Trolley will roll, but will they ride?

Streetcar system organizers prepare for the grand opening with fingers crossed.

By DAVID KARP, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 14, 2002

TAMPA -- The last time Tampa tried a mass transit experiment, the opening day festivities were full of promise.

Hundreds of balloons were released into the air over Harbour Island, and a former president of the United States showed up to hit a golf ball over Hillsborough Bay.

But Harbour Island's $7-million "People Mover" monorail, launched so hopefully in 1985, ended in failure several years later. Now the money committed to that project is being used for the city's latest mass transit initiative -- the $53-million TECO electric streetcar system that opens Saturday.

The big question facing the new system is the same one that haunted the old one: Will enough people pay to ride?

The success of the new yellow streetcars, which run on tracks and follow overhead electric wires, hangs entirely on getting people on board.

Planners expect 950 riders a day to pay an average fare of $1 each to ride between Ybor City and downtown. But that's just a projection.

Even Michael English, president of the Tampa Historic Streetcar Board, says he can't be certain what's going to happen.

"It's a big experiment, really," he said.

The system's operators have a $2.1-million grant from the federal government, which is enough to keep the streetcars rolling for a few years even if ridership tanks.

But then they'll run into problems.

Operators expect fares and advertising inside the cars to pay one-third of the system's $1.5-million annual operating costs. Another third will come from a special tax on downtown and Ybor City property owners. The final third, they say, should come from money raised by selling naming rights to streetcars and stations.

All the financing, though, depends on ridership. Businesses won't buy ads if not enough riders are seeing them. And it's unlikely that residents in condominiums as far north as Interstate 275 will want to pay a tax to support empty streetcars.

So where will the system find its 950 people a day?

Last week, a Times reporter searched for them while walking the streetcar route.

The system's eastern end begins on Eighth Avenue and 20th Street in Ybor City, about two miles from Harbour Island. This is home to a Sheriff's Office parking lot and the Hillsborough Environmental Protection Commission.

Not exactly big draws.

At midday, street parking spaces are vacant and sidewalks are empty.

About two blocks away, a new store, LA Fashions, is open on 21st Street. Signs announce 30 percent discounts.

Inside, Johnny Ashley, who also goes by the rap name Drastik, is leaning over a computer. There are no customers in the store.

"I think that's great," he says when asked about the trolley.

But he isn't sure whether the trolley stops nearby.

"You talking about the Duck tours?" he asks.

The store's landlord, Rochelle Orr, chimes in. Her family, the Scagliones, have owned this property since 1940. They have seen it change from a gambling house to a bar to a hip-hop store.

"It will be real good," she says of the trolley.

Two blocks away, Fred and Jill Dolan pull up in front of the Ybor City Museum State Park at 19th Street and Ninth Avenue. Streetcar advocates hope tourists like them will ride the line.

The Dolans have driven from the Sarasota beaches to see the museum. Now they're looking for a good place to eat dinner. They want directions to Hyde Park.

The streetcar line would pass right by their car. Both say they would jump on it.

"You don't have to know where you are going," Fred Dolan says. "You just follow the trolley."

Though the system's opening is just days away, only three of the 10 stations have names. Promoters are selling naming rights but have found few takers so far.

"It's hard for a business to make an investment without a justifiable return," English says.

Still, he and others remain confident that advertisers will come once the streetcar starts running.

If the deals aren't signed, the streetcar board could be forced to dip into its $4.6-million endowment. The board had hoped to spend only the endowment's interest, but that may not be possible.

LaQuainta Butler, 16, offers some hope. She lives with her mother at the new Camden apartments in Ybor City, home to about 220 residents.

The pair drive to concerts at the St. Pete Times Forum about once a month. They also drive to the movies at Channelside. Both venues are on the streetcar route.

Soon, Butler says, they'll cruise on the streetcar.

"I think it's good," she says.

There is no doubting the potential market for the system.

Every day, at least 750 drivers pay to park in garages near the route. Almost 4,000 cars are parked in those same garages on Saturday nights.

The Hilton Garden Inn in Ybor regularly fills its 95 rooms. Within six months, workers will begin building a 138-room Hampton Inn nearby.

Farther south on the streetcar line is another sea of cars. They are parked at the Florida Aquarium, which attracts about 1,600 visitors daily. Another 1,000 drivers park each day to shop at Channelside or to walk to the St. Pete Times Forum.

But some aren't convinced that everyone will want to go for a ride.

"I think it's a nice addition, but I don't think it will have a major impact," says Lori Rafter, a spokeswoman for the Tampa Port Authority, where hundreds of passengers get on and off cruise ships each day.

Many of those passengers don't have the time or the energy to ride a streetcar so they can wander around Ybor City, Rafter says.

The biggest draws are on the western end of the line.

The St. Pete Times Forum attracts 1.5-million visitors annually to hockey games and concerts. The Tampa Waterside Marriott often fills its 755 rooms and suites.

Then there is the Tampa Convention Center. Officials hope it will be a big moneymaker. About 1,350 tourists attend conventions at the center on an average day. Many don't rent cars and don't know Tampa, which makes them perfect for the streetcar.

One afternoon last week, a wave of bleary-eyed medical workers streamed out of the Convention Center after attending the 48th annual meeting of the American Association for Respiratory Care.

Some boarded a bus heading to downtown hotels. Some looked for taxis to take them to the airport.

Donald Foubare, a conventioneer in sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt, wanted to find a way across town. During the convention, he took a taxi one night to Ybor City.

Foubare, who can take buses downtown at home in Seattle, would have taken the trolley.

"It would have been nice," he said before heading home.

-- David Karp can be reached at 226-3376 or karp@sptimes.com.

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