tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576993731992352882.post798903508807433374..comments2024-03-04T03:21:18.316-05:00Comments on Eye On Tampa Bay: No More Budget Shell Games - Fund our Roads and Transportation Needs Now!EyeOn TampaBayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11804489795079963473noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576993731992352882.post-22028580849170059252016-08-09T21:43:03.375-04:002016-08-09T21:43:03.375-04:00Hillsborough County has neglected our local roads ...Hillsborough County has neglected our local roads for years and they have not been maintaining and preserving our existing infrastructure. Roads are the foundation of our transportation system and we are 1000 square miles with dispersed work centers and no dense central business district. Innovation is here and quickly emerging that will enable us to use our existing infrastructure much more efficiently and enable more throughput on existing infrastructure. The sharing economy is already upon us and autonomous vehicles will enable even more efficient use of vehicles. Technology continues to make cars and driving safer and reduce accidents, a major cause of congestion. There used to be golf cart short hop ride serve in South Tampa but the PTC shut them down. Now it's time to shut the PTC down. Golf cart ride services are used in South Florida near the beaches and congested restaurant/retail areas. Lots of innovation on the horizon but the innovation is rubber wheeled and on roads. We must maintain, preserve and improve them.Sharon Calverthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04267362500624667535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576993731992352882.post-10746299289629020152016-08-09T20:39:50.549-04:002016-08-09T20:39:50.549-04:00Cars are amazingly affordable. There are over 300 ...Cars are amazingly affordable. There are over 300 million cars in the USA, so people are affording them. Keep in mind the average cost of owning car according to AAA is around $9,000, but that's the average, which means 1/2 of the cars on the road cost less than that to drive.<br /><br />So you're making that "peak oil" argument again. Well, the technology is keeping up, and fracking costs are getting cheaper. So the end is not as near as we've been led to believe.<br /><br />If you want to limit your transportation to buzzing around on an electric moped, that's your choice. We actually proposed more friendly allowances for golf carts (see The Villages) around local roads. However, you are limiting yourself, and if you get your way, to a more constrained, localized life, with corresponding limitations on jobs and economic opportunity. Studies show and we've cited here that cities that have fast transporrtaton options and a wider tolerable commute have more vibrant economies than those with slower and more limited options.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00994201511485009505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576993731992352882.post-40643472796564290622016-08-08T15:05:40.718-04:002016-08-08T15:05:40.718-04:00But Sharon,
How much longer is car ownership goin...But Sharon,<br /><br />How much longer is car ownership going to be affordable for the majority of Americans (or TB area citizens)?<br /><br />When 60% of people would have difficulty coming up w $1000 for an emergency,<br />when wages have long stagnated while major costs keep increasing, when most people are getting more financially squeezed by the day, driving and car ownership look to have a limited future. One measured not in decades, but years.<br /><br />Also, the price of oil is dropping while production costs keep rising.<br />At some point, oil companies will stop producing or go out of business.<br />Unless we significantly reduce demand, shortages and price spikes will follow.<br />This point may be within 5 years or so.<br /><br />I'm not for rail--too expensive and requires too much time to make a viable system--but driving ourselves around the way we have the past 60 yrs does not appear to be<br />an option. Spending megadollars on roads would be a mistake, certainly an "investment" we would never recoup.<br /><br />If you're wondering what solutions I favor, reducing our radius of travel (living closer to work, for example) and replacing cars w scooters, mo-peds, e-bikes and e-trikes, and innovations such as the ELF (organictransit.com) may be the best road to take.<br /><br />chipshothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01058098902075587493noreply@blogger.com