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Rail Expert Says Make Tracks

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By ELLEN GEDALIUS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 14, 2007

TAMPA - Cal Marsella, head of Denver's transit agency, says the Tampa Bay area needs a regional vision and a clear message if voters are to be persuaded to approve a sales tax increase to pay for rail.

Marsella will be in Tampa on Thursday and Friday to talk about his experiences as general manager and chief executive of Denver's Regional Transportation district. Tampa city leaders invited him to town.

He is scheduled to meet Thursday morning with Mayor Pam Iorio, her top administrators, and representatives from Hillsborough Area Regional Transit, the airport, Westshore Alliance, the University of South Florida and other groups. Later Thursday, the city council will hold a workshop with Marsella. Friday morning, he is scheduled to meet with business leaders involved with the Tampa Downtown Partnership.

"My point is to start to create a spark, if you will," Marsella said.

The Tampa Bay area is in the early stages of creating a mass transit plan for the region. Various funding options have been proposed, including a plan to increase the sales tax to pay for rail. Any plan is several years away from appearing on the ballot.

About three years ago, residents in Denver's eight-county transportation service area voted to increase the sales tax four-tenths of a cent to fund a 12-year plan to build and operate high-speed rail lines and to improve bus service.

FasTracks is a $6 billion effort to build 119 miles of new commuter and light rail, 18 miles of bus rapid transit service, and 21,000 new parking spaces at rail and bus stations.

Voters endorsed the proposal 58 percent to 42 percent, Marsella said. He attributes that, in part, to a coordinated effort to involve the public at early stages.

For example, residents talked to transit officials about where they would like new stations and new rail lines, and the agency listened.

In Tampa, all of the area's political leaders would have to join forces to become the face of a transit campaign, Marsella said. And residents must be confident the transit group heading up the plan is a good steward of taxpayer dollars.

A major challenge in Denver, he said, was to convince residents in suburban areas that the transit improvements would benefit them, as well as the urban dwellers.

For years, area residents criticized the RTD as a "Ride To Denver" and nothing more.

Marsella said he hopes Tampa Bay area officials - mayors, county commissioners, city council members - can unite behind a single message: "It's good for Tampa, it's good for St. Petersburg, it's good for Clearwater, it's good for all of us." "That's the message they should convey," Marsella said.

Other cities are listening to Denver.

The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer reported last month that the head of the Charlotte Area Transit System cites Denver as a model for Charlotte.

In July, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett visited Denver to look at its transportation system. Milwaukee is interested in developing streetcar and rail systems, Barrett said.

"What's impressive about their efforts is they brought so many different counties together," Barrett said. "They were able to unite their region. I was pleased to see that."

Tampa City Councilwoman Mary Mulhern, the council's liaison to transit efforts, said she looks forward to hearing Marsella talk about the history of Denver's system and how officials there persuaded voters to endorse the sales tax increase.

"All the transportation people think he's fantastic, and they have the years of experience to help us get through this," Mulhern said.

Iorio said she wants to use Denver as a model because the city has "heavily emphasized the marriage of land use to rail" and because of the success of the referendum, despite heavy opposition at times.

Reporter Ellen Gedalius can be reached at (813) 259-7679 or egedalius@tampatrib.com.

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