Ghosts of the 99

Column

Once upon a time long, long ago -- a few task forces and study groups ago -- there was the Committee of 99.

Assembled by and including members of the Hillsborough County Commission, its task/quest was to come up with a long-term strategy for moving people around Hillsborough County.

After enough meetings and forums to have plotted the D-Day invasion, the committee presented its findings and estimated costs. The whole thing immediately was tabled and buried somewhere, probably beneath the widened interchange of I-4 and I-275.

Still there always were those foolish dreamers who realized that someday the region would reach gridlock and we needed to look down the road, so to speak, toward the future.

Unfortunately there also was talk of building not just light rail, but a more sophisticated commuter rail system and even something called a bullet train that would be a high-speed rail system around the state.

I'm not getting into all of that today. You already know how it all came apart except for that highly suspect deal they put together in Orlando.

Now HART, which is what we call the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, has updated its future plans in a 312-page document that Tribune reporter Ted Jackovics writes does not even mention light rail.

Despite these are tough and sober times, the thought that we are abandoning any plans for future projects is discouraging. Somewhere down the line there is going to be another Committee of 99, more task forces and more junkets to cities that built light rail systems years ago. We will be starting over.

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Maybe it doesn't mean anything technology-wise. It certainly is not as dramatic as the launch of the Soviet Sputnik that began the space race.

But on this week when the shuttle Atlantis comes down, ending a huge chapter in the American space program, there comes a story announcing the first module of what will become a Chinese space station, the "Tiongon-1.'' The module arrived at a launch site in the Gobi desert in June, and the Chinese plan to send it up next year – eventually to house what they call "taikonauts.''

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Apparently, if I read the story correctly, Bright House and Verizon are preparing to do battle over which company is going to control your house. Actually I thought they pretty much already did. We've alternately had both services at our house, depending on which company my wife is least angry with at a given time.

They already control your Internet service, your telephone and probably your cable television. Now they both are about to launch "home monitoring services'' that will help control locking and unlocking your doors, turning on and off household appliances, and even having coffee ready when you come home.

I'll be honest; I'm still a little suspicious of a company that doesn't have a real person answering the phone when you need to talk to someone about an issue, but I do see some possibilities here.

By now most of us are used to technology that allows us to start car engines with remote controls or turn on lights through the telephone.

I want to know which one of these companies can come up with a remote control that I can use down here at the Type and Gripe factory to get one of our sons out of bed and off to cut the grass or clean his room.

sotto@tampatrib.com

(813) 259-7809