Tampa's transportation struggles to keep up with its increasing population 

The city of Tampa’s population is growing at a rapid rate and the collective transportation systems are struggling to keep up. Tampa citizens are affected by the lack of transportation and centralized overpopulation in the traffic congestion, COVID-19 procedures, and even their rent. 

 

According to The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) 2023 projected budget, $40 million is to be set towards transportation in 2023 compared to the adopted $353.5 million in the same category for 2022. 

 

People commuted less in the year 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as a result, there was significantly less of the budget used for that year. Since 2020, the following years have had a significantly higher used budget, yet 2023 is projected to be $313.5 million less than 2022. 

 

One of the assumed contenders for the Tampa population growth is the flexibility acquired from people working from home as a COVID-19 ripple effect. As a result, HART acknowledged that it seems there are overall fewer people utilizing the bus system.

 

Accompanied by an increase in population comes a decrease in transportation. Overall public transportation has become less common in Hillsborough county as reflected in bus and trolley schedules and contrary to the city’s dramatic growth.

 

Tampa’s population since the 2010 census has risen 13.07%, in comparison to the national population growth of 7.35%. The increase in metropolitan population has led some residents to move further outside of the downtown area, where the rent is triple what it was in 2014. 

 

“The [housing] market’s going crazy and that means the rental market too,” said local realtor Colette Hughes. “Everything is intense, like working with agents. People that work with a lot of renters are exhausted. I’m exhausted. There’s only so many local changes you can handle.”

 

Due to the ‘Penny Tax’ rejected for Hillsborough county, Tampa’s transportation surtax trust fund has decreased from $192 million for 2021, to a projected $0 for 2022. The one-cent tax was intended to benefit local infrastructure instead of operating expenses. 

 

In 2021, Florida’s Supreme Court ruled the one-cent tax unconstitutional due to the specification of where the money is intended to be spent, which instead should be determined by the county commissioners according to Fox13. This is contrary to the 2018 vote, where 57% of Hillsborough county approved it. November 2022 voters didn’t receive an option to vote for the one-cent tax on their ballots due to the Supreme Court. 

 

In response to the denial of the one-cent tax, the local civilian team that incentivized it, ‘All For Transportation’s’ co-founder Tyler Hudson said in a press conference, “The only losers today are the residents of Hillsborough County who have again had their opportunity to fix our broken transportation system delayed. We will continue to pay the high price of doing nothing and the call for action will only grow louder.” 

 

Besides the general population’s regard, city councilmen have also discussed the transportation crisis unfolding. 

 

In a mid-November 2022 meeting, councilman Charlie Miranda said, “In my mind we don’t have the transportation system to realize the facts that were presented, because if we had one, we wouldn’t have the problem.”

 

In response to the population’s transportation concern, HART’s Community Engagement Specialist Yolanda Moreno said are avenues HART anticipates taking. A foreseen option is hiring a service team in March 2023 that might determine the need for an increased number of bus routes, or a change in the geographic routes. 

 

HART is looking for community feedback in terms of improving their systems, as “a lot of it just takes the public willing to be more open to the use of public transportation rather than relying on their personal vehicles,” Moreno said. 

 

The use of personal vehicles in the Tampa Bay area has increased steadily alongside the population. The congestion level in Tampa has increased by 21% in 2021, which implies it took 21% longer to reach a destination, according to patch.com. This is in suggestion that residents often elect to drive their vehicles instead of using the limited public transportation offered. 

 

For some that don’t have access to a personal vehicle, traffic congestion remains an issue as they result in ride-sharing services. The University of Tampa student Sean Machado-Guzman often commutes home from school via Uber. 

 

“Ubers can get expensive and sometimes you never know what the traffic's gonna look like,” Machado-Guzman said. “Sometimes you might have to leave 45 minutes to an hour earlier before even going to school. And with Uber, at certain times their rates are more on the expensive side.”

 

Tampa Bay citizens have resorted to other means of transportation when traveling concentrated distances downtown, such as the Teco Line Streetcar or the Pirate Water Taxi. Other centralized options outside of the transit system or ride-sharing services such as Uber or Lyft include Lime, Spin, and Bird electric scooters or bikes.

 

“Overall, the scooters are pretty efficient and not as expensive to get around campus, in the city, or only short distances,” Machado-Guzman said.