February 12, 2004
Rich ride, poor pay
Funny thing: When HARTline’s best customers, the working poor, protest a fare increase, HARTline shrugs and mumbles something about covering rising costs. But when a group of downtown businessmen recently asked HARTline to keep a free shuttle free, for the benefit of monied tourists and South Tampa residents, the HARTline board could not act fast enough:
In a word, Jovanna Betancourt sums up a disparity that costs her 50 cents to ride a bus through her neighborhood while another circulator through downtown and Harbour Island costs riders nothing.Posted by Norwood at February 12, 2004 01:30 AM``Ridiculous.''
``If we can afford to pay for our buses, so can they,'' Betancourt said Tuesday. She lives near the University of South Florida and was heading home after a trip to Wal-Mart.
The downtown service has been free to riders since its implementation in 1999.
It has cost taxpayers plenty to keep the rubber-wheeled yellow cars rolling. The city and county have given annual contributions and, today, the Tampa City Council will be asked to approve $50,000 toward the trolley and other downtown bus services.
The request comes a week after HARTline's board delayed a plan to start charging for the downtown service. Until recently, federal air-quality grants have underwritten most of the trolley's costs.
That money, provided to help launch the service, has all been spent, and the bulk of the trolley's $685,000 annual budget has come from HARTline's general fund.
Some HARTline executives in January sought a 50-cent fare, expecting it would raise $30,000 to $40,000 a year.
The board agreed to start charging this spring. After that vote, Tampa Downtown Partnership Executive Director Christine Burdick and Tampa Convention Center head John Moors asked for a delay.
That led to the board's 5-4 decision last week to delay the fare.
Those who voted against the delay expressed concern about the double standard of charging in some places and not in others.
``It creates an inequity that's not appropriate,'' board member Steve Polzin said at the time. Polzin is a researcher at USF's Center for Urban Transportation Research.
Others pointed out that the regular bus routes took a nickel increase, effective in April, to keep up with rising costs.
