FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 15, 1998
Contact: Velvet Snow
Tel.: (202) 366-0782
FTA 14-98
DOWNEY ANNOUNCES $3.8 MILLION GRANT FOR TAMPA TRANSIT
Deputy U.S. Transportation Secretary Mortimer L. Downey today announced the award of $3.8 million in Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds to Florida’s Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority to purchase buses and build a bus-rail transfer center in Tampa’s Ybor City Empowerment Zone.
"Transportation alone doesn’t solve anything if it doesn’t take people where they want to go; economic development can’t achieve its promise if people can’t get there," said Vice President Gore, speaking at the White House Community Empowerment Conference.
"This grant will improve access both to markets and to employment centers, generating jobs and expanding economic opportunity throughout the Ybor City Empowerment Zone."
"President Clinton and Vice President Gore are committed to revitalizing America’s cities and rural towns, and transportation can strengthen communities so that they become the kinds of places people go to -- not just go through," Downey said.
Ybor City, part of Tampa, is one of 15 areas designated by President Clinton as national Empowerment Zones. Empowerment Zones focus on community-based revitalization strategies with targeted federal assistance, including grants focused on job creation; tax benefits for businesses; assistance in overcoming regulatory impediments to redevelopment; and special consideration in competition for federal funding.
The $3.8 million grant awarded today will purchase nine replacement buses for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and initiate site selection, environmental assessments, and other preliminary work for the planned Ybor Intermodal Station. The intermodal station will link local bus and light rail services in Ybor City and provide access to the nearby Amtrak intercity rail station.
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