By MICHAEL H. SAMUELS
The Tampa Tribune
Published: Mar 22, 2007
TAMPA - HART trolleys could soon be running down South Howard Avenue during the wee hours of Friday and Saturday nights.
City and HART officials are working out details to provide late-night trolley or bus shuttle service to help alleviate traffic problems in SoHo.
"We're looking at some parking along Platt [Street] and we're looking at a SoHo-Hyde Park shuttle option," city transportation manager Roy LaMotte said.
He said the trolley would have to run between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m. to be successful. It would start at the Hyde Park Village parking garages and travel down Swann Avenue to Howard. MacDinton's Irish Pub & Restaurant, 405 S. Howard Ave., would serve as a main hub. The loop would run along Howard between Bayshore and Kennedy boulevards and also include Platt, Cleveland Street and Armenia Avenue.
"We believe we can implement this quickly," LaMotte said. "It has to be a distinctive shuttle, something more of the rubber-tire trolley style rather than a regular bus."
LaMotte said the city will hold a public meeting in mid-April to discuss possible bus or trolley service. He also said city officials have identified an area on the north side of Platt between Howard and Packwood Avenue where street parking spots could be added.
At a public meeting in January, neighbors expressed interest in expanding area bus service but only if it ran during the appropriate hours and was marketed heavily.
The city council is expected today to discuss the status of previous funding for SoHo parking and whether land is available in the area for public parking.
HART spokeswoman Jill Cappadoro said the goal is for the shuttle service to run in short intervals and attract riders who live in the neighborhood but are too far away to walk to the bars and restaurants lining South Howard.
"Those people will not need to get into their car at all," she said. "They can use the trolleys to make the short trip. It's not always a comfortable walk, especially in the summer or at night."
She said the trolley could ease congestion caused by on-street parking.
The agency's Hyde Park In-Town Trolley averages about 4,600 riders a month, or about 15 riders an hour, running between downtown and Hyde Park Village.
Cappadoro said the Hyde Park trolley service costs almost $600,000 annually and is not productive, so changing the route might be a better way to spend the money.
"We think in order for it to work, it would need to have a five- to 10-minute frequency," she said of a SoHo trolley. "Right now we are looking at something during the busiest days of the week, Friday and Saturday nights."
She said HART is researching funding and other details.
"It's exciting," she said. "The city is viewing the trolley as a potential solution to a community issue."
Reporter Michael H. Samuels can be reached at (813) 835-2109 or msamuels@tampatrib.com.
