TBARTA Launches “Commuter Solutions” Website for Republican National Convention

Aug. 15, 2012 - PRLog -- TAMPA, FL, August 15, 2012 – In an effort to help commuters during the Republican National Convention, the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) has created a “Commuter Solutions” website that provides residents and visitors with links to important transportation information related to the event.

Located at www.RNC-Traffic.com, the site includes maps of available parking, planned road closures, transit detours and current traffic conditions. Working with the City of Tampa, the Florida Department of Transportation, the Tampa Downtown Partnership and the Westshore Alliance, TBARTA is also encouraging commuters to consider carpooling during the event. The site links to TBARTA’s free online ride-matching tool at www.tampabayrideshare.org so commuters can connect with each other and share the ride to work.

“Our goal was to pull all of this information together in one convenient place to help people get where they need to go before, during and after the event,’’ said TBARTA Executive Director Bob Clifford. “This is a major event to showcase the Tampa Bay region and we know transportation information and options are critical. We want to help people by providing them with as much information as we possibly can.’’

While the main convention activities will be in downtown Tampa and downtown St. Petersburg, commuters throughout the region may be affected as unplanned detours and road closures may occur. TBARTA will work with its partners throughout the event to provide updated information on the site, as well as through Facebook and Twitter.

The site is designed to be viewable on any mobile device and also provides links to Florida’s statewide 511 system, where users can find regional traffic alerts, and mytbi.com, which provides information on interstate construction projects.

“These are all good sources of information for commuters to have during the RNC and beyond,’’ Clifford said. “We wanted to create a regional transportation hub to help people find the information they need. We intend to continue this service even beyond the RNC.’’

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TBARTA was created by the Florida Legislature in 2007 to plan and develop a multimodal transportation system to connect the seven counties of the Tampa Bay region – Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota. For more information, visit www.tbarta.com.