TAMPA — Gov. Rick Scott approved $1 million for a 10-year plan for transit projects in Tampa Bay as part of the $88.7 billion state budget he signed Friday.
The $1 million will go to the recently revamped Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, which the Legislature restructured last year to focus solely on transit. Securing the money for this plan was the second step in the agency's redesign.
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Known as a Regional Transit Development Plan, the clunky term refers to 10-year plan that would outline what projects the region should focus on, such as bus rapid transit, streetcars or rail, and when they should be built.
The appropriation gives the agency $1 million to hire a contractor. Michael Case, Principal Planner and Project Manager for TBARTA, expects that finishing the study will about a year.
By that time, Tampa Bay Partnership CEO Rick Homans hopes legislators in next year's session will be close to signing off on the group's third goal: the state will start to fund the regional transit agency on an annual basis. Where that money will come from and what TBARTA would be able to use it for — to fund more studies, or to actually start building something — would be determined at a later time.
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The partnership had identified the $1 million request for TBARTA as its top priority for the legislative session. Homans, along with other members of the Tampa Bay business community, spent considerable time in Tallahassee this spring trying to win over support.
The projected timeline for completing the plan has it wrapping up around the same time as a state-funded initiative to chose a preferred regional transit project. Planners are still refining that concept, but currently a 41-mile bus rapid transit line between Wesley Chapel, Tampa and St. Petersburg is the lead concept.
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