Costs for Rapid Transit Plan Raise Concern

A Bus Rapid Transit project originally budgeted for $82 million now has a .

The $18 million increase, plus a $1.56 million annual operating budget, is causing county commissioners to ask how they will pay for the BRT.

“My concern is trying to get our arms around this thing,” said commissioner Joe Barbetta.

The BRT, according to the county, is designed to connect major employment and activity centers in a traffic-congested, north-south corridor.

The corridor begins in the north, around , serves downtown Sarasota, and connects to and areas beyond to the south.

Commission chair Nora Patterson said she does not want to see other areas of the county suffer so the BRT can be built.

“If this reduced other transit [programs] or other programs in the county that are really struggling to maintain quality, I would have a rough time supporting BRT over libraries,” Patterson said.

“Even the $1.5 million [annual operating budget] that it would take to run the thing would be rough to find right now in the budget,” Patterson said.

According to staff, operating costs will be in addition to the current system and could have an impact on the general fund in the future. Patterson said with the county’s fund balance shrinking this is a cause for concern.

County staff said the growing BRT cost is due to a Federal Transit Authority directive to add the railroad connector project to the funding request for the North/South BRT. The railroad connector is a prerequisite for removal of rail service from the BRT route.

“We know that you’ve seen several cost projections,” said Sarasota County Area Transit director Anthony Beckford. “These numbers will be refined when we get into project development. We don’t have anything locked or solid until we are in project development.”

Staff was not seeking any actions by the board but just direction. Senior planner Sarah Blanchard said staff wants the commission's input before moving forward.

“Until we are able to respond to the FTA we will not be accepted into project development,” Blanchard said. “Being accepted into project development really is just a start of longer term planning with FTA. [We] still have to come back with FTA and work through the financing with them.”

Once in the project development phase, the county would have five years to complete the BRT.

Rob Lewis, executive director of planning and development services, said the FTA Small Starts Program could pay up to $75 million for the project. He suggested the county should hold a workshop on the BRT.

The commission agreed.

“I would say the commission needs a workshop to fully grasp it, and we can help steer what timing is logical,” Patterson said.

While no exact date has been set, the county will be scheduling a workshop to discuss the BRT.