1.
Florida
–
Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
2.
Hillsborough County, Florida
–
Hillsborough County is a county in the U. S. state of Florida. In the 2010 census, the population was 1,229,226 and its county seat and largest city is Tampa. Hillsborough County is part of the Tampa–St, Hillsborough County was created on January 25,1834, from Alachua and Monroe counties, during the U. S. territorial period. The new county was named for Wills Hill, the Earl of Hillsborough, the countys 1834 area was much larger and included eight other present-day counties, Charlotte County, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota. The last significant change in Hillsborough Countys borders was the separation of its section to create Pinellas County. On New Years Day in 1914, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line initiated the first scheduled airline service in the world. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 1,266 square miles. There is approximately 158.27 miles of shoreline on Tampa Bay, the countys unincorporated area is approximately 888 square miles, more than 84 percent of the total land area. Municipalities account for 163 square miles, the modern boundaries of the county place it midway along the west coast of Florida. A narrow portion of Hillsborough County to the south, consisting almost exclusively of water and this has the effect of keeping Hillsborough County from being technically landlocked. The central portion of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is in Hillsborough County, so is Egmont Key, at the entrance to Tampa Bay, this narrow strip of land separates Pinellas County from Manatee County. The northernmost tip of an island just west of Port Manatee also lies in Hillsborough County. Hillsborough is home to Alafia River State Park and Hillsborough River state parks, and to the C. W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir and Lithia Springs, the largest natural spring in Florida. 27. 12% of all households were made up of individuals and 7. 96% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11. The age distribution was as follows,23. 9% were under the age of 18,10. 5% from 18 to 24,28. 3% from 25 to 44,25. 4% from 45 to 64, the median age was 36.1 years. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males. The median income for a household in the county was $49,536, males had a median income of $43,125 versus $35,184 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,062, about 10. 7% of families and 14. 2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19. 9% of those under age 18 and 9. 6% of those aged 65 or over
3.
ZIP Code
–
ZIP Codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, was chosen to suggest that the travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly. The basic format consists of five numerical digits, an extended ZIP+4 code, introduced in 1983, includes the five digits of the ZIP Code, a hyphen, and four additional digits that determine a more specific location within a given ZIP Code. The term ZIP Code was originally registered as a servicemark by the U. S. Postal Service, USPS style for ZIP is all caps and the c in code is also capitalized, although style sheets for some publications use sentence case or lowercase. The early history and context of postal codes began with postal district/zone numbers, the United States Post Office Department implemented postal zones for numerous large cities in 1943. For example, Mr. John Smith 3256 Epiphenomenal Avenue Minneapolis 16, by the early 1960s a more organized system was needed, and on July 1,1963, non-mandatory five-digit ZIP Codes were introduced nationwide. Three months later, on October 1,1963, the U. S, an earlier list in June had proposed capitalized abbreviations ranging from two to five letters. The abbreviations have remained unchanged, with one exception, according to the historian of the U. S. Robert Moon, an employee of the post office, is considered the father of the ZIP Code, he submitted his proposal in 1944 while working as a postal inspector. The post office gives credit to Moon only for the first three digits of the ZIP Code, which describe the sectional center facility or sec center, an SCF is a central mail processing facility with those three digits. The SCF sorts mail to all post offices with those first three digits in their ZIP Codes, the mail is sorted according to the final two digits of the ZIP Code and sent to the corresponding post offices in the early morning. Sectional centers do not deliver mail and are not open to the public, Mail picked up at post offices is sent to their own SCF in the afternoon, where the mail is sorted overnight. The United States Post Office used a character, which it called Mr. ZIP. He was often depicted with a such as USE ZIP CODE in the selvage of panes of stamps or on labels contained in, or the covers of. In 1983, the U. S. Postal Service introduced an expanded ZIP Code system that it called ZIP+4, often called plus-four codes, add-on codes, or add ons. But initial attempts to promote use of the new format met with public resistance. For Post Office Boxes, the rule is that each box has its own ZIP+4 code. However, there is no rule, so the ZIP+4 Code must be looked up individually for each box. It is common to use add-on code 9998 for mail addressed to the postmaster,9999 for general delivery, for a unique ZIP Code, the add-on code is typically 0001
4.
Central business district
–
A central business district is the commercial and business centre of a city. In larger cities, it is synonymous with the citys financial district. Both the CBD and the city centre or downtown may also coincide with the central activities district, a citys CBD is usually typified by a concentration of retail and office buildings. The CBD usually has a density higher than the surrounding districts of the city. The CBD is often also the city centre or downtown, Mexico City also has a historic city centre, the colonial-era Centro Histórico, along with two CBDs, the mid-late 20th century Paseo de la Reforma - Polanco, and the new Santa Fe. The shape and type of a CBD almost always reflect the citys history. Cities with maximum building height restrictions often have a historic section quite apart from the financial. It has been said that downtowns are therefore distinct from both CBDs and city centres. CBDs usually have very small resident populations, for example, the population of the City of London declined from over 200,000 in the year 1700 to less than 10,000 today. In some instances, however, CBD populations are increasing as younger professional, the Buenos Aires Central Business District, is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. The actual area was the point of first European settlement and its north-south axis runs from Monserrat in the south to Retiro railway station in the north. Its east-west axis runs from Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve and Puerto Madero, the district is the financial, commercial, and cultural hub of Argentina. Its port is one of the busiest in South America, navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata connect the port to northeast Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay. As a result, it serves as the hub for a vast area of the southeastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused political problems in the past. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index is likewise high by international standards, the term is used to refer to the business and financial area of a state capital city such as the Sydney CBD, Melbourne CBD, Brisbane CBD, Perth CBD and Adelaide CBD. The city centres of some cities, such as Townsville, Bendigo. More recently, in cities the city centre, which may or may not be distinct from the CBD, is increasingly separately identified
5.
Tampa Bay Area
–
Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area defined by the United States Census Bureau is Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties. The largest cities in the Tampa Bay Area are Tampa in Hillsborough County, the Tampa Bay area may also refer to the Tampa Bay media market which also includes Citrus, Manatee, Sarasota, and Polk counties. The population of the Tampa Bay Area is estimated at 3,030,953 people as of January 2017, for 2014 to 2015 the U. S. Census data estimated an annual growth of 2.0 percent or 54,412 people. The following is a list of important cities and unincorporated communities located in both the core Tampa–St, each of these cities has a population in excess of 100,000 inhabitants. Tampa St. Petersburg Clearwater Brandon Spring Hill More than 10,000 inhabitants Ref,2010 Census According to the 2000 U. S. Census, the Tampa–St. Hispanic or Latino by Origin From 2000 to 2004, total net migration for the Tampa Bay region was 262,961 or an average of 65,740 per year, during this time Tampa Bay accounted for nearly 20% of Floridas total net migration. The annual migration totals grew steadily since 2000 until 200 people a day moved to Tampa Bay in 2004, two Tampa Bay region counties are among the top counties in the country for net in-migration. Pasco County ranks 8th in the nation for net migration and Hillsborough County ranks 13th out of more than 3,000 counties, the Tampa Bay area is located along Tampa Bay which it is named for. Pinellas County and St. Petersburg, Florida lies on a peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and much of the city of Tampa, Florida lies on a smaller peninsula jutting out into Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay area has a subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers, with daily thunderstorms. On average, two days experience frost per year in the Tampa Bay area, however, hard freezes are very rare, occurring only a few times in the last 75 years. The area is listed by the United States Department of Agriculture as being in hardiness zone 9b, highs usually range between 65 and 95 °F year-round. This proximity to bodies of water both moderates local temperatures and introduces large amounts of humidity into the atmosphere. In general, the communities farthest from the coast have more extreme temperature differences, nearly one in four of the states business and information services firms resides in Tampa Bay. These firms range from financial firms to information technology providers to professional services organizations such as law firms, accounting firms, engineering firms, consulting. As a gateway to the Florida High Tech Corridor, Tampa Bay is home to information technology firms along with many business services providers. The region also has a wealth of well-trained medical professionals—nearly 53,000 nurses and more than 9,200 physicians —provide care to Tampa Bay residents, Tampa Bay ranks in the top 20 nationwide for medical device manufacturing clusters. Tampa Bay serves as the gateway to the Florida High Tech Corridor which spans 23 counties, academic research is a key component of high-tech growth and a powerful economic engine
6.
Bank of America
–
Bank of America is a multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is ranked 2nd on the list of largest banks in the United States by assets, as of 2016, Bank of America was the 26th largest company in the United States by total revenue. In 2016, it was ranked #11 on the Forbes Magazine Global 2000 list of largest companies in the world and its acquisition of Merrill Lynch in 2008 made it the worlds largest wealth management corporation and a major player in the investment banking market. As of December 31,2016, it had US$886.148 billion in assets under management, as of December 31,2016, the company held 10. 73% of all bank deposits in the United States. It is one of the Big Four banks in the United States, along with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America operates—but does not necessarily maintain retail branches—in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia and more than 40 other countries. It has a retail banking footprint that serves approximately 46 million consumer, Bank of America provides its products and services through 4,600 retail financial centers, approximately 15,900 automated teller machines, call centers, and online and mobile banking platforms. The history of Bank of America dates back to October 17,1904, Giannini was raised by his mother and stepfather Lorenzo Scatena, as his father was fatally shot over a pay dispute with an employee. When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck, Giannini was able to all deposits out of the bank building. Because San Franciscos banks were in smoldering ruins and unable to open their vaults, from a makeshift desk consisting of a few planks over two barrels, he lent money to those who wished to rebuild. In 1922, Giannini established Bank of America and Italy, in 1918 another corporation, Bancitaly Corporation, was organized by A. P. Giannini, the largest stockholder of which was Stockholders Auxiliary Corporation. Monnette and consolidated it with other holdings to create what would become the largest banking institution in the country. Bank of Italy was renamed on November 3,1930 to Bank of America National Trust and Savings Association, Giannini and Monnette headed the resulting company, serving as co-chairs. Branch banking was introduced by Giannini shortly after 1909 legislation in California that allowed for branch banking in the state and its first branch outside San Francisco was established in 1909 in San Jose. By 1929, the bank had 453 banking offices in California with aggregate resources of over US$1.4 billion. There is a replica of the 1909 Bank of Italy branch bank in History Park in San Jose, and the 1925 Bank of Italy Building is an important downtown landmark. Giannini sought to build a bank, expanding into most of the western states as well as into the insurance industry, under the aegis of his holding company. In 1953, regulators succeeded in forcing the separation of Transamerica Corporation, the passage of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 prohibited banks from owning non-banking subsidiaries such as insurance companies. Bank of America and Transamerica were separated, with the company continuing in the insurance business
7.
BB&T
–
BB&T is one of the largest financial services holding companies in the U. S. with $219.3 billion in assets and market capitalization of $38.1 billion. BB&T dates back to 1872, when Alpheus Branch and Thomas Jefferson Hadley founded the Branch and Hadley merchant bank in their hometown of Wilson, North Carolina. After many transactions, mostly local farmers, Branch bought out Hadleys shares in 1887 and renamed the company to Branch and Company. Two years later, Branch, his father-in-law Gen. Joshua Barnes, Hadley and three men, secured a charter from the North Carolina General Assembly to operate the Wilson Banking. After numerous additional name changes, the company settled on the name Branch Banking. Branch remained a member in the company until his death in 1893. The 1903 Branch Banking and Trust Company Building at Wilson was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, BB&T sold Liberty Bonds during World War I and grew to have more than $4 million in assets by 1923. An insurance division was added in 1922, followed by a division in 1923. As banks across the nation failed as a result of the 1929 Stock Market Crash, BB&T survived, it was the only one to do so in the town of Wilson. World War II revived BB&T. BB&Ts prosperity continued into the 1960s and 1970s, as mergers, in 1995, BB&T and Southern National Bank, another bank with roots in the eastern part of the state, completed a merger of equals. In an unusual arrangement, the company retained the Southern National name for a few years. This gave the new BB&T437 branches in 220 cities in the Carolinas, in 1999, BB&T acquired MainStreet Financial Corp. The latter deal made BB&T the largest bank in West Virginia, from 2000 to 2005, BB&T acquired numerous smaller banks, expanding into Tennessee, Kentucky, and even Florida. By Dec.31,2005, BB&T Corporation had secured $109.2 billion in assets, operated more than 1,500 banking offices in 11 states and the District of Columbia, and had more than 28,000 employees. In early 2007, BB&T acquired Coastal Federal Bank which is located in Myrtle Beach. It has been one of the Carolinas fastest growing banks, after BB&Ts announcement of an opportunity for a merger of equals it was speculated that it would be a merger with either Regions Financial of Birmingham, Alabama or Fifth Third of Cincinnati. In late 2008, the bank accepted $3.1 billion in bailout money through the sale of its shares to the U. S. Treasurys Troubled Asset Relief Program. The bank said in June 2009 that it had received approval to repurchase the shares, on August 14,2009, it was announced that the deposits and loan accounts of the Colonial Bank were being transferred to BB&T as part of Colonial Banks receivership by the FDIC
8.
PNC Financial Services
–
PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. is an American financial services corporation, with assets of approximately $366 billion, as well as deposits of approximately $249 billion. PNC is the fifth largest bank by number of offices, sixth largest by deposits, ninth largest by total assets. PNC Financial Services traces its history to the Pittsburgh Trust and Savings Company which was founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on April 10,1845. Due to the recovery from the Great Fire of Pittsburgh, PNC was not fully operational until January 28,1852. The bank was renamed The Pittsburgh Trust Company in 1853, in 1858, the company located its corporate offices at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street in Pittsburgh where they remain to this day. The bank changed its name to First National Bank of Pittsburgh in 1863 and it received charter number forty-eight on August 5,1863, with other later banks receiving charters sooner due to paperwork problems and the fact that the bank was already in business. By 1959, after a series of mergers, the bank had evolved into the Pittsburgh National Bank, another branch of the current bank, the Philadelphia based Provident National Corporation, dates back to the mid-19th century. In 1982, Pittsburgh National Corporation and Provident National Corporation merged into a new entity named PNC Financial Corporation and it was the largest bank merger in American history at the time. Between 1991 and 1996, PNC purchased more than ten smaller banks, in 2005, PNC acquired Washington, D. C. based Riggs Bank. PNC completed the acquisition of Maryland-based Mercantile Bankshares on March 2,2007, on June 7,2007, PNC announced the acquisition of Yardville National Bancorp, a small commercial bank centered in central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. The transaction was completed in March 2008, the transaction was also completed in 2008. On October 24,2008, during the crisis of 2007-2008. The announcement came hours after PNC sold preferred stock to the United States Treasury as part of the $700 billion bailout plan and it also greatly expanded PNCs presence in the Midwest as well as entering the Florida market. PNC then had its footprint stretch from New York City to St. Louis, with branches as far south as Miami, marie, Michigan on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. PNC completed the conversion of the National City branches on June 14,2010, National City’s lack of pricing guidelines resulted in black borrowers being charged an average of $159 more in extra upfront fees or higher interest than white borrowers. Black borrowers also paid an average of $228 more annually over the life of the loan than white borrowers, hispanics paid $125 more upfront and $154 more annually than white borrowers. Under the terms of the settlement, PNC was required to pay victims $35 million, in 2011, PNC bought BankAtlantics Tampa Bay Area branches. Also in 2011, PNC acquired 27 branches in the northern Atlanta suburbs with $240 million in deposits, in 2012, PNC acquired RBC Bank from Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion
9.
Hillsborough River (Florida)
–
The Hillsborough River is a river located in the state of Florida in the USA. It arises in the Green Swamp near the juncture of Hillsborough, Pasco and Polk counties, the name Hillsborough River first appeared on a British map in 1769. Geological data suggests that the Hillsborough River has been flowing for about 27,000 years, humans first made their way to this area 12,000 -15,000 years ago. In the late 18th century the watershed of the Hillsborough River was a covered by a rich. Majestic bald cypress, longleaf pine, and sand live oak were hundreds of years old, in the mid to late 19th century to about 1913 the watershed of this old growth forest began to be logged. As a result of this activity, most of the trees within the Hillsborough River basin are now less than one hundred years in age. The harvesting of the old growth trees altered the ecosystems they dominated, trees such as water ash and water locust were able to quickly grow in the sun-lit spaces created when bigger trees were removed. The riverine swamp forest as it today has a much different ecology than the ecosystem that had existed along the Hillsborough for the previous ten to fifteen thousand years. Pánfilo de Narváez, a Spanish explorer, lands near Tampa Bay and he and the four hundred men with him find the Tocobaga culture established in the area. Hernando de Soto, another Spaniard, comes to Tampa Bay, by the early 18th century the Tocobaga people, through disease and slavery, are nearly exterminated. A survey of the Hillsborough River is done by Don Francisco Maria Celi and he ventures up to the Temple Terrace area in search of longleaf pine to use as masts for his ships. He names the pine forest of the area El Pinal de la Cruz de Santa Teresa or The Pines of the Cross of Saint Teresa, there is a plaque commemorating his exploration at Riverhills Park in Temple Terrace. A map drawn and sent to the Earl of Hillsborough, English Governor of West Florida, during the mid and late 18th century, Native Americans from the north, mostly Creek, begin to migrate to Florida. These immigrants become known as Seminoles, Florida becomes a United States territory. Construction of Fort Brooke begins at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, the Fort King Military Road is built to connect Fort King in Ocala with Fort Brooke in what was then the settlement of Tampa. A bridge is built to cross the Hillsborough, congress passes the Indian Removal Act. The American government begins efforts to remove the Seminole from Tampa Bay, tensions between Seminole and Americans continue. Seminoles burn the bridge at the Fort King Road’s river crossing, Fort Foster is established at the Hillsborough River crossing to protect this strategically advantageous position
10.
Interstate 275 (Florida)
–
Interstate 275, located in Florida, is a highway,60 miles long, serving the Tampa Bay Area. Its southern terminus is at Interstate 75 near Palmetto, where I-275 heads west towards the Sunshine Skyway Bridge crossing over Tampa Bay, after the interchange, I-275 passes north through the Tampa suburbs to its northern terminus at Interstate 75 in Wesley Chapel. Interstate 275 begins at exit 228 of Interstate 75 with two lanes in either direction in rural Palmetto,275 immediately heads west of its parent interstate and has an interchange US412 miles up the road. I-275s next interchange is with US19, beginning a concurrency that lasts 13 miles, after this exit, I-275 reaches the Southern toll plaza for the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. There is a corresponding Northern toll plaza for southbound travelers, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge is a 4.1 mile long bridge that spans Tampa Bay. After reaching the end of the bridge,275 enters St. Petersburg. At the northern end of the bridge, drivers drive on the left side as the freeways lanes invert for about half a mile before US19 exits the freeway. I-275 has multiple exits in the city, each of them serving the neighborhoods that the freeway passes through. At this point, the interstate widens to 3 lanes in either direction, 275s next major interchange is with Interstate 175, which provides access to Albert Whitted Airport and Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays. The next major interchange occurs less than a mile down the road with Interstate 375, after this exit, I-275 continues through residential neighborhoods until it passes beside Sawgrass Lake Park and then through an area of marshland. The freeway widens to four lanes in either direction before reaching its last interchange in St. Petersburg with SR687, after traveling 19 miles in St. Petersburg, I-275 crosses the Howard Frankland Bridge over Old Tampa Bay into Tampa. I-275 has an interchange with SR589, allowing access to Tampa International Airport, at this point, I-275 thins down to three lanes in either direction, and remains this way for the rest of the freeway. 275 then has an interchange with US92, the first of two interchanges with the road, allowing access to downtown Tampa,275 then crosses the Hillsborough River for the first time along its route. Afterwards,6 miles from its entry into Tampa, I-275 has its major interchange with Interstate 4. This junction was always clogged with daily rush hour traffic and was subsequently overhauled and this interchange serves as I-4s western terminus, and allows access to Orlando and the east coast of Florida. After this major exit,275 reaches an interchange with US92 again, after this interchange, US41 acts as the local road for the freeway for the rest of its route. 275 crosses the Hillsborough River a second time and enters residential neighborhoods within Tampa,275 travels due north and parallel to US41 for 4 miles before turning northeast towards Interstate 75. At this point,275 exits Tampa and enters Lutz, a suburb of Tampa, I-275 then reconnects with its parent interstate highway and reaches its northern terminus
11.
TECO Line Streetcar System
–
It connects Downtown and Channelside to the historic Ybor City district. There is also an In-Town trolley-replica bus system that connects Downtown, Channelside, the line opened on October 19,2002, and is 2.7 mi long with 11 stations. The system is single-track with several passing sidings, which follows a reserved right-of-way at a cost of 13.7 million per mile. Ten replica historic streetcars and one restored historic streetcar are used on the line, the replica cars themselves cost $600,000 each. Tampas first electric streetcars were introduced in 1892, streetcars in Tampa reached their peak of popularity in the 1920s, with almost 24 million passengers carried in 1926. The first line shut down on August 4,1946, the first streetcar system used the Birney Safety Car and, probably, other streetcar types. Streetcars returned to Tampa in 2002, when the initial 2.4 mi long line was opened. In its first year of operation, the streetcar carried 420,000 riders, in 2005,434,498 passengers used the streetcar. In 2011, Streetcar ridership from October 2011 through May decreased by 8.3 percent to 265,148 with a total for the year of 358,737 riders, in 2015, the streetcar served 285,900 passengers. A new 0.333 mi extension, costing $5.5 million, the extension runs north along Franklin Street to Whiting Street and the Fort Brooke parking garage, connecting the Convention Center as well as the rest of the TECO Line to the downtown core. All except the original Birney were built by the Gomaco Trolley Company, the replica Birney cars have a welded steel body with cosmetic rivets added to make them look older. The cars are wheelchair-accessible, air-conditioned and have automated stop announcements, the seats are made of wood and are reversible for when the car changes direction. The cars are equipped with on-board ticket dispensers, however. The original Birney #163 streetcar ran on the Tampa & Ybor City Street Railway between 1923 and 1946 and it was found in 1991 in Sulphur Springs, a neighborhood in Tampa, where it had been used as an apartment and later a storage shed. After extensive restoration the car is back to its condition and is used for special events. It is Floridas only operational historic streetcar, the agency that operates the streetcar is a non-profit. On October 22,2014, the Tampa Bay Times published an editorial on the leverage a subsidy the Tampa Port Authority gives to the streetcar system, however it also wrote that the system is not dependent on the subsidy. They also reported that the system has to pay almost half a million dollars in insurance to cover the risk of crossing an active freight rail line
