# Long term parking in Tampa?



## floridaguy (Feb 22, 2007)

Any ideas where to park a car near Tampa Amtrak station for 2 days?

I would like to have a 2 day roundtrip to explore what the Florida rail system looks like


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## AmtrakWPK (Feb 22, 2007)

I seem to recall that they do have parking available at the station at Tampa. I've not used the parking lot as I've always arrived by train. I would suggest giving the station a call on the phone and ask the station agent directly, unless we have someone who is real familiar with Tampa Union Station give us the answer in the interim. I'd call them but it's past business hours there now.


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## Tbay27 (Feb 23, 2007)

I use the Tampa train station relativelty often and my car has always been safe in the fenced in area to the south of the station. It is my understanding that they lock the lot at night when the station is closed and there is barbed wire at the top of the fence. So far I have not had any problems, it is free, and easy to the station or the platform. Hope this is helpful.


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## floridaguy (Feb 23, 2007)

Tbay27 said:


> I use the Tampa train station relativelty often and my car has always been safe in the fenced in area to the south of the station. It is my understanding that they lock the lot at night when the station is closed and there is barbed wire at the top of the fence. So far I have not had any problems, it is free, and easy to the station or the platform. Hope this is helpful.


Who is the owner of this lot? Can I leave a car there for several days?

By the way - where do you ride by Amtrak from Tampa? In my opinion its schedule is very inconvenient.


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## tourlink99 (Feb 23, 2007)

The enclosed lot at TUS is inside the station grounds. I also use the lot often and never have a problem. Just remember to park inside the gate, not at the outside lots.


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## Anne Brown (Jun 22, 2008)

floridaguy said:


> Any ideas where to park a car near Tampa Amtrak station for 2 days?I would like to have a 2 day roundtrip to explore what the Florida rail system looks like


At the Tampa Amtrak station there is a small fenced in area that they lock at night. You can overnight park there. I left my car there for 3 days and no problem. There is a lot of parking around there as well, but the fenced area is at the South end of the station. The fenced area is kinda dumpy looking (unpaved, loose pipes and wood piles in corner), but they lock it at night so it's more secure than the paved parking areas around there.

The ride from Tampa to Ft. Lauderdale is 4.5 hours. Don't expect European-train punctuality. My train was 30 minutes late, and when I asked the guy behind the counter when it would arrive, he replied "it gets here when it gets here". So don't expect great service either (think Department of Motor Vehicle friendliness). But hey, for $32 (one-way), the price is right.

At the Ft. Lauderdale station, there are taxis outside, but the "public service" taxis look iffy. I picked the only Yellow cab there. You can also call (954) 888-8888 to order a taxi to meet you. Note that if you tell the dispatch to have a taxi there at 1:00pm, the driver will start the meter at 1:00pm when he gets there. If you're 5 minutes late, you'll have to pay the 5 minutes on the meter that he has to wait for you. This is kinda naive of me but I've always either taken a private car service or taxis direct from airport and I did not know that. So I had to pay $10 extra for being 7 minutes late. The taxi ride from there to the Ft. Lauderdale airport where you can pick up rental cars is around $20 and takes about 10 minutes.

I found the passenger car on the Amtrak train quite old, but they're clean. There are tons of leg room (a little more than international business class on airplanes) -- that's the nicest part about the ride. There is a foot rest and a leg rest. The foot rest flips out under the seat in front. The leg rest comes out under your seat. There are two 120-volt plugs by each window seat. The bathrooms are clean (I had expected worse). The diner car was old and rickety and in a lot worse condition than the passenger cars -- don't expect dining pleasure. And if you're a Starbuck regular or any kind of coffee aficionado, don't even THINK about ordering the coffee.

I noticed that the veteran train travelers bring pillows and blankets and sleep most of the way, or they bring laptops and watch movies.

My cell phone (I have AT&T) worked fine most of the way. There may be patches of no service but I never ran into them when I made my calls in transit.

The temperature in the cars seem to be under the domain of the Conductor. If s/he's hot, the car will be freezing. If you tend toward being cold, just bring a small blanket.


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## Green Maned Lion (Jun 24, 2008)

This topic is older than a Heritage Diner. Why the reply?


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## Chatter163 (Jun 24, 2008)

> At the Ft. Lauderdale station, there are taxis outside, but the "public service" taxis look iffy. I picked the only Yellow cab there. You can also call (954) 888-8888 to order a taxi to meet you. Note that if you tell the dispatch to have a taxi there at 1:00pm, the driver will start the meter at 1:00pm when he gets there. If you're 5 minutes late, you'll have to pay the 5 minutes on the meter that he has to wait for you. This is kinda naive of me but I've always either taken a private car service or taxis direct from airport and I did not know that.


You are indeed naive, as the driver scammed you. By law in Broward County, like most others, the meter cannot be started until the passenger gets in the taxi, regardless of what time the reservation was for.


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