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The Straight Facts About Hillsborough's Transit

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By JOE AFFRONTI SR.

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

Regarding "Transportation Planning Agency Must Rev Up Its Enthusiasm" (Our Opinion, April 17):

The Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization is moving forward. Our mission is to develop a long-range transportation plan that supports the mobility needs and economic vitality of the community.

The MPO board has been consistent in its commitment to plan for transit for many years. The 2010 needs plan adopted by the MPO in 1991 supported rail transit development. The MPO partnered with HART to conduct the Tampa-Hillsborough-Lakeland-Polk major investment study in 1996 that included rail improvements to have been implemented by 2015.

The 2020 long range transportation plan (LRTP) adopted in 1998 and the 2025 LRTP adopted in 2001 included inter-city and local rail. A "locally preferred alternative" - 20 miles of light rail and a future airport extension - known as the Tampa Rail Project was approved for Federal Transit Administration funding in April 2003. Without support for a referendum to provide the required local funding, the rail transit plan was removed when the 2025 LRTP was updated in 2004.

The dollar amounts cited in the editorial that "in 2005, Hillsborough spent $98 per person on transportation, while Miami-Dade spent $502, Broward, $245, Palm Beach, $191, and Orange, $153" need further clarification. It is important to note that these amounts were local dollars spent by individual county governments.

Because those counties in South Florida have transit, aviation and port as departments within their administration, their numbers tend to be much higher than those for Hillsborough and Pinellas counties ($71) that have separate authorities that were not included as county expenditures.

In any case, these dollars are directly controlled by the local governments and not the MPOs. A better comparison of MPO oversight (a federal mandate) is the amount federal dollars being spent on transportation. In fiscal year 2007, the federal obligations per capita for Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orlando area, Pinellas and Pasco counties are $47, $65, $67, $74, $63 and $21 respectively. Hillsborough County's federal expenditure is at $109 per capita. Ours is a lot more robust than others due to various major construction activities involving all modes of transportation that are currently under way.

The Hillsborough MPO is working closely with its local and regional partners to make the vision of having a comprehensive transit solution a reality. As the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) develops its master plan, we are far ahead of other counties in the region by providing an award-winning Transit Concept for 2050. A product of extensive public participation and consideration of existing and future development patterns, the transit concept provides the vision and framework for further detailed studies to be conducted by implementing agencies such as HART, FDOT and TBARTA.

I have a great deal of respect for Commissioner Mark Sharpe and I am convinced that he was very sincere about his support for transit. I am also convinced that the members of our board are very sincere about doing what they feel is best for our county. The statement in your article that "other MPO members surprised by Sharpe's concern, rose to Ayer's defense, though they surely knew that the commissioner was right," in my opinion, challenges the credibility of the members of the MPO. I feel this is grossly out of line. We are committed to work with TBARTA as it works to establish a seven-county multimodal transit plan.

Lucie Ayer was directed by our board to carry out the priorities established to meet the federal and state standards for our county and direct her staff to provide and prioritize the best mobility plans for our citizens. It is difficult for me to understand how she could be held solely responsible for not pushing the multi-modal transit plan when as Tampa Councilman Tom Scott stated "the lack of leadership is the responsibility of all of us as elected officials."

Your article, which implied that Ayer has been incompetent and lacks professionalism, is very offensive. I have been the chairman of the MPO for one-and-a-half years and have witnessed the genuine respect that other MPO boards throughout the country and certainly the region, have for Ayer's knowledge, leadership and professionalism.

Joe Affronti Sr. is chairman of Hillsborough County MPO.

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