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Having a hard time getting around Tampa? North Carolina might have the answer

Bay area business leaders say Charlotte's successful light rail system is worth a closer look.

TAMPA, Fla. — How long did it take you to get home from work today?

You don’t have to live in the Tampa Bay area for very long to learn that traffic isn’t great and your options for getting around are limited.

While there are bus services on both sides of the bay and leaders continue to float the idea of a commuter ferry, the bulk of people living and working in this region must rely on their own cars to get around.

RELATED: Is now the time to fix Tampa Bay's transit problems?

It’s a problem roughly 100 local business leaders will be looking to find solutions for when they travel to Charlotte, North Carolina, in October.

The trip, which is organized by the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce, is designed to help business leaders see what cities that are comparable to Tampa are doing right when it comes to issues like affordable housing and transportation.

"We’ve got to figure it out,” said Jamie Harden, the Chamber’s chair. “How are we going to get them to good jobs, how are we going to make sure it's as short a commute time as possible?”

Those are the questions that keep Harden up at night—or at least his mind occupied in traffic.

So, why Charlotte?

“Transportation-wise they've done a really good job,” Harden said.

"They have an integrated rail and bus system that is a very efficient process that's connecting where employees are and employers are and that's obviously something we're missing."

RELATED: Train connecting Tampa to Orlando could happen in near future

But Harden cautions, while Charlotte’s light rail might be well-regarded, that doesn’t mean it could or even should work here in the Bay area. Harden recalls the Chamber’s previous 'benchmarking' trip to Toronto, another city with terrific inner-city rail program—or so they thought.

“But once we started probing about the challenges, we learned the system was put in 20 years ago and they’d not put any additional capital into it,” he said. “Now the rail doesn’t go to where the people are because all cities expand and the people move out.”

Harden said the challenge is designing solutions that won’t become obsolete in 10 to 20 years.

“I don’t know if rail is going to be it – but whatever the transportation system will be we need to not only be looking at what that looks like today but what it could look like in the future so we’re prepared,” he said.

With new tax monies that will soon be available from the recently approved Hillsborough transportation tax, Harden says the time is now to get serious about fixing Tampa's transit troubles.

RELATED: Hillsborough voters pass transportation referendum, increasing county sales tax for 30 years

“Let’s get moving," he said. "That’s out there and I think people are really excited what that could mean.”

For young professionals like Raechel Canipe attending the trip, it all comes back to business. Lacking affordable housing in a downtown area coupled with few transportation options are all issues that can impact the bottom line.

“One of those aspects is being able to get talent to and from work,” Canipe said. “If there’s a lot of congestion, not a lot of good means of transportation, and not affordable housing nearby where those jobs are, it can be very difficult to attract business into the area or grow businesses already there.”

Spots are still available for those interested in signing up for the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce’s benchmarking trip to Charlotte.

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