For the third time in two months, Tampa’s TECO Line Streetcar System began service three hours earlier to serve the more than 1,200 tourists voyaging aboard the German cruise ship AIDAVITA. The TECO Line Streetcar was ready with service to downtown shopping, restaurants, and other tourist venues. In partnership with the business community, the special service was made as part of the organization’s ongoing commitment to creating dynamic partnerships with the communities it serves.
“The TECO Line Streetcar System is pleased to offer this special service to benefit our tourists, customers, and the entire city,” said HART Chief Executive Officer Katharine Eagan. “We are proud to see that the Tampa Bay area appreciates that we listen and respond to what our customers and partners tell us they need in order to get to work, to play, or wherever they need to go.”
Preliminary numbers compiled by HART, for example, showed that ridership on the TECO Line Streetcar System surged nearly 300 percent to more than 1,065 by noon, before adding more passengers in the afternoon for an all-day total of 1,774. Wednesdays have averaged 575 passenger trips so far in FY15. The event marked the ship’s third visit to Tampa, and each time approximately 1,200 German passengers from this ship came to Ybor City, arriving early morning and staying until mid to late afternoon. Many Ybor City businesses opened early and the TECO Line Streetcar System offered special early service so that both visitors and local merchants could take full advantage of the unique opportunity.
The AIDAVITA is scheduled to make two more stops in Tampa this spring, on March 11 and April 1, and HART is already preparing to greet those new waves of seafaring tourists. For more information, contact the TECO Line Streetcar at 813.254.4278.