As Tampa Mayor Jane Castor released her long-awaited mobility plan Tuesday, WMNF WaveMakers with Janet and Tom discussed the ambitious goal in it and the long-range plans for improving transportation in Pinellas.
Both plans seek to ease traffic congestion and make streets safer but are missing a key ingredient: money.
Tampa’s citywide master mobility seeks to change the way Tampa plans and manages transportation by aiming for record-low daily miles driven, zero roadway deaths, commute times that are 15 minutes or less and half of all that commuting through walking, biking or taking transit, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Pinellas set similarly ambitious goals in its recently completed long-range plan, said Whit Blanton, executive director of Forward Pinellas, which oversees land-use and transportation planning. Those plans include a north-south bus rapid-transit along US 19 similar to the SunRunner that links downtown St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach. It’s a viable project, Blanton said, but will need tens of millions of dollars in funding. Pinellas already has a $1 billion backlog in transportation needs, he said.
Henry Queen, a Tampa Bay Business Journal reporter who covers transportation, said Castor at her news conference discussed the fiscal challenges. Tampa is older and has not spent the money it needed on maintenance and is now on a 100-year schedule for road repairs and facing a $2 billion shortfall.
Hear the entire conversation by clicking the link below, going to the WaveMakers archives or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.
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