Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Push is on for regional transit authority
By WILL VAN SANT
Published December 8, 2006
It's almost 2007 in Tampa Bay, one of the country's most congested metropolitan areas. Yet the region, which has aspired to host international events like the Olympics, remains a transit infant. Try taking a public bus from New Port Richey or St. Petersburg directly to Tampa International Airport. You can't. Ronnie Duncan, who becomes Pinellas County Commission chairman in January, hopes progress can be made by a new regional organization. As outlined in a proposal by Pinellas County Administrator Steve Spratt, the group would include officials and transit agency representatives from Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Despite an array of local transportation planning groups, Duncan said, discussion among the governments has been limited, even as growth patterns are transforming the region. "The time has come for us to begin addressing these shifts between where people live and people work," he said. The idea comes as Tampa Bay leaders appear to be realizing that new directions are needed. Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has become a voice for area light rail and has succeeded in getting the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and Hillsborough Area Rapid Transit to talk about regional cooperation. And state Rep. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, is sponsoring legislation to create a regional transportation authority. The authority would include leaders from Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota counties. Galvano's authority would have the ability to create public-private partnerships and issue bonds to pay for large transportation projects. He said the group could coexist with Duncan's smaller transit organization, but the last thing Tampa Bay needs is more talk that never leads to actual remedies. "We are literally choking on plans in our region," he said. Duncan said he supports Galvano's legislation.
[Last modified December 8, 2006, 06:09:50]
Share your thoughts on this story
Comments on this article
|
by Paul
|
12/08/06 04:03 PM
|
|
As a resident of Clearwater I am a strong proponent of an efficient public transit system which provides its patrons short wait times and well maintained equipment. It works for Portland Or and Salt Lake City Ut!
|
|
by Resident
|
12/08/06 01:13 PM
|
|
Why should my Pinellas tax dollars provide transportation for residents in other counties? PSTA could run busses to TIA, but HARTline has refused to release the airport from their "exclusive agreement". They should fix that first.
|
|
by John
|
12/08/06 08:51 AM
|
|
This is long overdue. You want people to utilize a mass transit system? Make it viable for them to do so. Get over your infantile fiefdom mentality and create an effective system that everyone can use.
|
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Email editor
