Editorial
TBARTA moves forward
| Article published on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 |
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At a time when most state decision-making functions and residential business operations are in slow motion, at best, we can hang our hats on the fine job a regional governmental group has done over the last two years.
The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority was formed in 2007 by the Florida Legislature and immediately put the responsibility of success on TBARTA, mandating a July 2009 deadline for designing a regional master plan for mass transit.
TBARTA not only achieved its goal but did it in a very professional, efficient manner. It was a good sign to longtime Floridians who have watched in vain over the years as mass transit plans have consistently fallen by the wayside due to cronyism, turf wars and other ridiculous, non-productive behavior.
This one looks like it’s going to stick. On May 22, the TBARTA board of directors adopted a master plan that will carry us well into the middle of the 21st century with a series of short- and long-distance rail and bus lines that, when completed sometime around 2050, will make the quality of life in the seven-county region much more palatable.
After speaking with 47,273 residents at 448 events, TBARTA officials engineered a master plan that includes a long-term goal of 135 miles of short-distance rail, 115 miles of long-distance rail, 42 miles of bus rapid transit and 437 miles of express bus routes.
Short-distance rail transportation will run every 10 to 15 minutes, connecting area commuters with Tampa International Airport and St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport through a maize of routes from Brandon to Clearwater and St. Petersburg to Wesley Chapel.
Most routes will use existing railroad tracks and others, like the link from Tampa to Largo across Tampa Bay, will require new construction.
Locally, in Pinellas County, the master plan includes a light rail route on existing tracks from St. Petersburg northwest to Clearwater. Plans call for the same route to continue north into Dunedin, east into Oldsmar and on to Carrollwood in Hillsborough County.
The Pinellas plan also includes a bus rapid transit route from St. Petersburg to St. Pete Beach and express buses from St. Petersburg north to New Port Richey. The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority figures heavily in the plans.
But it is only a plan at this point. It must still be funded, which will likely be a bigger challenge than drafting the master plan.
Here’s why the Florida Legislature and county leaders must find a way to get the plan funded.
The average American household spends 18 percent of its income on transportation. In the Tampa Bay area, that figure is 25 percent, due almost exclusively to long commutes and few transportation options.
Without transit upgrades, delays on roadways in the TBARTA region are expected to increase 300 percent by 2030.
TBARTA’s mid-term (2035) vision includes 89 miles of passenger rail, 147 miles of managed lanes (such as HOT lanes) and 42 miles of bus rapid transit. Local bus service would be increased 3.3 times to connect local communities with regional lines.
Ultimately, the transportation plan will serve 5 million residents and provide access to more than 3 million jobs in 2035. Potentially, it will employ more than 2,800 transit drivers.
So, hopefully county leaders and state officials will keep the momentum going and find a way to get this important mandate funded.
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Article published on Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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