TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Letters To The Editor

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 18, 2008

Costly And Ineffective

Regarding "Commuter Rail Still Pursued" (Metro, May 11):

The following appeared in an article published by the CATO Institute which gives a different slant:

"Randal O'Toole, senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said transportation planners are massively misallocating resources toward light rail when they should be rehabilitating and building new freeways. It costs five times as much to build light rail than a freeway lane mile, and that freeway lane carries five times as many travelers per day.

"Ultimately, light rail is 25 times less cost-effective than freeways, and yet 40 percent of all gasoline taxes are diverted to underutilized transit such as light rail. The Heritage Foundation's Ronald D. Utt said user fees - rather than large grants by government - better align incentives so that commuters' needs are served by transportation planners."

That says that light rail is not a cost-effective way to go, or in handling traffic volume that highways do.

ARNOLD SCHUPPERT

Sun City Center

The Density Factor

Residential and employment densities are sorely lacking from local conversations about rail. Rail is too expensive or, "If you build it, they will come."

Residential densities have to be at least nine dwelling units per acre, or 29 warm bodies per acre. Employment positions have to be much higher in the central business districts in order to financially justify rail and the federal transportation subsidiaries that will be needed.

Without the population densities rail requires, it is premature to start drawing lines on maps and talking about raising taxes. It is a common problem with communities that want rail. Neighborhoods, like Hyde Park, that want it are reluctant to accept the residential densities required to get it. Until land-use, zoning, residential and employment densities catch up, Tampa Bay Rail will remain an unfulfilled and unfunded pipe dream.

GENE WELLS

Tampa

Good Corporate Citizen
The highly emotional and strident opponents of the CSX deal have forgotten just how much this highly successful company has contributed to the economy of Florida and neighboring states over a significantly long period of time. The taxpayers, some politicians and some members of the media are eager to pony up millions of tax dollars to attract sports teams to the area, yet, apparently are unwilling to support a private company that has helped sustain, in large measure, the Florida economy for decades.

In 2007, CSX paid out $500 million in salaries to 5,000 Florida residents, considerably more than the combined contributions of CSX detractors. The railroads were largely responsible for sustaining my family and many other families through the Depression and war years.

Much has been written about negotiator conflicts of interest. It seems to me most desirable that negotiators have expertise in marketing, real estate, demography, and politics, and if they just so happen to own property nearby, so what. At least they know what they are doing. CSX is a private company and its reason for being in business is to show a profit from operations and reward stockholders with dividends. One way to jeopardize that goal is to conduct negotiations in the open where opportunistic competitors can seize an advantage.

Congratulations CSX detractors, you have shot yourselves in your collective feet.

LANE BONNER

Plant City

It Will Only Get Worse

A while back, I was held hostage in Plant City 23 minutes with those ahead waiting still longer. A CSX train westbound turned north at the Plant City rail intersection. An idling train on the eastbound track turned north when the first one cleared without waiting for traffic to pass before continuing to block Reynolds Street, U.S. Hwy 92 eastbound. I opened my windows and switched off my motor. Reckon how many gallons of fuel were wasted by the hundred or more backed up cars and trucks that continued idling to keep cool?

It can only get worse in Plant City and Lakeland with the Winter Haven facility.

CLIFFORD L. HALFORD

Plant City

Still Making Payments

Thank goodness I paid off my Ford Explorer in January. Now I can make gas payments instead of car payments!

MARTHA F. BENNETT

Valrico

Put Brakes On Wheelies

Regarding "Bikers Are Given Thumbs Down To 1 Wheel Up" (Metro, May 11):

Kudos to state Rep. Carlos Lopez-Contera, R-Miami, for trying to install a traffic fine that might work. If all of this was done on a private track somewhere, we could all just sit back and let natural selection do its business, but it does not belong on a public interstate system.

By the way, you just have to love the "lawyer-speak" coming from the other side via Mr. MacKay. It is never "difficult to see when the wheel is coming off the ground," and the size of the "rock you would hit a little hard" to falsely look like a wheelie would cause the bike to flip over. You have to at least be impressed by his word usage.

JAMES JONES

Tampa

Driving In Real World

Regarding "More Must Be Done to Prevent Teen Deaths Behind The Wheel" (Our Opinion, May 15):

I could not agree more with your editorial.

When confronted with the fact my two teenage daughters were about to become drivers, I thought about training. Of course, we have great drivers' education programs in our community, but I wanted more. I thought about how much I had spent on music and dance lessons over the past few years and how little I was about to spend before letting my girls manage the busy streets of our community behind the wheel. We have to better prepare our teens to manage "real world driving." We have to teach them to be defensive without compromising their safety. We have to modify their risky behavior and show them the consequences of not wearing seat belts and how to manage the little distractions that get them into trouble.

Sixteen teens die on U.S. streets every day; we can't allow this to continue.

FRED LAY

Brandon

The writer is co-founder of Teen Scene Driving Academy.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT