9 minute read
Interview: Thomas Jewsbury
Thomas Jewsbury
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How did the challenges of 2020 affect the airport’s operations?
We finished 2019 with 2.4 million passengers, continuing to break records year over year. Going into January and February 2020, we continued to see that upturn. Then, like the entire industry, we saw it fall out from under us thereafter. Immediately, we put in the measures universally encouraged: extra cleaning, social distancing, trying to create a safe environment for those passengers who were continuing to travel, as well as for the sake of our employees.
Without knowing what the rest of our year would look like, we used the opportunity to take a look at our budget and capital improvement program, what to scale back, while also thinking about what the recovery would look like. We were in a good financial position, confident that we’d get through the crisis, and we did.
Has the airport achieved its maximum potential for growth?
We have a great investment opportunity for the community. We have 130 acres at this airport that is currently unused. The area was previously a golf course. What is significant about it is that it is, in fact, the largest piece of undeveloped land in Pinellas County. We’re working with our economic development team to strategize, site plan and determine what this development can look like. In the next couple of years, that’s going to provide a great opportunity for development, both aeronautical and non-aeronautical.
What are your main near-term goals and priorities?
For the short term, we’re going into our budget plan for FY22 and trying to make the necessary financial projections, to see what they look like and what the recovery might be. We’re being very cautious as far as expenditures. Where can we find efficiencies? What will our future construction plans look like?
Extension Project through the state’s New Starts Transit Program. With a competitive Downtown in mind, the project includes the modernization of the operational 2.7-mile TECO streetcar line as well as a 1.3-mile fixed guideway extension.
Despite Tampa Bay’s ambitious plans, funding remains a prevalent issue that further puts back the area’s transportation infrastructure pipeline. Hillsborough County’s one-cent transportation surtax to fund transit transport, an All for Transportation citizen group-led initiative, was passed in 2018 by Hillsborough County voters. As of January 2021, the tax had raised more than $450 million, yet the entities entitled to use those resources cannot touch them because the tax has been challenged as illegal and is now in the hands of the Florida Supreme Court. The funds will remain locked until the court announces its decision in the matter
The uncertainty related to the surtax funds has not discouraged the development of innovative solutions to transportation issues, however. In November 2020, the Clearwater City Council greenlit a study meant for a two-mile gondola system, for example.
Only 1% of total commutes in Tampa Bay are by public transit, according to TBARTA figures
Initiatives and Investments Despite the hurdles, the region continues to look forward. One example is a project by the city of Tampa, FDOT District 7 and the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida, which teamed up to create the Tampa Bay Smart Cities Alliance. This cluster of stakeholders is looking to materialize the vision of a regional group dedicated to short-term operational goals in the Tampa Bay area to propel the region through cutting-edge, multidisciplinary technologies, including transportation, energy infrastructure and health. Two of its most recent initiatives include enhancing cybersecurity in public transportation and the development of an effective truck route signing program for the city of Tampa.
And while the devastating ripple effects of COVID-19 were felt throughout 2020 and into 2021, Tampa Bay was not without its wins throughout the year. The most notable initiatives and investments for the area include $30 million to add two lanes on the Howard Frankland Bridge to address the long-standing bottleneck that has been a constant source of dismay and delays for commuters. Although the lanes were completed ahead of schedule, they are only an interim step in the more ambitious and onerous project of a new span for the Howard Frankland Bridge to provide a more long-term solution. Valued at $864 million, the eight-lane bridge is slated to open by 2024 and broke ground in 2020 to capitalize on the lack of traffic resulting from the pandemic measures, accelerating the work. 2020 also welcomed driverless shuttles into Tampa Bay, courtesy of self-driving shuttle operator Beep, which launched its pilot shuttles in Tampa and St. Petersburg during the fall of 2020.
Finally, after bolstering initiatives and programs to make Tampa Bay’s streets safer and usable for both pedestrians and cyclists, the city of Tampa invested $10,000 in additional bike parking, adding 98 bicycle parking spaces in its downtown garages.
Bus and rail The Tampa Bay region is in dire need of a stronger regional commuting profile, especially considering only 1 percent of total commutes in the area are by public
Beth Alden
MPO Executive Director – Plan Hillsborough
I think we have a great opportunity to create our first bus rapid transit line between Downtown and USF. In the last year, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority got funding for the Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit project in St. Petersburg, the first FTA capital investment grant project in this region. It’s very costeffective, repurposing some road lanes that aren’t heavily used, and we’re hoping to do something really similar on Fowler Ave and Florida Ave. You don’t need eight lanes on Fowler Avenue. The idea is to reconfigure that and have more boulevard space and trees, have a trail side path, a dedicated bus lane, safe crosswalks. There’s room for all of that, and the combination of public and private investments in places like Fowler Ave and University Square Mall is changing Tampa. It’s becoming a different place, growing up into a city, and we’re all pulling together for that.
transit as per TBARTA’s latest figures. While average daily commutes by car totaled 1.2 million, average daily commutes via transit only reached 19,500.
TBARTA’s Envision 2030 plan includes new express bus routes across county lines as well as between residential areas parallel to major activity centers that will operate in mixed traffic and offer fewer stops. The success of the program will be tied to available funding considering there are about $42 million of existing resources for the next 10 years, while the full extent of the program is calculated to require $89 million in operating costs and $403 in capital expenses.
In parallel, Tampa Bay’s Regional Rapid Transit (RRT) devised a Regional Transit Feasibility Plan (RTFP). By the summer of 2021, the project is expected to be submitted for an FTA Capital Investment Grant program rating.
Tampa Bay also began the construction of its very first rapid transit route, in May 2020. The region was awarded a $21.8 million grant for the route linking St. Petersburg to the beaches. The 10.3-mile SunRunner route is slated for inauguration in early 2022.
On the rail side of things, the city of Tampa only offers the TECO line streetcar, which is far from a highspeed solution and has a limited reach, leaving room to further Tampa’s rail infrastructure. As of April 2021, rail operator Brightline was engaged in active discussions with Tampa officials, covering potential rail station sites for a Tampa-to-Orlando route, including a connection to the TECO Line streetcar system.
Aviation Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. The aviation industry across the United States witnessed a wave of innovation and accelerated technological improvements in the face of COVID-19 and the urgent need for customer confidence to return. To that end, in September 2020, Boeing unveiled a portable wand slated to become available for all airlines in late fall 2021. The ultraviolet wand is designed to rapidly sanitize passenger planes in between flights to prevent COVID-19 contagions. Tampa Bay’s skies may also soon be dotted with air taxis. Munich-based Lilium Aviation is eyeing Tampa as a testing ground for its 100 percent electric, five-passenger eVOTL aircraft toward 2025.
In another win for Tampa Bay, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) greenlit Florida Metroplex, the state’s plan to modernize air traffic procedures for 21 airports in the southern region of the Sunshine State. It is rooted in satellite-based procedures that will enhance safety and efficiency in Florida’s commercial airplane routes, including new arrival and departure lanes for Miami, Fort-Lauderdale-Hollywood, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa and St.Pete/Clearwater international airports.
Despite the crippling effects of the pandemic, several new route announcements were welcomed throughout 2020 and 1Q21. Silver Airways returned to the Jacksonville market in late 2020 announcing nonstop flights to Tampa and Fort Lauderdale. Spirit Airlines is poised to launch a new nonstop service from Kansas City International Airport to Fort LauderdaleHollywood International Airport, Tampa International Airport, and Southwest Florida International Airport.
St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport is a 2,000-acre fully certified facility with 2 runways.
Mike McLamb
Executive Vice President & CFO – MarineMax, Inc.
Tampa Bay offers a great boating environment for anyone wanting to enjoy the boating lifestyle. The places available to visit by boat, the restaurants that are on the water, the islands that are all around Tampa Bay, the water, the fishing all make Tampa Bay a great place to enjoy the boating lifestyle. When you think about the west coast of Florida, most of the islands from north of Tampa Bay all the way south to the Keys are lightly inhabited. They offer beaches to go to, drop anchor and enjoy boating to its fullest extent.
Airline industry challenges After a meteoric rise in passenger traffic from 16.6 million to 23.3 million between 2010 and 2019, Tampa International Airport officials are anticipating 15.7 million passengers for 2021, the lowest headcount since the Great Recession, while operational revenues are budgeted at $219.4 million for 2021, an 18.6% contraction compared to 2020.
Despite drastic measures implemented to reduce costs, the airport closed FY20 with a $40 million loss, to be offset by the $81.2 million CARES Act federal grant resource the airport received. To support the airlines, concessionaires and rental car companies that resorted to layoffs and furloughs, the airport waived rental fees for 16 tenants throughout 2020, amounting to $16.2 million from rental car companies and close to $11 million from concessionaires. The waivers have been extended for 2021.
COVID-19 also hurt the links of Tampa’s aviation value chain. GE Aviation, a global airplane engine supplier with two facilities in Tampa Bay announced it would be cutting 25% of its global workforce to create $1 billion in cost savings and $2 billion in cash actions for 2020.
Public-private partnerships Given the prevalent need for funding relating to sustainable transportation in Tampa Bay, public-private partnerships are gaining popularity to help the area fulfill its transportation and logistics ambitions. The New North Transportation Alliance is the region’s longstanding example of the success of such a structure. Established in 1994, it offers a forum for businesses, local governments, residents and commuters to establish the agenda of priorities surrounding the dire need for improvement in the transportation options within the New North Area.
Airport officials in the region feel traveler confidence is on the rise and air travel is making a comeback.
