Bed Tax fund takes a hit, and TBARTA gets $1 million

New tax bill allows bed tax to be spent on transportation and gives TBARTA $1 million.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author:In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.

In a last-minute move Senator Jeff Brandes R of St. Petersburg managed to get some transportation language added in the tax cut bill approved by the State Legislature.

You can get some addition detail in a Tampa Bay Times Editorial: Editorial: 2 smart transportation investments for Tampa Bay.

The editorial goes on to point out that the Legislature also included $1 million in the 2018-2019 that would be used by the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit authority to produce a “regional transit development plan” for the Tampa Bay area.

Raiding the bed tax, which is primarily used to develop tourism, the bay area's largest income steam, is generally a bad idea. Although the language in the legislation provides some safeguards, unless there is a significant oversight, you can bet this will become a honey trough for the light-rail hogs.

The thought of getting their fingers on some of that bed tax money probably has a number of local politicians staying awake at night trying to figure out how they can divert these funds to their use.

The $1 million to TBARTA is a complete waste of money, although it does empower TBARTA to do what it does best: waste money on endless reports and bountiful consult fees.

 In over two decades of effort, TBARTA has nothing to show for its voluminous reports and numerous meetings, and it is very unlikely this new million-dollar effort will be any different.

See my Post State wide alternative Transportation Authority

My guess is this money will be directed at developing a series of reasons that the recently proposed inter county rapid bus service should be should be slowed down until a light-rail plan can be wrapped around it.

The $1 million from the State takes TBARTA off life support for a while, ensures the financial support of a number of consultants and longevity for a bunch of mostly useless bureaucrats that have proven themselves light rail centric and pathetically biased

The recent re-tooling of TBARTA had little effect on the overall TBARTA goal of light rail as the only transportation solution for the Bay area and suggestions from numerous TBARTA supporters and politicians that we need to “slow down” the bus rapid transit project is a harbinger of what this money will be directed at supporting.

I am not sure what motivated Senator Brandes to promote this legislation, but I seriously doubt the results will anything close to what he envisioned.

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The West Coast public transportation battle heats up

The Tampa Bay Times continues to run with the light-rail solution.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.

It did not take long for the big rail supporters to get a significant boost from the Tampa Bay Times. Here are a couple of editorials taking the recent Jacobs Engineering recommendations for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) to task.

Editorial: Too soon for Tampa Bay to settle for buses over light rail

Editorial: Tampa Bay needs real mass transit, not just marketing

The Times has been a staunch light rail and transportation-oriented redevelopment supporter for years.

Quoting from the Too Soon to settle for busses over light rail Editorial:

“But in cementing BRT as its first priority, the recommendation effectively sidelines light rail — despite rail’s standing for years as the most desirable transit option, its potential to spark redevelopment and create jobs and its earlier top ranking.”

And there you have it.

The developers and real estate people have been salivating over light rail and the prospect of ripping up significant portions of the Pasco, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties to build an expensive light-rail system and terminals.

The “redevelopment” comes from retail and residential centers they hope will develop around rail stations and the expected property value boom and associated construction.

Quoting further:

The chairman of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long, summed it up right this month when she told the Tampa Bay Times editorial board she was disappointed in the shift from rail. "I think we need to keep all the options on the table," she said, "while we figure out what the needs are." 

What Janet Long needs is a reality check.

A lot, more money will float around if light rail comes to the area, and big beneficiaries will be the developers and real-estate people who the politicians let get their fingers in the pie on the front end and back end.

BRT is not a “compromise" as the light-rail supporters would have you believe, it is a realistic approach to the regional transportation problem.

And let’s look at the flip side. There is no guarantee that any large-scale public transportation solution will work or be financially viable. In fact, most are not.

In good economic times when employment rates are low, and almost any new car dealer in the area can put you in a car for “0 down, 0 security deposit and no first month’s payment” regardless of your credit; cars will still be the first choice. One only needs to look at current HART and PSTA year over year rider ship statistics to understand.

It would seem to me rather than rip the counties apart by cutting a swath to plant light rail, spending untold billions of dollars to buy land, lay rails and build stations a BRT solution that can flex and grow at a fraction of the cost makes a lot more sense.

It is time for the light-rail touters to step from the train into the light and come to grip with the fact that large-scale light rail is not going to happen.

And that’s a good thing for the region. 

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.
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Bay Area Transit - Sanity among the chaos

It looks like there may be a glimmer of hope for Bay Area public transit. 

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin, So You Want to Blog.


In the Regional Transit Feasibility plan, developed by Jacobs Engineering, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has become the leading option.

You can get more details in these Tampa Bay Times articles by Caitlin Johnston:

Tampa Bay’s transit future: Light rail’s out. Rapid buses are in.

Tampa Bay Transit: How rapid buses left light rail in the dust.

It would seem that the Jacob’s Team is not only technical adept they are also pragmatic.

Following two disastrous attempts at referendums to fund light-rail and transit-oriented redevelopment, the Jacobs team is recommending a 40-mile BRT route that will connect Wesley Chapel to downtown Tampa and on to St. Petersburg.

The local light rail supporters are waxing pragmatic also.

From the Johnston article, "Candidly, I’m tired of talking about it," (Bob) Buckhorn said. "We need a victory. .?.?. I can say with a great deal of certainty if we move toward a BRT model using the existing interstate, we can get this done much more quickly than another prolonged debate in a political referendum about whether or not rail is appropriate for our area or not."

And St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman, "Unless we are willing to ask the public to tax themselves significantly in order to make it happen," he said, "then realistically, light rail is really not going to happen."

There are still a lot of problems to over come and the Jacob’s study will be part of a larger plan developed by the State, Hillsborough and Pinellas Counties along with St. Petersburg and Tampa.

Don’t get too excited yet we have a long way to go and those who fortunes are tied to light rail may yet still try to thwart a rubber tire based solution. More than one consultant’s report has been quietly placed upon the shelf to slowly sink from relevance.

There are other issues like the proposal in Senate Bill 1200 and House Bill 525 to take funds from rail transit and support alternative transportation systems, which could include BRT. See my Post: State wide alternative Transportation Authority More money down and old rat hole.

Once TBARTA gets their hands on these funds watch out for a “new” study to be funded that will contradict the Jacobs study as TBARTA tries to slow down any non-light rail approach.

It is almost unfair to ask TBARTA that has spent years and millions of dollars trying to get a light-rail proposal funded to switch hats and actively and professionally support the very thing they have fought for so long.

Too many years, too many friendships, too many intertwined relationships with politicians, developers, consultants and light rail promoters for the alternative transportation money and BRT to get a fair shake.

TBARTA should have never been “re-invented” by the State revising its charter; TBARTA should have been eliminated, and a new organization with a completely new staff should have been created.

Even the quotes from Buckhorn and Kriseman leave the light-rail door open and any hint of questions about the viability of BRT will send the boys running back to the tracks.

If Buckhorn and Kriseman are serious about the “need for a win” they need to get with their Pinellas and Hillsborough County counterparts and either get the $25 million from the State diverted to a different source or make sure they have enough control at TBARTA to ensure these funds aren’t spent to crash the BRT project before it gets rolling.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook and follow me on TWITTER @DOC ON THE BAY.
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