The City of Tampa is proud to announce it will be working with Walk Bike Tampa, which has been awarded an Accelerated Mobility Playbook (AMP) Technical Grant from City Thread, a national non-profit organization that helps better connect communities through transportation.
City Thread's Technical Assistance Grant requires a $15,000 match from Walk Bike Tampa and partners. This contribution goes toward the total $50,000 value of the grant program and deliverables. This program is aimed at helping Tampa reach its broader transportation goals quicker through City Thread's wide network of support which includes elected and community leaders, funders and engaged residents.
“We are excited to welcome Tampa into our cohort of cities prioritizing mobility projects,” said Sara Studdard, City Thread partner. “We look forward to providing Tampa with the guidance and strategies needed to achieve its transportation goals faster than thought possible.”
The AMP grant will be used to help accelerate development of safer roadways for all users in accordance with the City's Vision Zero plans. We also look forward to expanding our low-stress bicycle network, allowing our growing city to be more connected than ever before. With limited funds, the City must be creative and flexible in how we grow our transportation network, and partnering with City Threads essentially adds another tool in the tool-belt.
“The Accelerated Mobility Playbook grant’s goal of garnering broad-based community support for the implementation of multimodal infrastructure will further assist the city in meeting its short-term goal to almost double its existing 41 miles of low-stress routes,” said Guido Maniscalco, Tampa City Council Chairman. “We live in one of the most beautiful cities in America, our residents and visitors deserve our best efforts, and we intend to deliver.”
"Our City's Mobility staff comes into work every day, driven to make Tampa a safer, better-connected city for all of our residents and visitors. We are always open to new ideas and welcome any assistance by those who come up with innovative solutions that benefit everyone. We are thankful to City Thread for recognizing our hard work and we look forward to working together to make Tampa's transportation network even more equitable and efficient," said Tampa Mobility Director Vik Bhide.
One of the cornerstones of City Thread's expertise is bridging the gaps between government, residents and industry advocates. The program works because of passionate advocates like Christine Acosta from Walk Bike Tampa.
“Walk Bike Tampa is thrilled to be receiving the AMP Grant and delighted the City is our key partner in its development,” said Christine Acosta, WBT Board Member and AMP Sub-Committee Chair. “Implementing Tampa’s well-defined and emerging network for safe active transportation will be within reach, sooner rather than later, thanks to City Thread.”
Along with WBT and Tampa, the second cohort of AMP Technical Assistance Grant recipients include Baltimore, MD; Salt Lake City, UT; and Spokane, WA.
About City Thread:
City Thread is a national non-profit organization that contributes to the well-being of communities by accelerating transportation projects that connect neighborhoods and help citizens move safely, efficiently, and equitably. Through its Accelerated Mobility Playbook (AMP) and program framework, it engages city stakeholders to overcome obstacles and realize more connected communities, that benefit everyone, faster than ever before. City Thread is led by three passionate mobility experts, with a combined 50 years in urban and strategic planning, communications, organizing, fundraising, and more, who take pride in helping people achieve their wildest transportation infrastructure dreams, and look forward to seeing the positive social, environmental, and economic effects of connected communities. City Thread’s work is actualized in cities all over the US and through the AMP Technical Assistance Grant Program, will continue to ignite systems change.