Fare-free rides may end for TECO Line Streetcar
After six years, there may soon be no more free rides on the TECO Line Streetcar system.
With the latest Florida Department of Transportation grant that helped keep the service free expiring, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) is holding a public hearing on Wednesday, November 7th on the prospect of passengers again paying to ride the 2.7-mile streetcar system, which runs from downtown through the Channel District and Port Tampa Bay to Ybor City.
The meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on the third-floor of the HART Ybor Administrative Offices, 1201 E. Seventh Ave. in Ybor. The public can also view the meeting on the
HART YouTube channel. There is also an online
survey on the possibility of reinstating fares.
The streetcar has consistently broken ridership records since FDOT awarded HART a $2.7 million Innovation Grant in 2018 that allowed the system to go fare-free and expand service with increased frequency and service hours.
HART operates the streetcar system with funding from FDOT grants, the City of Tampa, Tampa’s Community Redevelopment Agencies and the Tampa Downtown Partnership. In September 2023, a $700,000 FDOT kept the streetcar free for another year.
As downtown, the Channel District area and now Ybor City have become hot spots for redevelopment, the streetcar has emerged as an important piece of the transportation network in the city’s urban core. In 2023, the system had record ridership of more than 1.31 million passenger trips. Without funding to replace the FDOT grant, fares may return by January 5, 2025.
For more information, go to TECO Line Streetcar
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