![]() ![]() Clearwater would also have to grant right-of-way for the system and either sell or lease property for stations. The state of Florida would have to grant right-of-way to run the elevated system down the center of the Memorial Causeway bridge. While BeachTran says they will seek no taxpayer or public money, they will require significant public approvals to make their system reality. That is unique for a transportation solution.” “We would be paying for the right-of-way and making agreements for any property. “Not only will we not ask for taxpayer money, we will be providing taxpayer money,” BeachTran Community Relations Director Joseph Corvino says. “Then we can add the ribs and flesh things in.”īeachTran officials are adamant it would be a completely free enterprise system, built with private financing and operating off revenues from ticket fares. “What we have to start is a backbone,” Nocera says. ![]() They envision a large multi-story terminal hub, with a parking garage and retail development, in what is now a grassy field in downtown Clearwater.įrom the initial beach route, they would like to expand the system and branch out to reach destinations such as the Nova University site on the western side of the Courtney Campbell Causeway, Tampa International Airport, Raymond James Stadium, the International Plaza, Oldsmar, and Tropicana Field. The route, Nocera said, would give passengers a unique “pelican’s eye view” of the beach and Gulf. The company’s plan is to start with a pilot project that runs from downtown Clearwater to Pier 60, with a total of five stations. The projected per person ticket price is $4. The system would be on-demand, with passengers ordering a pod from an Uber-style phone app. The futuristic technology has also drawn retro comparisons to the flying cars in the classic cartoon The Jetsons.īeachTran manager Tom Nocera, who grew up in Largo, has pitched a solar-powered version of this elevated personal rapid transit system as a solution to the region’s congestion since 2016. SkyTran developed the state of the art system at the NASA Ames facility in Mountain View, CA. It uses magnetic levitation technology to move two-person passenger pods along an elevated guide rail. There’s an old saying that, “you can’t build your way out of congestion.”īut a Clearwater company has ambitious plans to build a way over it.īeachTran Clearwater proposes using emerging technology known as Aerial Personal Rapid Transit (APRT) to move people back and forth between downtown Clearwater and Clearwater Beach, one of the Tampa Bay Area’s most popular and most congested routes to the beach.Ī California-based company, skyTran, has developed the transportation system BeachTran wants to introduce to Tampa Bay. ![]()
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