latest transportation news
tommyIn an interview with the Tribune Editorial Board regarding transportation, Mayor Pam Iorio says the City of Tampa needs to be the master of her own destiny. It really sounds like she has had it with CSX. Check out these quotes:
too much reliance on CSX will be our undoing in building a rail system.
Regarding CSX’s demands at the streetcar crossing in Ybor City:
we finally were able to obtain $100 million worth of insurance and finally got them to agree to $100 million of insurance instead of $500 million because [city attorney Fred Karl] was able to convince them that we just could not ever obtain $500 million worth of insurance.
That policy has cost the streetcar corporation about $400,000 a year. Prior to that, we had to have the flagman stand there for a cost of $370,000 a year. This has been my experience with CSX.
Why can’t we be masters of our own destiny and go out there and purchase the right-of-way and lay our own track, but make sure it’s track that’s ours and that we can control.
Of course, the Tribune asks about the costs.
Pasco’s spending $415 million to widen some roads up there and the DOT is spending $70 million to add a lane, and you know how much everyone is spending for something that’s not even going to really help people in New Tampa that much? I’m not counting the East-West road which isn’t going to happen. I’m not counting the full widening of Bruce B. Downs to eight lanes, which is ridiculous. A billion dollars!
I’m not even getting into the unfunded stuff. That’s another half a billion. Add up the interstate costs that DOT just finished with I-4, the 10-year plan to widen the interstate by one lane all the way to St. Pete and the whole interchange around the airport.
Speaking of which, the Florida Dept of Transportation has a wmv video which drives you along the eventual path of I-275 from the Howard Franklin to the Hillsborough River and back, showing all of the great stuff you are getting for your tax money. It’s eleven minutes long, but if you have the time, check it out - it’s impressive. Please remember that it won’t look like this until 2018 or so. And by that time, it will likely be over crowded, too.
Back to Mayor Pam with the Trib. As you know, there have been a million different plans for commuter rail in and around Tampa - which plan is going to be the one for Tampa.
This is an MPO plan that was a 1995 plan and was part of the plan that the County Commission shelved when they weren’t interested in any referendum. We’re really back at that point.
And Mayor Pam’s timetable?
If TBARTA can do its work quickly and if we can take that MPO plan and get down to some details, I think we could be ready for a referendum in 2010.
For the latest on the progress of commuter rail in the Tampa Bay area, check with Dave Pinero of TampaRail.org.
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June 2nd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
As few politicos in this town are willing to advocate for public transit, Iorio’s leadership on this issue is commendable. However, she’s really stuck on rail as the only solution to our problems. I think that a thorough reinvestment in our bus systems (HART and PSTA) could give us the same results at 25% of the cost of a light rail system. The problem, and the reason that all the transit wonks seem to sing the same tune, is that most of the Federal funds are skewed towards capital expenditures. Therefore, if Tampa Bay seeks to maximize it’s Federal dollars, it needs to get in the business of land aquisition and laying track, whether that’s the best plan or not.
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:00 pm
If Tampa thinks it can buy right of way access, it had better be prepared to fork over big $$$ to do it.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Scott:
Buses are only as good as the roads they ride on. Meaning even if you fork over more money to PSTA/HART and encourage system development, they are still at the mercy of the traffic congestion of the Tampa Bay area.
Rail ALONE won’t work but it has to be in coordination with buses, taxis, etc. Right now there is no coordination. There is no central backbone of the transit system. Rail would at least accomplish that.
When it takes 2 and a half hours to travel 10 miles by bus between Palm Harbor and St. Petersburg, busing is obviously not the solution to that commute. Same goes for too many trips in Tampa and other parts of the Metro region.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
So Mayor Iorio wants to use an old MPO rail plan from 1995. So glad TBARTA was created so it could use something that we have already had for 13 years! Have our MPOs and FDOT create our regional plan and save money by not funding the special interest driven TBARTA!
June 2nd, 2008 at 7:16 pm
“Back to Mayor Pam with the Trib. As you know, there have been a million different plans for commuter rail in and around Tampa - which plan is going to be the one for Tampa.”
I think our solution could be much easier. Go to Portland then copy their system = done deal (http://trimet.org/max/)
g
June 2nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm
This is an epic blow for CSX. Not since the days of Halford Lomax and John Trembly has the rail line suffered such a financial blow and bleak future.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 pm
“If Tampa thinks it can buy right of way access, it had better be prepared to fork over big $$$ to do it.”
Agreed, right of way will not be cheap but pissing away millions on crammed, poorly maintained, sprawl-inducing roads where you idle in traffic burning $4 per gallon gas…that ain’t no answer either.
June 3rd, 2008 at 8:08 am
I say elevated rail running along as many existing roads/right of ways as possible. Supports could run down the medians of roads. Already own that ROW.
If you put the commuter trains on the ground, expect traffic delays at track crossings. Don’t forget the idiots around here that try to “beat the trains” and go around the crossing gates.
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:55 am
“Driving Toward Disaster”
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/28/na-driving-toward-disaster/?news-opinion-commentary
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
GKR - that’s an interesting read for sure. I especially liked this paragraph:
“Fixing the U.S. passenger railroad system is probably the one project we could undertake right away that would have the greatest impact on the country’s oil consumption. The fact that we’re not talking about it - especially in the presidential campaign - shows how confused we are. The airline industry is disintegrating under the enormous pressure of fuel costs. If we don’t get the passenger trains running again, Americans will be going nowhere five years from now.”
June 3rd, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Florida missed the boat when it repealed the rail amendment.
When Congress looks to reauthorize transportation next year, it will be under considerable pressure to avoid the infamous “earmark” process, and instead reinvigorate its “projects of regional and national” significance.
They will put at priority transportation corridors that most benefit the overall flow of people and goods nationwide.
That being said, the winners will be those corridors who can not only prove that they are cirtical, but who also have the Congressional clout to make it happen.
Tampa - by itself - does not have that clout. However, put our delegation with Orlando/Centrla Florida, and you have perhaps the most powerful transportation delegation (especially when it comes to rail) in the US.
Iorio should be looking and talking east. TBARTA is worthless without Polk , as that is the bridge to us and Orlando.