Bay Area Regional Transit Authority – Janet Long's Dream to Tax you more

It's Time to get the band back together. Opposition against this regional transit authority needs to get active now.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

Pinellas County Commissioner Janet long aided by TBARTA, HART, PSTA their leadership and boards of directors continue the slow steady pace toward a regional transit authority. Essentially a State established entity that would manage public transportation area wide with taxing authority to generate revenue.

This authority would essentially be a mash up of the local public transportation boards into a super board that would manage public transportation development and fund it through either a property or sales tax.

The current local Boards of directors have not been particularly effective and there is little reason to believe that a super board or authority made up of the same folks would do much better.

For example, look at this report by saintpetersblog, Scott Powers, Transportation Secretary Jim Boxold threatens to pull Tri-Rail’s state money.

These Authorities tend to operate out of public view, managed by paid Executive Directors and a paid staff that invests its time in promoting a preconceived idea of "public transit." The result is typical of the Powers story.

The motivation behind this effort is the three failed referendums in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties to initiate a sales tax to fund public transportation.

Never mind, the fact that Bay area voters have three times resoundingly rejected the idea of a sales tax to buy the politicians shinny buses and light rail trains, Long and her growing group of supporters want to work their way around all of those pesky referendums and tax you without your ability to have a say.

Like most of these efforts to organize authorities, the real object is money not public transportation. "Public Transportation" is on the banners, signs, ads and promotional materials but what is really at stake is a high-level authority with State authorized taxing powers that the voters cannot regulate.

Few were more aggressive in their support of an angrier when GreenLight Pinellas failed than Janet Long.

Her prime objective is to take the ability to control public transit funding by taxation out of the hands of the public and place the ability to tax you for public transportation in the hands of a carefully picked board that will support the public transit as THEY see it.

Long's regional transit authority is a behind-the-scenes low profile effort to push legislation that will create a taxing authority.

It is time to get the opposition to this regional authority up and running and let legislators know that the Long plan for a regional transit authority is a non-starter with the people who pay the bills and vote.

Let's get NO TAX FOR TRACKS back on the road again.

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

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Disclosures:

PSTA and Uber

Is PSTA closing in on a viable solution to the public transportation last mile problem?

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

Pinellas County's PSTA has reached an agreement with ridesharing company Uber for a new early-morning/ late-night service named TD Late Shift.

You can get more details from Janelle Irwin Reporter for Tampa Bay Business Journal in her article Pinellas transit expands one partnership with Uber, launches another.

There is more info from PSTA at TD Late Shift.

From the PSTA Web site: "PSTA first publicized its relationship with Uber earlier this year when the two transportation providers launched Direct Connect, a six-month pilot program that connects people to bus stops for a subsidized rate. Now, PSTA is expanding that program to span across the entire county offering unlimited, on-demand Uber and Taxi rides for approximately $1."

If you have not been to the PSTA WEB site, PSTA.net check it out. Note the Google Transit trip planner, which I have used, and it is really great.

These new initiatives are part of PSTA's ongoing efforts to resolve one of public transportation's major problems: the last mile connection, or more commonly stated as, "how do I get from my front door to the bus stop?"

PSTA will also use United Taxi and Care Ride for disable customers of the TD Late Shift Program.

I think these programs are great, and we should share the news so the people who need them know about them.

The growing connections between Uber and PSTA come at a time when Uber is continuing to struggle with local regulations, especially in Hillsborough County.  

How well will the PSTA and Uber connections work out? Who knows but that is what these trials are all about.

PSTA has done a remarkable job since the GreenLight initiative failed. They have been innovative and forward-looking and there are probably more programs like the Uber effort under consideration.

I for one hope the PSTA/Uber team is an outstanding success for both organizations and public transportation users.

What I would like to see is an end-to-end application where I can order a complete trip.

Pick up at my door, drop off at the bus connection, pickup at my bus destination and a ride to my final destination. All ordered, paid for and ticketed on one app, and a return initiated when I call for pick up when I am ready to return home.

The hardware is all in place. No infrastructure needed just some creative thinking and a little software.

My only word of caution is PSTA under Brad Miller's leadership has had a tendency to get carried away when they get excited about an effort or opportunity.

When you are playing with the likes of Uber, you are playing in the big time and PSTA, and the PSTA Board needs to follow these developments and agreements closely along with the relationships between staff and Uber.

Transparency is the key to success.

These are good ideas. It would be a real shame to have them fall victim to or become tainted by some poor judgment.  

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to Like or share on Facebook.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures:

Contributor: Bob Gualtieri for Pinellas County Sheriff, Carlos Beruff for US Senate

Watch out Pinellas County here comes the next let's build a train initiative - Forward Pinellas.

Sort of like Go Hillsborough but with a much cooler Logo.

St. Petersburg, Fl
Opinion by: E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin

One of the ways government attempts to get around those pesky citizens who don’t agree with something the government wants to do is call it something else and float the idea again. They call that “re-branding.”

We often call that putting lipstick on a pig, but re-branding is much more millennial.

WALLA - Forward Pinellas a 2014 Florida legislative action that combined the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and the Pinellas Planning Council.

From the Pinellas Forward “branding website”: “The role of transportation and land development in Pinellas County took on increased importance with passage of a special act of the Florida Legislature in 2014 unifying a 13-member governing board of local elected officials with responsibility for countywide transportation and land use planning.” 

You can read more in saintpetersblog by Anne Lindberg: Metropolitan Planning Organization, Pinellas Planning Council are now Forward Pinellas.

If you check closely you will find the 13 elected officials who make up Pinellas Forward are, for the most part, the same folks that brought you GreenLight Pinellas. There doesn't appear to be any serious citizen representation on this new transportation redevelopment (read that light rail) task force.

So if the mission has not changed, the players have not substantially changed, and the citizenry has no significant input just what should we expect to change?

Nothing.

They do have a nice new logo, which I am sure you helped pay for, and a noncommittal mission statement: “Forward Pinellas will provide leadership to align resources and plans that help to achieve a compelling vision for Pinellas County, our individual communities and our region.”

Does anyone have any idea what the hell that means?

Let me take a stab at a literal translation: We are going to package up light rail along with some toss-a-ways like road improvement, and a few new buses and try to shame you folks into a sales tax to finance it.

Sort of like Go Hillsborough but with a much cooler Logo.

I am sure that all the folks at Pinellas Forward are waiting with baited breath to see how the second run at getting a sales tax referendum past the Hillsborough County Commission goes.

If it bombs a second-time  look for Forward Pinellas to steal quietly into the background for a while but should the Go Hillsborough machine get the sales tax on the ballot the next hurdle will be the election, and the folks in Hillsborough County should send yet another resounding message with a NO vote.

Then it will time for the Metropolitan planning organization/Pinellas Planning Council/Forward Pinellas to take a serious look at reality.

Sooner or later, it will become clear that these groups of elected officials, the big developers and light rail lobbyists do not a transportation planning organization make.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to share on Facebook.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures:

Contributor: Bob Gualtieri for Pinellas County Sheriff