Tampa’s last streetcars stopped running in 1946—a decision that officials and residents have regretted. Ever since, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) has been searching for an effective mass transit alternative for downtown and city-wide.

One such attempt came in 1979 with the launch of the Tampa Cablecar System's “Free Bee” cable car, looping north and south along Franklin Street (even though it had been converted to a pedestrian mall). The route connected two major downtown parking lots: one under the Crosstown Expressway (now the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway) and another under I-275.

Despite the nickname, these weren’t actual cable cars. Three rubber-tired vehicles were built to resemble the iconic San Francisco trolleys, costing around $50,000 each. The goal was to reduce traffic by offering parking in the downtown perimeter and providing a free shuttle to destinations within the urban core—an idea championed by former Mayor Bill Poe.

The buses were gas-powered motorhomes, retrofitted into trams by the Microbus Company in California. They quickly proved to be a maintenance headache, frequently breaking down. Riders also found the open-air vehicles uncomfortable in Tampa’s unpredictable weather, whether too hot, too cold, or raining.

After 2 ½ years, HART was already considering replacements in 1981. The following year, in a last-ditch effort to extend their lifespan, the vehicles were converted to run on propane for $2,600 each. The conversion did little to improve their reliability. n 1983, Franklin Street merchants began complaining that the Free Bees interfered with pedestrian traffic on the downtown mall. In response, HART rerouted the service to surrounding streets, which decreased ridership by 50%. A year later, they ordered six replacement buses, ending both the service and the “Free Bee” name, as the new system was no longer complimentary.