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For a quicker commute

Pinellas County should raise its gas tax by a penny to pay for an "intelligent transportation system" that will move traffic more efficiently.

Pinellas County residents' main quality-of-life complaint is traffic congestion. Tuesday, the County Commission can begin to do something about it. With five affirmative votes, the commission can raise the local gas tax by an additional penny per gallon and use the revenue to modernize traffic signals on the busiest streets throughout the county.

While some motorists will protest, it should be an easy decision. Estimated to raise $3.9-million a year, the tax would pay for an "intelligent transportation system" that promises to move traffic more efficiently. The cost to individual drivers should be less than $10 a year.

Over the next 12 years, the county would replace its traffic signals with an advanced system that is capable of responding instantly to changes in traffic flow. Cameras and message boards would also be erected on the busiest corridors so that traffic engineers could monitor events without leaving the office and notify drivers of trouble ahead, diverting them to alternate routes.

The new system eventually would involve every major throughway from St. Pete Beach to Tarpon Springs. A map of the roads and construction schedule is available at the Metropolitan Planning Organization Web site go to www.pinellascounty.org/mpo/ and choose Intelligent Transportation System in the drop-down menu labeled Maps.

The map includes streets in St. Petersburg that might not be part of the new system, and that situation nearly derailed the plan. Here's why: Only St. Petersburg and Clearwater operate their own traffic lights, with the county handling that duty in every other city. County commissioners wanted to take control of the new traffic system (and its expense) inside those two cities as part of the gas tax proposal. Clearwater agreed, but St. Petersburg declined.

After some sarcastic repartee between County Commissioner Bob Stewart (who lives in St. Petersburg) and City Council Chairman Bill Foster, tempers cooled. Thursday, County Administrator Steve Spratt told St. Petersburg council members that he expects no endorsement of the gas tax from the city. The county even offered to provide some elements of the new traffic system (mainly cameras, message boards and countdown pedestrian signals) to the city if it agrees to share traffic information with the county.

St. Petersburg residents undoubtedly will pay more of the tax than they get back in city projects, but that isn't the relevant issue. While St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker made a reasonable argument for why the city doesn't want to give up control of its signals, the city still has plenty to gain from the new system. St. Petersburg residents will benefit from better traffic flow elsewhere in the county, as will St. Petersburg businesses and tourist attractions that draw outside visitors. And remember, Pinellas County has given up millions of dollars in future county tax revenues to help the city pay for several of its projects.

An extra penny gas tax and smart signals are really only a first step toward what it will take to significantly relieve traffic congestion. In fact, even with the extra revenue, Pinellas County will need another $20-million in state and federal grants to finish the intelligent traffic system. And even then, drivers might see only modest relief on some roadways.

But the county and cities have to start somewhere. We encourage the County Commission to pass the penny gas tax, and the St. Petersburg City Council to come to an agreement with the county so it can participate as much as possible in the new system. When it comes to resolving our No. 1 annoyance, we're in this together.

[Last modified March 13, 2006, 01:02:02]