Give rail a jump-start
08/17/08 - St. Petersburg Times

The Tampa Bay region has no greater problem than its congested and outdated transportation system. For two decades, political leaders throughout Tampa Bay have acknowledged that commuter rail must play a role if the growing region is to maintain its quality of life and diversify and grow its economy. Yet all the talk and costly studies have failed to drive a single spike into the ground; even a rudimentary rail system is at least another decade away.

That’s why Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio’s plan to jump-start rail is encouraging. The time has come to give commuters more transit options and for the region to make better use of its land and transportation dollars. But adding rail is an expensive and long-term undertaking. Moving ahead should reflect a larger consensus that the region is ready to address transportation and growth well beyond the lens of parochial politics. Read more

Visions Of Regional Transit Bump Against Local Realities
08/17/08 -The Tampa Tribune

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio is taking the lead and pushing hard to give Hillsborough voters a chance, finally, to say yes or no to a rail transit proposal. Not everyone is happy about that. Red flags are up warning she is moving so far ahead of regional plans that the state won’t help pay for the costly project, which means it couldn’t be built. We encourage the mayor to keep pushing and for regional planning efforts to continue. By early next year the regional plans will have caught up, and everyone should be on the same track in time for a 2010 vote.

Iorio and others, including Hillsborough Commissioner Mark Sharpe, are right not to entirely delegate Tampa’s big-city commuting challenges to the whims of a seven-county board. Unlike Iorio, many of the local elected leaders on the board are accountable to small-town constituencies more interested in keeping taxes low than in investing in faster travel. Iorio’s strategy is that some jurisdiction has to go first, and it makes sense to start where the traffic is the worst and the commuters most eager for options. When the first segment is open, neighboring counties can see the benefits and join when they’re ready. Read more