Organizers of the streetcar effort estimate that Tampa's eight cars will carry at least 350,000 people a year, including tourists, downtown workers and even commuters living in Ybor City and on Harbour Island. Negotiations are under way between the nonprofit Tampa Historic Streetcar Inc. and the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, better known as HARTline, to operate the streetcars the first three years. Initial operating costs will be covered largely through state and federal grants along with a special assessment by the city of Tampa. Ed Crawford, public affairs liaison for HARTline, said ideally the price points to ride the streetcar will be the same as those for buses. Five of the streetcars already are stored in Tampa at various city and HARTline garages, with the other three to be delivered when those start rolling.
Organizers say interest in sponsorships has picked up as the project advances.
We're stepping that up now. We want people to know it's coming and that it's the real thing. Household Finance Corp., the Tampa Port Authority, Carmine's Restaurant and the Tampa Bay Lightning will have their names placed prominently at streetcar stops. Jennewein said some companies are getting the new streetcars confused with the rubber-wheel buses operating downtown that are decorated to look like trolleys. Tampa Mayor Dick Greco made the distinction between those rubber and steel wheels in announcing the streetcar project in May 1998.