apartment and later a storage shed. Volunteers worked more than 10,000 hours to restore the car to its former condition. It is Florida's only operational historic streetcar. The replica Birney cars have a welded steel body with cosmetic rivets added to make them look older. The cars are wheelchair-accessible, air-conditioned and have automated stop announcements. The seats are made of wood and are reversible for when the car changes direction. The cars are also equipped with on-board ticket dispensers; however, they do not provide change. Financing The agency that operates the streetcar is a non-profit. On October 22, 2014, the Tampa Bay Times published an editorial on the leverage a subsidy the Tampa Port Authority gives to the streetcar system. However it also wrote that the system "is not dependent" on the subsidy. They also reported that the system has to pay almost half a million dollars in insurance to cover the risk of streetcars crossing an active freight rail line. The single-ride adult fare was $2.50 prior to October 2018. Starting that month, fares were dropped for a three year period due to a grant from the Florida Department of Transportation. As a result, ridership on the 2.7 mile line has skyrocketed, with almost three times as many riders in 2019 as in 2018. Plenary Americas US Holdings Inc has proposed partnering with the city to build a transit line primarily along Cypress Street - connecting Ybor City, Channelside, Downtown, Midtown, Westshore, and the airport. The new line may be called the CrossTampa Transit Connector with 16 stations and two major multipurpose hubs. The Florida Department of Revenue awarded $67 million for the streetcar expansion on December 8, 2020. The city hoped the updated and extended streetcar service would be up and running by the end of 2026. In February 2021 the Florida Supreme Court declared a one-percent county-wide sales tax unconstitutional in a 4-1 vote. The "All for Transportation" sales tax was approved by Hillsborough County voters in 2018 and $400 million had already been collected but was left unspent. The funds from this tax were the primary local funding source for the extension project, and thus the future of the project has been placed under review. A new measure to replace the 2018 tax was proposed in 2022. The referendum for a one percent sales tax was rejected by 2022 voters with results of 48.60% For vs.