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Digest

Talk of the bay

By TIMES WIRES
Published December 4, 2006

OUR HIGHWAYS ARE BETTER THAN ... NOBODY'S

Highways are a mess in the Tampa Bay area, but when did it get this bad? Expansion Management magazine ranked our area dead last in "road density and congestion" in a 2006 transportation survey meant to aid corporate relocations. That's 362nd out of 362 metro areas. But our seaports and airports helped pull us from the bottom. In overall transportation, we landed in the top 20 percent nationally. Besides, roads aren't everything. Among top-ranked cities with superior highways: Wichita, Kan., and Syracuse N.Y. Didn't we move to Florida from there?

Let's not forget university research

Florida will spend hundreds of millions of dollars recruiting researchers who could spin off thousands of jobs. Think Palm Beach's Scripps Research Institute (see related story on this page). The money could be better spent, said Jack Sullivan, head of the Florida Research Consortium, which represents academic researchers. Florida spends $2 to recruit outsiders for every $1 it pours into university research. Sullivan suggested in-state institutions get a bigger cut to exploit emerging technology like biofuels. "With our agriculture we're prime for that," he said.

Crashing your car comes with perks

Can Progressive Insurance take the desperation out of dents? Starting today, accident-afflicted customers can take their cars to Progressive's new Oldsmar Service Center. The company promises a concierge's touch: Drop off your car, leave with a rental and let Progressive find a shop. The average crash victim spends four days arranging repairs. Progressive vows to trim the process to 15 minutes. We'll believe it when we see it. Ever try to navigate the average insurance company's voice mail system?

Animators get raw draw from Disney

Memo to young artists convinced film animation is the red-hot future: It's big, but it does not assure job security. Late last week, Disney said it will cut about one of every five jobs at its animation film business. Disney did not specify an exact number. And this cutback is not just about demand for animated films. It's also about Disney's partnership with Pixar Studios. You might recall that Disney bought Pixar, which was headed by Apple chief Steve Jobs, after a downturn in its own animated films business.

[Last modified December 3, 2006, 21:35:01]