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Mayor Makes Her Case For Tampa-Centric Rail

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By RICH SHOPES

rshopes@tampatrib.com

Published: January 24, 2009

TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio made an impassioned pitch Friday for a Tampa-centric rail plan to members of TBARTA, the region's transportation authority, saying the system's first leg could be built in five or six years if approved by voters in a 2010 referendum.

Iorio, who is a Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority board member, said the plan dovetails with the authority's effort to create a master transportation plan for seven counties: Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota.

The mayor took criticism a few months ago when she proposed that TBARTA launch its rail program by focusing on Tampa and Hillsborough County.

Board members said she was moving too fast and had not first sought consensus.

Friday morning, Iorio countered, saying Tampa and Hillsborough have spent $15 million in the past 20 years studying rail and are further along in developing a plan than other communities in TBARTA's jurisdiction.

The mayor is pushing to bring the issue to Hillsborough voters in 2010 to ask for a 1-cent increase in the sales tax. Additional funding would come from the federal government and the state.

The Tampa-Hillsborough County plan would have trains running from the University of South Florida to downtown, the West Shore business district and Tampa International Airport.

The system's first leg would be an 11-mile stretch between USF and downtown because studies show that of all the corridors in the Bay area, that one has the greatest transit need, Iorio said.

"In 2010, if the voters of Hillsborough approve that 1-cent sales tax, that can go to preliminary engineering, that can go to design, ... that can probably be built in five or six years," the mayor said.

Additionally, having a line up and running would spur other communities to move their plans along, she said. Without rail, the region's highways are facing gridlock because of anticipated population growth in northern Hillsborough and southern Pasco counties.

"You have to show people success, and you can show lines on a map forever, but there's nothing like getting on the train and riding it," Iorio said.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority could operate the Tampa-Hillsborough rail line until other counties come onboard, at which time TBARTA would take over.

TBARTA's backing of the plan would, Iorio said, help in a bid for state and federal funding and help persuade Hillsborough County commissioners this fall to put the issue on next year's ballot.

The mayor seemed to win over at least some members. None objected to the idea.

Hillsborough Commissioner Ken Hagen said he supported it and said the rail plan should be packaged with proposals to build roads and sidewalks and bike trails.

Pasco Commissioner Ann Hildebrand, Sarasota Commissioner Nora Patterson, board member Shawn Harrison and board Chairman Shelton Quarles praised the mayor's presentation.

Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard, who criticized the mayor a few months ago, said after the meeting, "If they're prepared to go forward, I think that's great."

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

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