidized. City Hall and the Florida DOT are now funding a study to find viability beyond convention-center marketing to visitors. Will it become a “new urbanism,” transit tool for the residents and workers in downtown and nearby neighborhoods?
I can’t help hearkening back 15 years when the updated version of the original trolley was launched. The wink-and-nod word from insiders was that, while this looked like a nostalgic tourist amenity, it was really a “starter set” for light rail. It might yet be.