The Elephant Parade is in Town: Planning for the 2012 Republican National Convention 2013 APTA Multimodal Operations Planning Workshop July 30, 2013 San Francisco, CA

Past Events - Tampa is no stranger to big events on the national stage

HART Services 3 Bus Transit ADA Paratransit Electric Streetcar Flex Transit

Nothing before compared in scope and scale to the 2012 RNC 50,000+ visitors including protestors Security/Secret Service concerns – 3,500 law enforcement personnel Uncertainty on closed/open streets Small geographic footprint Large weekday focus – Need to continue all service – Quick notice of changes 4

Planning Window Tampa awarded 2012 RNC in May 2010 RNC to be in Tampa August 26 (Sunday) – August 30 (Thursday) 26 month planning and action window Internal committee formed – Planning – Operations including dispatch and road supervision – Marketing – Safety/Security – HR – Customer Service – Paratransit – Maintenance – Procurement – Finance – Mapping 5

It’s Never Too Early to Start the Planning Process!! Start internal and external meetings early (Apr. 2011) - even if you have nothing to say. You’d be surprised at the issues raised by the dialogue. Find contacts or counterparts in prior convention cities (Denver and St. Paul) and DNC city for 2012 (Charlotte). Place staff on local committees even if the committee may not seem to make sense for transit. Contacts – Connections - Conversation 6

Determine Service Expectations Early in the process you need to determine what services you will or will not provide. – Continued or enhanced regular service – Special services and shuttles – Do not try to be all things to all people $50 million allotted by Congress to Tampa to support the 2012 RNC. – Amount steering committee allotted to public transportation = $0 7

No Bucks - No Trucks Without additional funding to support additional services HART would: – Allow RNC to rely on their own charters. – Concentrate on continuing existing services with minimal disruption. – Provide enhanced service on current routes where needed. – Provide special shuttles if necessary to provide continuity to local service. – Address security concerns at transit facilities. 8

Define Service Parameters Details on road openings/closures from the Secret Service were vague. – Determine local ‘No Service Zone’ – Determine shuttles and extensions – Set up detours Streetcar – close stations 9, 10, 11 Paratransit – provide in ‘no service zone’ Develop communication plan Partner with law enforcement for security 9

HART Committee Met monthly May 2011 – December 2011 Met every other week January 2012 – May 2012 Met weekly June 2012 – August 20 Met daily August 20 – 30 Some meetings would include outside staff from City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, MacDill AFB, etc. 10

The Result Was…. 11

Public Communication 12

Public Communication Regular press releases – TV, radio, newspaper Blog Outreach at transit facilities Mayor’s Town Hall Meetings – C-SPAN, local media Emergency Operations Center – Locally, the RNC was treated as if it were a hurricane 13

Security Keep transit away from protests Law enforcement use of Marion Transit Center ‘No Service Zone’ – Separated transit from problem areas – Developed detours around the zone Emergency operations center – Up to minute information on protester movements 14

Service No services cancelled – Detours out of ‘No Service Zone’ – Schedules maintained Three shuttles set up to accommodate various needs – Downtown circulator reconfigured – Ybor to Forum special shuttle – Tampa General Hospital shuttle 15

‘No Service Zone’ 16 Advance planning on detours Made transit more predictable Better communication to the public

Special Shuttles 17

A Little Bit of Luck Day 1 of the RNC was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Isaac All detours, shuttles, etc. were implemented as if the convention was in session – This gave us a ‘shakedown’ day to work a few bugs out of the system Protests never amounted to much so we did not have many security issues 18

The Final Result High patron satisfaction – Minimal inconvenience – All services intact High praise from local media No damage from protests No major impact to ridership Service back to normal by 6 PM August 31(Friday) 19

For additional information: Steve Feigenbaum Manager of Service Planning