HART holds successful Transit Workshop on Future Partnerships and Maximizing Resources

HART led a successful transit workshop on Feb. 1 on future partnership and funding opportunities in the Tampa Bay area.

With more than 25 representatives from regional transit agencies, local municipalities and citizen groups, the workshop provided an update about the latest trends in the transit sector, future partnerships and alternate funding scenarios.

"This was an excellent first step for all the agencies involved in transit." Said Fran Davin, chair of the HART board of directors. "It was an opportunity to get a common understanding of what resources are available."

"A kickoff workshop to be able to start the education process, not just for the HART Board but for all the other agencies that are associated and focused on transit in Hillsborough County" said HART CEO Philip Hale. "We felt the need to get everybody together and start working this process through."

The workshop provided a platform to facilitate dialogue among state, regional and local transit and planning agencies on how best to improve the delivery of transit in the bay area, and evaluate alternate funding strategies to do so.

HART CFO Jeff Seward discussed alternative funding scenarios that could be used to invest into various levels of transit service improvements, and Holland & Knight — a national firm that lobbies for transportation issues — provided an overview of current federal transit funding.

"It was a good opportunity to get transportation agencies to come together and start up the conversation and address issues," said Jeffrey Boothe, partner at Holland & Knight.

Speakers from the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority and Florida Department of Transportation emphasized their ongoing major projects and joint partnership opportunities that can facilitate future regional transit projects.

This workshop was open to the public and took place at County Center in downtown Tampa.