The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the City of Tampa’s 2008 population to be 340,882. Tampa is part of the four-county Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metropolitan statistical area, which has a population of approximately 2.7 million people. Downtown Tampa is the central business district of Tampa and the chief financial district of the Tampa Bay Area. However, the Westshore district is the largest business district with more than 11 million square feet of office space. Much of Tampa’s street system is a grid design. The City of Tampa imposes an impact fee on land development in the city. Fees are based on the type of development, the development capacity (i.e. increased square feet, number of students, etc.) or other traffic trip generation measure associated with the development, and the district in which the development is located. Fees are used to provide roadway improvements and related infrastructure necessitated by new development.

Three major bridges span Tampa Bay and provide access to Pinellas County. Major roadways include: 2 toll roads (SR-618 and SR-589) and 3 interstate highways (I-4, I-275, and I-75).

The Port of Tampa is the largest cargo port in Florida and one of the busiest commercial ports in North America. Freight and container cargo operations at the city's seaports are dependent on dockside rail facilities. The Tampa Port Authority currently operates three cruise ship terminals and is home port to many cruise ship lines.

Tampa International Airport is Tampa's main airport and the primary location for commercial passenger airline service into the Tampa Bay area.

Amtrak provides twice daily passenger rail service to historic Tampa Union Station with connection to motor coach, and HART transit services.

The Florida High Speed Rail Authority (FHSRA) has determined a preferred alternative for the location of the high speed rail system between Downtown Tampa to the Orlando International Airport. Eventually, the system will extend to Miami and south Florida. Construction of the line is slated to begin in 2011, with the initial phase completed by 2014

Public mass transit within Tampa is operated by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), and includes public bus (including express) and paratransit service, as well as a streetcar line (the TECO Line Streetcar System) in downtown. The TECO Line is jointly owned by The City of Tampa and HART through the private, non-profit Tampa Historic Streetcar, Inc. Tampa City Council created a special assessment district to raise funds to help operate the streetcar system. Each year the assessment increases due to the economic growth seen in the district. The special assessment funding is one of many revenue sources used to fund the streetcars; examples include: passenger fares, federal and state funds, an endowment, advertising, etc. HART has studied implementation of light rail transit and bus rapid transit.

HART is funded by an ad valorem tax on real estate and personal property, passenger revenue, federal, state, city, and county grants.