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Task Force To Begin Developing County Transit Plans

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By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 30, 2009

TAMPA - Mayor Pam Iorio will explain her vision for rail and county officials will begin to lay out their transit plans during a meeting this afternoon of Hillsborough County's transportation task force.

The mayor is pushing for a light rail system running from the University of South Florida to downtown and to Tampa International Airport. The first leg, about 10 miles, would run from USF to downtown.

The task force, meanwhile, has spent the past year hearing from transit experts and now is set to develop its own long-range transit plan to take to Hillsborough County commissioners this fall.

A year ago, commissioners approved a task force recommendation to spend about $500 million over five years on road improvements after complaints from citizens poured in about traffic problems.

A work program was developed from that recommendation focusing on road and intersection improvements and new traffic signal technology, including cameras to allow engineers to monitor trouble spots.

But officials say the road program is only half the solution, and now the task force is taking a look at rail, an expanded local bus system and high speed buses.

From now until September, when it makes it recommendation to commissioners, the task force will discuss specific transit plans, including light rail, and how to pay for them.

At today's meeting, task force members will be asked to approve a timetable from now until September for developing those plans, said Lucia Garsys, the county's officer for strategic management initiatives.

In addition to hearing from the mayor, task force members also will hear from Bob Clifford, executive director of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, a seven-county agency created by the Legislature to develop a long-range transportation plan.

TBARTA is set to unveil that plan to the public next month.

The meeting is set 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. today at the County Center in downtown Tampa.

Reporter Rich Shopes contributed to this report.

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