University North Transportation
Initiative
A
Public-Private Partnership
Transportation
Information Service
This newsletter serves to inform,
update, and educate members of the
University North Transportation
Initiative and the public on local mobility issues, projects and developments.
January
2002
Vol.
6 No. 1
www.commuterservices.com/unti
HARTline
Introduces Tampa to Oldsmar Route
The newly designed routes 57LX and 58LX help urban workers get to jobs in outlying areas using public
transport.
Route 57LX begins at the HART Transit Center
at Netpark and ends in Oldsmar with stops
in Temple Terrace, in the University North area, at the University Area Transit
Center, throughout Carollwood, and at the Hanley/Waters Plaza. The cost from Temple Terrace to Oldsmar is
$1.15 one way, or $28 for a monthly pass.
Route 58LX also begins at Netpark but services the southern portion of Tampa,
with stops in Ybor and Westchase.
Child-care providers are located at many stops along the routes,
allowing employees to drop off and pick up their children from child-care as
part of their work commute.
For more information, call HART at 813-254-4278 or pick up a
brochure at the Commuter Center located in the University Mall.
Circulator Route Popularity Grows
At 50 cents per one-way fare, riders are enjoying the
convenience of HARTline's University Area Connector. The connector takes people from work or school at USF to the
grocery store, University Mall, VA Hospital, University Community Hospital, and
many residential locations. The
circulator also connects to many other routes at the University Area Transit
Center, for travel throughout Hillsborough County.
New Year Means New Opportunity To Change Commuting Habits
America’s workforce will have the opportunity to commute to
the office more cost effectively in the New Year. As of January 1, 2002,
employers are now able to offer their employees up to $100 per month in pretax
commuting benefits, a boost from $65
previously allowed under the federal tax code.
Program participants in the Tampa Bay area may use the
benefit to commute to work on buses or in vanpools. An increase in
participation in transit benefit programs across the country provides more
transportation options and greater mobility and opportunities for commuters. Encouraging more public transportation
ridership also helps decrease air pollution and ease traffic congestion,
benefits for riders and non-riders alike.
Under federal tax laws, the benefit is available three ways:
1.
As a
tax-free, employer-paid benefit of up to $100 a month to the employee, where
the employer receives a tax deduction for the expense and saves on
payroll-related taxes;
2.
As an
employee-paid pre-tax benefit, where employers allow employees to set aside up to
$100 a month of pre-tax income, and
3.
As a
shared cost arrangement where employers provide a portion of public
transportation or vanpooling as a tax-free benefit and allow the employee to
set aside pre-tax income to pay for the remaining amount of the benefit (up to
the specified limits).
Since its inception, the benefit has provided an opportunity to link private and public
sector resources to improve the quality of transportation choices. Providing these choices is seen as a major
regional tool to confront traffic congestion and urban sprawl.
Employers report many success stories using the transit
benefit program to attract and retain the best employees. For example, the Calvert Group Ltd., an
investment firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, saw a drop in employee turnover
from 25 percent to 12 percent after implementing a commuter benefit program.
Another example of the program benefiting employees and
employers alike is at the University of Washington in Seattle, where 82 percent
of students and 65 percent of staff participate in the U-PASS program. Since the program began, the percentage of
employees driving alone has decreased while the use of alternative
transportation has increased. Total
campus ridership on the metropolitan transit system has grown by 68 percent to
7.8 million annual trips; carpool permits issued went up by 50 percent; and the
number of vanpools increased from 8 to 28.
Interested employers and employees may obtain more
information by requesting a brochure from the Association for Commuter
Transportation. Visit the ACT website at www.CommuterChoice.com, or for more
information on programs in Tampa's University North area, visit the UNTI at www.commuterservces.com/unti.
New Traffic Counts Confirm New Tampa
Traffic Woes
Between 1999 and 2001, the busiest
stretch of Bruce B. Downs experienced more than a 14 percent increase in the
number of vehicles it carries each day.
The City of Tampa recently provided new traffic counts that show this
stretch of road, between the I-75 junction and Dona Michelle Drive in New Tampa,
carrying an average of 58,200 vehicles a day.
Just north of Dona Michelle Drive, counts recorded an average
of 57,400 vehicles daily. Slightly
north of Commerce Palms Boulevard, 54,400 vehicles were recorded daily.
During the previous count, taken in October 1999, 51,000
vehicles daily were recorded on the busiest stretch of Bruce B. Downs, which was
then, a 40 percent increase over the 1998 count. This tremendous increase on the busiest stretch occurs in an area
that includes the I-75 junction as well as a major commercial development area,
including restaurants, a movie theater, and a grocery store.
What is
the UNTI?
The University North
Transportation Initiate (UNTI) is a public-private partnership that provides a
forum to address the transportation needs of the University North Area.
The UNTI's main goals are to:
·
Reduce traffic congestion,
·
Improve air quality, and
·
Promote alternative commute modes, such as carpooling,
vanpooling, transit, bicycling, or walking.
The UNTI Advisory Board is
continuously seeking involvement from private-sector businesses in the University
North. By becoming involved or joining
our Board, you business will be given the opportunity to represent its
interests and to share ideas with other businesses and agencies in the
community.
Located at
the Center for Urban
Transportation
Research (CUTR)
University
of South Florida
4202 E.
Fowler Ave., CUT 100
Tampa,
FL 33620-5375
(813)
974-9799; 974-5168 (fax)
www.commuterservices.com/unti