A panel of local transportation advocates joined us to discuss the current state of transportation projects in Hillsborough County on July 17, 2024. Alan Clendinen is a Tampa City Council member and serves as Tampa’s representative on the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO). Hoyt Prindle III is an attorney and serves on the Transportation Planning Organization’s Citizen Advisory Board. Amanda Brown is a local transportation advocate and was formerly the legislative aide to former County Commissioner Mariella Smith.
Vote Like a Transit Advocate!
We began our discussion with a review of an op-ed in the Tampa Bay Times authored by Hoyt Prindle and published on June 25 decrying the TPO vote to renew the widening of I-275 from the downtown interchange to Bearss Ave as a priority transportation project. Prindle explained that previously, the TPO had determined NOT to make this a priority project because of all of the negative effects it would have on the City’s inner urban core, the depression of surrounding property values, and the health and welfare of the surrounding neighborhoods. He also explained that it has been established as a fact that widening roads does not make for better, faster traffic flow because of the concept of “induced demand”–meaning that the more lanes offered, the more traffic will fill them. Prindle reminded listeners that the reason for the different vote on the TPO today, from that taken about ten years ago was because of the change in the composition of the membership on the TPO, particularly the election of different municipal officials who have different visions and priorities for transportation projects in the region. He suggested that voters look closely at the transportation priorities of electoral candidates as we cast our ballots in the future and vote for candidates who are transportation advocates too.
Trolley Time for Tampa?
Alan Clendinden reviewed the status of the Tampa streetcar extension project and his hopes that in the next 5 or 6 years we could ride a streetcar that extends up through Tampa Heights to Columbus Ave. Clendinen discussed the many different transit projects that he hoped to see in the future in Tampa, from transit options from the airport to Brightline to Orlando and beyond. It is his philosophy that transit must be built from the urban core out to the suburbs, rather than trying to do massive county-wide projects beyond the city center all at once.
Show Me the Money!
Amanda Brown explained the status of our Hillsborough County transportation surtax money. The collected tax has been held by the state ever since the tax was challenged in court and repealed. Up to 11% of the amount collected will go to lawyers who challenged the tax and administrators for a refund process, while much of the balance will go to a Florida sales tax holiday and the funds that are permitted to go to transportation are now required to be spent only on road paving, according to the priorities of the Republican-controlled Florida legislature.
The Bus is Busted.
All of the guests and our call-in listeners advocated for more and better HART bus service. Despite calls for a more robust, frequent, and reliable bus transit system, the money simply isn’t there to improve the system, according to Amanda Brown. Forty-seven percent of the transportation surtax was intended for improving HART, but those funds are not available now. Transportation funding mechanisms are highly restricted by the Florida legislature which has limited how municipalities can raise transportation funds, and the legislature itself does not seem likely to increase funding for any sort of mass transit in our region other than the Brightline train. Short of electing new legislators more friendly to mass transit, there is little that can be done to better our bus system.
Our wide-ranging discussion covered many more transportation issues from Brightline to bike lanes to Bayshore Blvd. The entire show is available for listening on demand here, on the WMNF app, and as a WMNF MidPoint podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
