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Letters to the EditorsLight rail should be a joint venture© St. Petersburg Times published January 26, 2003 Re: Has light rail's time arrived? Jan. 12. Once again Pinellas County government is thinking about mass transit as an alternative to our overcongested roadways. Once again Pinellas County government has short-sighted the entire idea because of county lines and political disputes, young and old. Just why is Pinellas County focusing on going it alone with a plan for building a light rail system? Its residents do not just commute to places in Pinellas County; nor do they all live south of Enterprise Road in Clearwater. Will someone, anyone, please seriously consider the idea of a joint venture in mass transit with Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa? This is, after all, the "Tampa Bay" area and not the "Tampa/St. Petersburg" market, as it's often termed to express separation of the two cities. There is separation between many cities and counties in the United States and yet they work together in mass transit. Could the Long Island Railroad work if Suffolk County, N.Y., wanted its own private rail system on Long Island? No, because Suffolk County is a suburb of New York City and that's where its citizens commute. Could Alameda County, Calif., run its own rail line and get maximum usage by keeping the line separate to San Francisco? No. That's why the system is named Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART for short). Yet Pinellas County (and Hillsborough County for that matter) keep thinking of separate answers for joint problems. Pinellas should be working with a task force that includes Hillsborough County to make mass transit work. Being unified in planning, constructing and funding a light rail line in the area would make the entire system much more cost effective.
Try improved buses before light railRe: Has light rail's time arrived? Before we spend millions of dollars on a light rail system, why don't we do what we can to increase ridership on the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority's bus lines? PSTA needs to have an express service between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Clearwater, and earlier starting hours and downtown shuttles to relieve pressure on Routes 52 and 18. Special travel lanes and those devices to hold the traffic lights would be a great help as well. If we can't increase ridership on an existing mass transit system with improved service, then it is unlikely that we will have enough ridership on light rail to make it worthwhile.
Form transit authority, minus MPORe: County may form a transit authority, Jan. 15. Having lived in Pinellas County for the last 41 years, I have had the pleasure of hearing the county's ideas on how to fix the transportation network many times. The formation of a transit authority could solve the county's transportation problems as long as it is not made up of anyone who is currently on the Metropolitan Planning Organization. I base this statement on MPO meetings that I have watched on the county cable channel. Almost every decision the MPO makes hinders traffic flow in Pinellas County. I have to assume that these are intelligent people who just have poor common sense and in some cases need to see a new hairstylist. I very much look forward to hopping on the St. Petersburg Times High-Speed Rail System at the Largo Diversity Station and riding it all the way to the King Station in downtown St. Petersburg.
Canadian drivers, make the switchTo all Canadian tourists: We appreciate your business, but please adjust your speedometers from kilometers to America's "miles per hour." Most cars are equipped with a simple switch on the dashboard, or the speedometer itself is marked for both. These simple adjustments will reduce most of the road rage you now experience from irate local drivers. Please tell all of your fellow Canadians about this simple solution to all the horn-blowing in Tampa Bay.
Gallery walks need more securityRe: Loosen parking, tighten security, letter, Jan. 22. Our gallery is located in the Gallery Central district of downtown St. Petersburg on a busy Central Avenue corner. We are active members of the Downtown Arts Association and open our doors free of charge every month for the Second Saturday Gallery Walks along with approximately 21 other galleries. The gallery walks remain a grass-roots effort organized by gallery owners themselves, many of whom are minding their shops after hours alone in an effort to promote the arts in St. Petersburg. We have been very successful over the last several years bringing tourists, out-of-towners and local residents downtown for an evening of fun. The Gallery Walks have grown substantially, instinctively followed by a considerable increase in downtown visitors, restaurants, BayWalk, many new residential projects, a grocery store and new hotel. Many of these local restaurants and establishments benefit greatly from the Gallery Walks, and more businesses every day want to be part of the "new St. Pete." These monthly events are not always without incident, however, and several times we have had to ask patrons to leave our premises or we have experienced unruly crowds. Because we continue to provide a "free" service to our downtown community, I join the letter writer's comments regarding the obvious need for increased security so patrons, visitors and gallery/shop owners can feel safe and secure. These same streets are also in need of additional light posts to brighten darker blocks for the safety and comfort of visitors. Severe and limited parking restrictions are the other reason the letter writer is not inclined to attend or patronize evening events in downtown anymore. There are frequent letters in the newspaper from first-time visitors complaining about our "unfriendly" downtown. And you don't need to read the paper to see it or to experience it for yourself as a resident! Our gallery has witnessed and dealt with every downtown parking obstacle imaginable over the last 17 years. Our employees and volunteers park in the most expensive rental parking lot in all of downtown St. Petersburg (so high in demand, the lot has about a five-year waiting list) at the expense of our business -- so our customers might have a chance of finding a parking spot near the gallery. Most parking along Central Avenue is occupied by 9 a.m. every weekday by shop owners, restaurant and company employees who literally have no place to park. Daily our customers arrive frustrated as do our artists delivering heavy boxes of artwork from three blocks or more away. I am referring not only to a small section of downtown parking, but also to a recurring problem throughout downtown that is seriously driving visitors and residents away. There has to be a solid and lasting solution to these problems, (without hiring an overpaid consultant). Let's not witness our many years of hard work disappear under absurd parking restrictions, not enough parking, substandard street lighting and an unsafe downtown environment that makes our new as well as longtime visitors completely disappear.
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