Longtime Brandon resident Vince Ferraro remembers sitting on a committee formed by the county 10 years ago to study the possibility of building a commuter rail system in Tampa Bay.
The plan the committee came up with was so detailed that the county had developers reserve right of way for the future rail line that would run from Interstate 4 south to Riverview through the Westfield Brandon property with a station on Bloomingdale Avenue.
However, the plans were shelved when new county commissioners came on board with different attitudes about rail transit, said Ramond Chiaramonte assistant executive director of the Hillsborough County Planning Commission.
Then, over the next 10 years, with no active rail plan under way, the commission had no choice but to relieve developers of their obligation to reserve right of way for commuter rail, he said.
“They’ve been talking about a rail system for years but nothing gets done,” said Ferraro. “It would have been a lot cheaper if they’d done it 10 or 15 years ago. It’s a lack of leadership.”
Lucy Ayer, executive director of the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the long-term transportation planning agency for the county, took part in all those former commuter rail studies. She said she understands the frustration, but that it won’t happen again.
“I personally believe it’s time for us,” she said.
Both the MPO and planning commission unanimously adopted resolutions to take another look at commuter rail.
Tampa Bay is one of the top 25 metropolitan areas in the country, ranking 19 with a population of 2.6 million people. However, by 2025, Tampa Bay is expected to add 400,000 residents. This is the equivalent of adding a city the size of Atlanta to Hillsborough County, Chiaramonte said.
All but two of the top 25 metropolitan areas have major rail transit systems: Tampa and Detroit. Even smaller areas such as Albuquerque, N.M., and Salt Lake City, Utah, have commuter rail systems, noted Chiaramonte.
Los Angeles, which dismantled its rail system after World War II and became known for its dependence on cars, is now in the process of rebuilding its commuter rail system.
“Lack of mass transit was one of the reasons our bid for the Olympics failed,” said Chiaramonte.
He believes Tampa Bay’s failure to attract the Olympics and the fact that Orlando was able to get financing for a commuter rail system was the impetus behind the push for a rail system in Hillsborough County.
From a resident’s point of view, rail simply makes sense, he said.
If a family with two breadwinners can eliminate one car, that family could increase its home mortgage by $60,000 to $70,000.
A rail system will improve residents’ quality of life in other ways as well, he said, allowing people to spend less money on gas and less time in traffic. And it offers a reliable, consistent means of transportation for residents who do not drive.
Then there are the economic advantages, he said. Communities with rail systems attract development – businesses, industry, universities and residential development.
Although a new commuter rail line between Charlotte and Mooresville, N.C., is still four years from completion, developers have begun or proposed $1.5 billion of projects around the line’s station stops.
Because so many commuter rail line studies of Hillsborough County already have been done, added Ayer, transportation planners won’t be starting from scratch.
“We aren’t reinventing the wheel,” she said. “We’ve got a lot of information already that we’ll be using.”
In fact, the Florida Department of Transportation purchased the county’s old downtown jail facility specifically for a commuter rail station. And CSX Railroad has 61 miles of right of way it’s agreed to sell. The DOT will loan the money to the county and cities through which the right of way runs for the commuter rail lines.
Among those studies is the 1993 study Ferraro was involved in, which shows a rail line running south along the east side of Interstate 75 from the CSX rail line near U.S. 92 in Mango into south Hillsborough County. The study also shows a commuter rail using the existing railroad line that runs through Mango, Seffner, Valrico, Dover and into Plant City.
Brandon attorney and Winthrop Town Centre developer John Sullivan is among those who have volunteered to be on the rail transit stakeholder committee and take part in a yearlong study beginning this month.
Among his concerns is how the commuter rail system will be financed.
“Since developers are very dependent on transportation, maybe developers should own a piece of that rail,” he suggested.
With the Florida Legislature now discussing forming regional transportation authorities to oversee transportation planning in the state, incoming chamber chairwoman and former state Rep. Sandy Murman wondered who would make decisions about the rail system.
“It’s got to be a lot of different groups working together,” said Chiaramonte.
“We have to think regionally but act locally,” agreed Ayer.
Between now and April, the MPO and planning commission will host public meetings and get residents’ thoughts and ideas about commuter rail. Then, between June and October, staff and consultants will begin planning and design various rail corridors and possible stations, investigate the different rail technologies and look at costs and revenues. Finally, in November and December, they will identify funding sources and develop an action plan to have a rail system in place within the next 20 years.