one percent is not a lot
It is not your imagination. Your Tampa Bay commute has gotten longer over the last 5 years.
- Eighty percent of the region’s commuters drive to work alone.
- Only 1 percent use public transit.
- Drivers in Pasco spend the most time commuting, averaging 28 minutes one way.
We need better mass transit solutions. Now.
Gax
3 years ago
25 minutes for me. But that’s at around 3:30 in the morning. If it weren’t for those damn truckers, I could make it from 54 to 301 (via 75) in under 20.
tim
3 years ago
It takes me an hour and fifteen minutes to get to USF. If I’d known my commute was going to get that much longer, I’d probably have thought twice about moving over here.
John
3 years ago
This should go mostly to Pinellas County residents but there’s a survey up on Carl Zimmermann’s web site regarding transit in the area. I say it goes to Pinellas residents because that’s where his district is (district 48 )
Either click my name or click here to take the survey. It’s supposed to close sometime tomorrow (September 1st)
Dorothy Admire
3 years ago
Transportation in Hillsborough County is so broken that if it were a horse, we would shoot it. We have traffic jams everywhere we look. I live 4 miles from USF and sometimes it takes 30 minutes to get on campus. We have no real alternative to our cars because Heartline runs infrequently and fails to connect the masses with a suitable substitute. Hillsborough is way overdue for a Light-Rail system. It is time to hold your City and County officials accountable. Go to the polls on Tuesday September 5th and make a real difference. Vote for change. Support candidates that are willing to commit to taking on the real issues that directly impact the County as a whole.
ctyboyh
3 years ago
As I watched the gubernatorial debates on PBS, a common thread emerged amongst all the candidates as they duked it out. That being “The Sky Is Falling Issue” (i.e. drilling off the FL coast..disaterous)and usually here comes that lone polotico who’ll be our Jack Bauer and save us all from that particular terror if we just throw the vote his way. Well, an issue they fled from like it was radioactive.. MASS TRANSIT. After the killing of high speed rail in FL it seems even mentioning to FL voters a better way to get around might include them leaving the Lexus in the carport is akin to political suicide. Europe has a great mass transit system but our”good ‘ol boys” think it will be to costly for future generations who might have to foot the bill. Let me tell you WHAT IS costly. Gridlock…the one that WILL occur in the not too distant future leaving that generation to ask,”Why the hell didn’t those idiots see this COMING?!”
Funny thing is we ALL see it coming we just are choosing to look away… for now.
Gax
3 years ago
“After the killing of high speed rail in FL”
The high speed rail system, as proposed, was NOT mass transit. Any more than Greyhound buses or United airplanes are mass transit. At least by any definition I’ve come to understand.
But, the overal seniment of this comment thread is spot on. We do have a mass transit problem and no one is willing to address it.
If I were in charge, what I’d do is start by setting up regional transit authorities. Having these little county-by-county systems is not going to get us anywhere. So South Florida, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Ocala-Gainesville would have these new groups. Their primary task (within a set timeframe) is to figure out what mass-trans system will work for their area. What works here in Tampa might not be applicable for Orlando for instance. Then the RTAs would be tasked to actually implement that system within a time frame. Then, and only then, would we think about putting in a bullet train between cities or some such thing.
Gax
3 years ago
Oh, also…
These RTAs would also have to start managing road traffic within their area of authority.
Busta
3 years ago
south florida does have an RTA aka Tri Rail-tri county commuter rail. SFRTA focuses on regional projects such as smart card fare collection and regional trip planning, miami to west palm for instance. down there each rta member plans and funds its own light rail projects. broward has a penny sales tax going to the voters in Nov. good luck to them