TPA launches new airside shuttles in $91M upgrade

Travelers at Tampa International Airport were met with a new generation of airport shuttles this week, replacing the airport’s aging transportation system from the 1990s. 

New automated Blue Shuttles officially launched Friday, carrying passengers from the airport’s main terminal to its Airsides A and C. The $91 million upgrade marks the third generation of automatic trains in the airport’s history, according to a release. 

While the journey itself remains the same short trip visitors have come to expect from the airport, the new Blue Shuttles feature updated interiors with information screens for a “thoroughly modernized experience,” the release says. 

“TPA’s signature shuttles go back to our opening in 1971, and were the first of their kind at any airport in the world when they debuted,” Tampa International Airport CEO Michael Stephens says in the release. “Now we are proud to offer another first, with TPA being the first airport in the world to offer these brand new shuttles coupled with the new technology and operating system that will be guiding them."

The two, mated Blue Shuttles are next-generation Innovia APM R shuttle cars that operate at both Airsides and are manufactured by Pittsburg-based Alstrom, the same company that produced the airport’s old shuttle cars. 

The new cars not only use Alstrom’s proprietary software, but also have new electrical running systems and concrete guideways to support their journey to and from the airport’s terminals. Passengers will notice improved lighting, video information screens and doors with obstacle-detection systems, the release says. 

The old Red Shuttles at Airsides A and C, which have traveled well over one million miles each, will continue to operate alongside the Blue Shuttles until early April to help carry extra passengers during the spring break travel period, the busiest time of year at TPA. Then, the Red Shuttles will be shut down and permanently replaced. 

All three shuttles that operate from Airside E are also scheduled to be replaced later this year, the release says. 

The guideway rehabilitation and shuttle car replacement for Airsides A and C, which includes design and running surfaces, plus eight cars with their controls and signaling systems, cost the airport an estimated $61 million, according to the release. The Airside E replacement project requires four more cars – the Red Shuttle cars were delivered earlier this year and are currently being installed – plus guideways and switchgear estimated to cost an additional $30 million. The projects are funded with bonds and state grants.

New cars also have been ordered for the forthcoming Airside D. Airside F, which has the newest cars of all the Airsides, will also get new shuttles “in the future,” the release says.