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Collaborate To Make Rail Successful

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By STUART L. ROGEL

Special to the Tribune

Published: December 12, 2008

Our future economic well-being requires that we make strategic investments now in key infrastructure if we are to remain competitive and attract the industries and jobs of the future. A state-of-the-art transportation system is critical to moving goods and workers quickly and efficiently within and between regions and providing the competitive climate for business operations.

The leadership of the Tampa Bay Partnership fully supports the completion of the Central Florida Commuter Rail Project in the Orlando area as a key element to accomplishing this goal. We feel strongly that working through the remaining issues is an urgent matter that will provide for an inclusive and unified voice for bringing commuter rail to Central Florida.

The leadership of the Tampa Bay Partnership has worked diligently to understand the issues, convene groups and find common ground for progress. Our guiding principles have been clear and steadfast - think regionally by collaborating with our super-region partners, facilitate open and direct dialog among stakeholders, focus on the quality of life along with our economic well-being, and finally, to think long-term.

The Partnership also knows how important the Central Florida Commuter Rail Project is to the success of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) and to the future of a statewide multimodal transportation system.

We fully endorse the current process to achieve agreement from all stakeholders on the following:

• Support for commuter rail. Providing transit alternatives to move residents and visitors efficiently and effectively within and between regions is essential to our economy as well as to building connectivity within our state.

• Support for the integrated logistics center. Developing critical infrastructure for our region's important logistics and distribution industry is important to support our growing population and to increase our international opportunities.

• Support for developing and connecting our city centers. Investing in building and connecting our city centers through multimodal options is a key economic development objective that is essential to offer the high quality of life that will attract and retain the talented workforce that our region needs. We look forward to exploring long-term solutions and funding options that reroute freight rail traffic out of the downtown cores and help to facilitate connectivity within and between regions.

From an economic point of view, we feel strongly that investing in projects such as the Central Florida Commuter Rail Project is exactly what our government should be spending money on to re-ignite our economy. Transit projects, like this one and the ones we are planning in Tampa Bay, are key to the economy of the future. They provide green alternatives that allow people to get to their jobs efficiently and cheaply.

The national trend indicated that these projects have a high rate of return for the investment and not only create jobs in the construction phase but make communities more attractive for the jobs of the future. This project provides the state with a unique opportunity to jump-start transit efforts with the addition of 61 miles of commuter rail within Central Florida.

We all share the same core beliefs about our future and how our regions are stronger together. This is why the Tampa Bay Partnership will continue to pledge its support for the process that successfully brings the Central Florida Commuter Rail Project to completion.

The Tampa Bay Partnership will be supporting and participating in the Regional Summit on Connectivity, convened by the city of Lakeland, and will work with all stakeholders to address the remaining issues prior to the start of the upcoming legislative session.

Stuart Rogel is president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership.

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