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One-hundred-and-five days of aggravation leading to rush-hour headaches, short tempers and horn honking are over, or at least for the most part, with the long-awaited opening of the Platt Street Bridge this morning.
The $14 million renovation of the historic span over the lower Hillsborough River o...
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The Pinellas County Project Advisory Committee on Monday formally adopted a proposal to build 24 miles of light rail transit connections between St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Pinellas Park and Gateway.
But the committee stopped short of calling for light rail as the preferred "regional connectio...
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The bus systems in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties serve distinct populations, and it is too early to make an informed decision on whether merging them is the smartest thing to do. But neither side should fear the bill by Sen. Jack Latvala that calls for exploring the idea. The Clearwater Republi...
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A budding entrepreneur plans to deploy a fleet of 500 “smart bicycles” downtown on the Fourth of July
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Wishful thinking or not, city leaders hope a proposed light-rail system can help boost Tampa Bay Rays attendance and even quiet rumors that the Rays are Tampa-bound.
Witness the comments at a Thursday night St. Petersburg City Council meeting.
Speaking about Tropicana Field, Councilman Wengay Newt...
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As the debate over jobs and funding drags on, it has occurred to me, as well as many other transportation professionals, that we need to change our position on maintaining and improving our nation's infrastructure. It's painfully clear our transportation inventory is aging, and our country needs to ...
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Folks looking to get a ride to and from the areas near Cattleman Road and Bahia Vista Street will have a new option starting Monday.
The new Sarasota County Area Transit Cattleman Intermodal Transit Station will open for service Monday. It's located just north of the Sarasota County Government Catt...
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Downtown Manatee Avenue West no longer looks like a construction zone.
The $5.7 million project, which started in November 2010, is drawing to a close this week. The lanes are open, most of the orange barrels have been removed and fresh striping has been applied to the asphalt.
In addition to a ...
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Plans for improved bus service with shorter wait times have been getting a positive response from the public.
The public comment period will lead up to a County Commission decision next month on whether to spend an additional $23,000 in local matching money to make the proposed changes to the count...
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Gov. Rick Scott highlighted Florida’s transportation system this summer as a key factor in jumpstarting the state economy. He’s called for fully integrating the state’s ports, airports, highways and rails, and for more money to dredge the Port of Miami and possibly other ports in o...
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Months after the suggestion first arrived via Clearwater-area GOP state Senator Jack Latvala, the boards of the region's two biggest transit agencies, HART (Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Agency) and PSTA (Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority), met Monday afternoon at HART's offices in Ybor City ...
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From the beginning, transit authorities in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have been separate organizations, and both groups made it clear Monday they want to keep it that way.
Meeting in a rare joint session, leaders of both authorities opposed consolidating the two agencies as called for in a ...
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Doug Jesseph sets out from his home in Seminole Heights with the wind in his face and pedals under his feet. His goal: a newly painted bike lane on 40th Avenue that runs straight to the University of South Florida.
"That makes the ride a whole lot easier," said Jesseph, a USF philosophy p...
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After a dozen years in the planning, a four-lane limited access highway that would cut through a huge environmental preserve in central Pasco has reached a critical junction.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, weighing whether to issue a permit for the project, has extended the deadline for public c...
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As Florida begins an overhaul of its growth management policies, Pasco became one of a handful of communities this year on the cutting edge of developing a new tool to combat urban sprawl.
You read that right. Pasco. Cutting edge. Combatting sprawl. Same sentence. How in the world did that happen?
...
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Hillsborough Area Regional Transit is poised to reach its second consecutive year of record bus ridership, carrying 10 percent more passengers than in 2010.
That's no surprise to Kyle and Deborah Kelley, who were waiting downtown Wednesday afternoon for the Route 12 bus and a 27-minute trip to the ...
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Millions of dollars and months of preparation focus on four days in August when tens of thousands of delegates, media, protesters and hangers-on will join Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and friends at the 2012 Republican National Convention.
But the greater payback for host city Tampa could t...
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Thousands of high-paying, high-skill jobs took major steps toward becoming a reality in Winter Haven.
The CSX rail terminal's future hung in the balance of Gov. Rick Scott's long-awaited decision on the Orlando commuter rail project, SunRail, in 2011. Scott had put the project on hold after he shot...
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Even after 12 years, the proposed Ridge Road extension project still drives passions among many supporters and detractors.
Now people have an extra month, until Jan. 27, to file letters with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers before the agency decides about an environmental permit.
The concept for t...
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While the rest of us drive to and from work, grimly staring at the cars in front of us, T.J. Connors glides along with a smile on his face.
The 27-year-old tattoo artist commutes on a skateboard. Sometimes he kicks his way along a path in Venetian Waterway Park. Other times he uses a long pole for ...
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Downtown commuters already weary from detours caused by the Platt Street bridge closure will soon have another reason to groan.
CSX Railroad is planning to replace tracks along Polk Street, which will mean intersection closings at Ashley Drive, Florida Avenue and six other streets in the heart of d...
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Florida wants an extra quarter from Pinellas Bayway drivers next year, and some residents are fighting it.
"It's terribly unfair and inequitable to penalize the users of the Pinellas Bayway," said Bayway Isles resident Travis Jarman. "It's the only remaining toll road in Pinellas Cou...
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The U.S. Department of Transportation has turned down the city of Tampa's grant application for $10 million to complete two final segments of the Riverwalk project.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn said the decision hasn't dampened his spirits of one day having the Riverwalk completed.
"Our vision for the ...
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Will Pinellas County voters be casting ballots on a sales tax increase to pay for buses and rail service?
Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch says yes. Welch and other officials have been vetting a proposal for rail and buses that will be presented to elected boards in St. Petersburg, Largo, Cle...
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Although at least five years away, the Florida Department of Transportation is busy evaluating what it will take to bring the proposed widening of Interstate 75 in Hernando and Pasco counties to fruition.
The agency revealed its plans at a public hearing Thursday evening at the Ridge Manor Communit...
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Hillsborough Area Regional Transit plans to build a park-and-ride station at Falkenburg Road to connect Brandon commuters to downtown Tampa and MacDill Air Force Base.
The agency says it's negotiating to purchase property just east of Falkenburg and south of the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway to accommo...
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The Brooksville Vision Foundation shares its name, more or less, with a defunct and failed organization called the Visioning/Strategic Planning Initiative.
It also has the same goal as that long-gone group — making downtown Brooksville a hub of commerce and culture.
But here is what the new ...
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Florida, one of only 15 states that doesn't ban texting while driving, is in the slow lane on motorist safety.
The state gained some ground last week when the Senate Transportation Committee voted 10-0 in favor of a bill — filed by Sen. Nancy Detert of Sarasota County — that seeks to ba...
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Just months after Tampa International Airport heralded its first charter flights to Cuba in nearly 50 years, the future of not just the flights but all less-restrictive travel to the island nation is threatened.
A proposal in Congress to roll back the Obama administration's broad opening of travel ...
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Mr. Daniel Hardy from Renaissance Planning Group, in Washington D.C. delivered what was to be the final say to a plan that has been on the books since 1992. It was the U.S. 41 Venice Bypass "Peer Review," requested from the MPO board back in April of this year. His presentation had all of ...
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Travelers in the coming years may reach Anna Maria Island shores the way early visitors arrived — via a ferry or water taxi.
At least one proposal for a shuttle service has been submitted at Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach city halls, and the issue is an agenda topic for Anna Maria commissione...
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Ask veteran car salesman Joe Lentini, owner of Ozona Motor Cars Inc., why he plans to close his business on Dec. 31, and he will not hesitate.
"The DOT project in front of my business is shutting me down,'' he said.
The Florida Department of Transportation project he refers to is the $2.9 mil...
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Funding has been deferred for 11 state highway projects in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Citrus counties and a project at the Port of Tampa, the Florida Department of Transportation said Friday.
About $73.1 million in area projects will be affected by a $1.2 billion reduction in the October sta...
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Planners will have a full report by Feb. 9 for the Polk Transportation Planning Organization on plans by local officials to help Poinciana's developers build a new toll road.
Poinciana Parkway is a proposed 10-mile road from Cypress Parkway in Poinciana to U.S. 17-92 in Loughman.
The road is seen ...
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The USA is getting riskier for people on foot, and experts aren't sure why.
New data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that pedestrian fatalities rose 4.2% in 2010 over the previous year. The number of pedestrians injured in motor vehicle crashes soared 19%, to 70,000.
E...
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More people rode public transportation in the first nine months of this year than last, a sign that more people are working and looking for cheaper options to get around.
Ridership on public buses and trains increased 2% — from 7.63 billion rides to 7.76 billion, according to the American Pub...
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A new streetlight has gone up near the scene of an accident that killed a young pregnant mother, speed tables are expected to be installed by Christmas, and plans for a sidewalk are moving forward, city officials said Thursday.
That's better, said City Council members, who had sharply criticized Ma...
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A new proposal to overhaul Sarasota County's public transit system is turning heads, mostly because of the steep price tag.
Officials say the new bus system would be more efficient, but the cost is a tough pill to swallow.
County officials are discussing a new, rapid bus system that would use the ...
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The TECO Historic Streetcar Inc., will pay $396,000 for a one-year, $100 million premium for liability insurance CSX Transportation Inc. requires for an Ybor City rail crossing, despite trying to negotiate a better arrangement with CSX.
David Mechanik, president of the nonprofit streetcar company, ...
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For years, area residents and urban planners have complained that downtown Tampa is isolated from the neighborhoods around it. But a new effort under way could change all that. Mayor Bob Buckhorn announced last week that the city would hire a Los Angeles firm to develop a master plan for the urban c...
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By C.C. (Doc) Dockery
Gov. Rick Scott did not tell the truth when he told your editorial board that he refused federal money for high-speed rail because he asked for a guarantee that any contractor for the project would absorb any cost overruns but no contractor would come forward with that guarant...
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Imagine driving on special lanes along Interstate 275 unimpeded by morning and afternoon rush hour traffic jams between downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Or cruising at 50 mph or faster to and from work along I-4 between Plant City and Tampa rather than creeping along. And reliably knowing how lon...
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There's movement here on the public project home front, finally, an excitement that comes from community planning that could change the way our cities look and feel. Tampa announced last week that it's hiring a massive company to help craft a 20-year blueprint to redesign downtown and the surroundin...
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Motorists traveling along the highways and byways of Hernando County these days are likely to encounter various stages of road construction.
County Commissioner Dave Russell said many of the improvements to area roads are due to the county's "excellent relationship with the Florida Department ...
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As activists battle with the county over whether to extend Ridge Road through a major environmental preserve, there remains an issue that's difficult to nail down: How much would the road cost?
A public notice issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this week lists the road's cost at $101 millio...
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The county on Tuesday unanimously approved the beginning of the process of studying Port Citrus for economic viability.
The Citrus County Port Authority, a.k.a. county commission, approved the release of a Request for Qualification (RFQ) "on the street" to seek companies who might want to...
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City public works officials said Thursday they expect to put in a sidewalk on the N 43rd Street block where a young mother and her unborn son were killed within three to four months.
"If we can get it in sooner, we will," city transportation manager Jean Dorzback told City Council members...
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City Council members lambasted Buckhorn administration officials on Thursday for not moving quickly enough to improve pedestrian safety along a traffic-choked strip of 43rd Street in East Tampa, where a pregnant woman was hit and killed last month.
Jean Dorzback, the city's transportation manager, ...
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Shorter waits are coming for those who use buses on South Florida Avenue.
Faced with opposition from bus riders, Citrus Connection officials are reviving 30-minute wait times on South Florida Avenue five months after the times were extended to an hour.
The change will begin at 6:15 a.m. on Monday....
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The widening of U.S. 41 Bypass through Venice and the building of a Jacaranda connector road dominated discussions at a joint Venice City Council and Sarasota County Commission meeting Wednesday.
While the city found unanimous county support for its selection of an easternmost route to connect Laur...
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Plans for another outlet for traffic-choked Poinciana will remain stalled until government officials can come up with a way to help Poinciana's private development company pay for it, a crowd of road supporters were told Wednesday.
Enlarge However, where that financial help will come from i...
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Speeding cars and heavy trucks are causing problems for Thonotosassa residents who live near Fowler Avenue.
By the time Fowler Avenue extends into Thonotosassa, it's a seemingly quiet little road - vastly different from the multi-lane thoroughfare in Tampa.
But Betty Mentzel and her neighbors say ...
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Fifty-one days down, 54 to go.
The renovation of the Platt Street Bridge has caused minor headaches for commuters and downtown merchants, but Hillsborough County officials say the project has been running smoothly and is nearly halfway done.
"We're on time, under budget, and everything is loo...
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DRIVE through any number of outer-ring suburbs in America, and you’ll see boarded-up and vacant strip malls, surrounded by vast seas of empty parking spaces. These forlorn monuments to the real estate crash are not going to come back to life, even when the economy recovers. And that’s be...
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By the numbers
$2.3M The total of a federal grant that HART is getting for the program.
2013 The year that HART expects the natural gas filling station to be running.
20 Amount, in percentage, that HART expects to save in fuel costs.
177 Number of buses within HART's existing fleet.
Source: Hil...
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The Green Express will easily live up to its motto: Faster-Greener-Fresher-Safer. That's true because most of its cargo is perishables and headed for the fast lane. If all goes well; refrigerated warehouses are equipped, rail gets taken to them and the Tiger 3 grant comes through for Port Manatee, s...
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Sarasota County has paid $30 million to develop the Legacy Trail, a 12.8-mile linear park built along an abandoned rail line. Despite the trail's popularity — it draws about 120,000 visitors a year and rising — some critics say it cost too much.
And they are not going to like this news....
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The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded HART a $2.3 million grant to fund a compressed natural gas fueling station and modifications to an existing HART maintenance facility for vans and buses.
The design and construction would take place in 2012 with the compressed natural gas fueling st...
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The Dunedin City Commission voted 3-2 Thursday night to reject a $266,000 federal Safe Routes to School grant that would have funded the project, along with $234,000 in Penny for Pinellas taxes. The decision puts to rest months of debate over attempts to extend bicyclist safety measures along the co...
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I know most of you are sick of reading about Dan DeWitt and his bicycle, so this is all I'll say about my Sunday morning ride on the Withlacoochee State Trail.
If you didn't make it out there on this sunny, crisp fall weekend to either take a walk or cruise along on two wheels, I actually feel sorr...
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A small group of activists won a narrow victory over developers today, persuading Pasco County commissioners to reverse course and vote to enact tougher transportation standards for rural roads.
The vote was one of several legal steps the county must take to implement its mobility fee system, which...
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Tanks, trains and stampeding animals are being used by the Florida Department of Transportation to raise awareness of fatal pedestrian and bicycle crashes in the Tampa Bay area.
The campaign, called See The Blindspots, launched on the Internet last week. The commercial, which will air 504 times on ...
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A proposal intended to steer traffic from clogged pavement to open water may soon gain steam — at least advocates hope so.
The county's Metropolitan Planning Organization recently introduced to stakeholders an idea to ferry commuters by boat from southeast Hillsborough County to MacDill Air F...
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Around Hillsborough County, ridership on Hillsborough Area Regional Transit express routes has seen a record boost, especially in FishHawk Ranch.
FishHawk Ranch, home to a number of people who work at MacDill Air Force Base, is served by the 24X and 27X Park and Ride bus lines that make the daily 7...
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The announcement from the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority was all but swallowed up amid the Halloween hullabaloo. For the second year in a row, the transportation agency posted record ridership: 13.1 million trips. Clearly there is a growing demand for low-cost public transportation on both side...
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Tampa International Airport should create a plan for a centrally located transportation center to serve as a bus transfer site and eventually a bus rapid transit, rail transportation and taxi hub, chief executive Joe Lopano said today.
Lopano told HART's board that an airport transportation center ...
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When the county doubled wait times for THE Bus in 2009, it came as no surprise that ridership took a nosedive.
Now, county officials are talking about revamping routes, shortening wait times and, hopefully, gaining back some riders.
The county's Metropolitan Planning Organization recently voted to...
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Seldom do we stop to remember a defeat. Generally, we pause to remember victories — the things we pulled together for; the things that made a difference.
But we should remember an important community effort that was not successful a year ago: the defeat of the transportation ballot initiative...
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A plan to consolidate all the toll collection functions of expressway authorities throughout the state was the idea with the most backing during a workshop meeting of the Government Efficiency Task Force this past week.
Merging the management and direction of the entities while maintaining local co...
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A year after voters rejected an ambitious transportation package, Hillsborough County and the entire Tampa Bay region have lost serious ground on modernizing transit. HART, the county's mass transit agency, dropped its plan for light rail, lost its chief executive and pulled back on spending and maj...
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You can expect thousands of bicyclists to become one with nature at Flatwoods Wilderness Park on Sunday.
The nature park nestled between Bruce B. Downs Boulevard and Morris Bridge Road is the site of the sixth annual Bicycle Bash, a one-day festival geared to energizing Tampa Bay area bicycle rider...
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Back to the future we go with the review of the review of the review concerning the improvement of the U.S. 41 Bypass in Venice.
The latest study came out on Friday, not in finished form, but as a Power Point presentation of numbers and charts produced by the Renaissance Planning Group in Maryland....
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The full Senate passed a major appropriations bill yesterday, including funding levels for transportation and housing. The Senate put the kibosh on Sen. Rand Paul’s attempt to strip bike/ped funding from the federal transportation program, as we reported yesterday. Here’s the lowdown on ...
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After more than a decade of trying, business leaders and elected officials hope to jumpstart the stalled Ridge Road extension project.
Donna Cardellino, a real estate agent with Florida Luxury Realty, has been rallying supporters to help persuade the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to give the project...
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Tampa International Airport officials will study the best use for airport real estate in a master plan update to be launched next month that includes prospects for linking a bus transfer center with light- and high-speed rail lines.
Other plan elements will include space on the airport's east side ...
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Perhaps it's time for west Pasco to dream big.
That slice of the county has the highest concentration of businesses and residents. Its 10 percent foreclosure rate is also the county's highest. Its housing stock was built for retirees who have moved on and many neighborhoods lack a defining feature ...
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Pinellas County legislators voted 6-2 Thursday for a bill that would allow voters to swap property taxes for higher sales taxes for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority.
PSTA officials support the bill because they think the swap is necessary to eventually persuade voters to raise the sales tax ...
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These days, drivers can leisurely cruise State Road 54 along the southern edge of the county at more than 60 mph. If you count the time sitting at red lights, it averages to a little less than 40 mph, but the drive is still pretty smooth.
It's going to get worse.
County commissioners on Tuesday sa...
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They adopted a new mobility fee system that encourages intense development in urban areas, but Pasco County commissioners and officials are finding it difficult to embrace the gridlock that comes along with all that density.
"We're going away from what we've been doing for 25 years," exec...
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CSX has expedited its timeline for a rezoning application to the city of Winter Haven for the 932 acres to be developed around the new Winter Haven rail terminal, according to a development team agreement approved by city commissioners.
CSX officials intend to submit their application to the city w...
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As a Citrus Connection bus driver put it after workers voted unionize, the agency's executive director Tom Phillips walked into a mess when he started six weeks ago.
Some of the $8 million agency's routes had just been cut. The previous director, Danny Ours, had been fired. Morale was low and the a...
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Think about west Pasco for a minute. Maybe you picture congestion on U.S. 19 or an ugly streetscape. Maybe you wish downtown New Port Richey were livelier. Perhaps an empty strip center comes to mind.
Now imagine west Pasco in 30 years. Can the main highway carry enough traffic while encouraging pe...
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A proposed water ferry between Gibsonton and MacDill Air Force Base is technically feasible, but the concept - which could be the precursor for additional water ferry or water taxi service in the Tampa Bay region - will require additional planning.
That's the outlook of a about a dozen officials fr...
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While a House transportation bill still appears to be a long way off, the Senate is prepared to move forward on its version. EPW Committee leaders just announced that they’ll be marking up their two-year bill November 9.
This is good news for three reasons: First, it’ll be the first tim...
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Last week, county commissioners asked staff to contact the state and ask for a time extension to finish the Hernando Beach channel dredging project.
Just in case, commissioners said.
Given recent delays and other setbacks by the contractor, commissioners want to hedge their bets and convince the s...
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If a long journey begins with a single step, Pasco County officials recently took that first step toward linking its trails and parks with Pinellas County's network.
Maps with proposed alignments of trails were circulated at an Oct. 7 meeting in Tarpon Springs, Pasco senior planner Manny Lajmiri sa...
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A half-dozen years ago, city and port officials were hopeful the Riverwalk might be extended through the Channel District and Port of Tampa cruise facilities, while being attentive to post-9/11 security concerns.
It was a different time and nothing materialized.
Downtown merchants in 2005 talked o...
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Two weeks after a Middleton High School freshman was struck by a pickup and killed while walking to school, Tampa City Council members will discuss how to make the area near the crash more pedestrian friendly.
Shenika Davis, 15, was crossing East Hillsborough Avenue near 26th Street on Oct. 5 when ...
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The day of President Obama’s inauguration was a record breaker for Washington’s Metro transit system: 1.5 million passengers swarmed aboard its buses and trains.
Days such as the one that nearly overwhelmed the system might one day become routine as projected population growth taxes the...
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Highways will be widened, bridges will be improved and new recreational trails are planned in the state's five-year transportation plan presented to the Transportation Planning Organization in Bartow on Thursday. The plan confirms a previous announcement that the funding to widen another section of ...
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All things considered, Michael Cole was in good spirits as he awaited the southbound Silver Star for a train ride to Fort Lauderdale on a recent Tuesday afternoon.
The New York-Tampa-Miami train was on-time. Another 64 passengers and some visitors seeing them off added busyness and energy that's ab...
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HART ridership rose 6.6 percent in September compared with a year ago, continuing a trend that saw the agency carry a record number of passengers in the last year.
The bus service recorded 1.2 million trips last month, capping a record fiscal year in which ridership grew 11.7 percent to 13.7 millio...
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Pasco commissioners should resist the temptation to start altering their long-term development map before the ink is even dry. Just three months after approving new financing for the future transportation network, commissioners are considering a pitch from a pair of landowners who want to develop pr...
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Most of them are on foot. They carry backpacks, push shopping carts, ride bikes or have children in tow. They stand in turn lanes waiting to cross, and dart between traffic to reach the opposite side.
Jaywalking on Fletcher Avenue between Nebraska Avenue and Bruce B. Downs Boulevard is so p...
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A state grant will bring boat docks to Riverwalk at the Tampa Bay History Center.
News that the project would be funded by a $398,000 grant came Wednesday from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said Lee Hoffman, Riverwalk development manager.
The 100-foot-long floating dock wi...
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To hear Eric Cantor tell it, the president’s jobs bill is dead and rotting in the House — at least in its current form. But that doesn’t mean Obama’s ballyhooed jobs speech last month was totally ineffective. In fact, it already seems to have quietly nudged the dial on at lea...
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The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has announced that construction is scheduled to begin on October 15 on the $9.5 million State Road 60/US 98 intersection improvement project in Bartow, Florida.
As part of the project, the SR 60/US 98 intersection will be completely reconstructed, wit...
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The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority [PSTA] has decided to pursue a possible public referendum on a "tax swap".
The public transit property tax would be eliminated and replaced with up to a one cent sales tax.
The PSTA board decided Wednesday to pursue that option.
"We'll go out...
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State Sen. Jack Latvala, whose district includes Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, has floated a plan to consolidate the public bus systems on both sides of Tampa Bay. The idea is worth exploring, even if there are few obvious similarities between serving Pinellas' dense urban population and Hills...
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Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn is one of four mayors selected for the 2011-2012 class of fellows for the Urban Land Institute Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use.
The mission of the ULI Rose Center is to encourage and support excellence in land use decision-making.
Tampa’s Acting ...
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Get ready for Tampa's own mini Carmageddon, the closing of the Platt Street Bridge.
When the 85-year-old drawbridge leading downtown closes for repairs in the wee hours Monday, the disruption will spare no one.
Not commuters, nor hockey fans, nor Tampa General Hospital employees nor Davis Islands ...
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There may not be a bill yet, but there's already plenty of concern among Bay area lawmakers that state leaders will try again to seize control of the Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority.
The big question, say critics and backers alike, is whether Gov. Rick Scott will make the issue a pri...
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The 2011 Urban Mobility Report came out yesterday, and one of its clearest conclusions is that "rush hour" is a terrible misnomer. The hour of congestion at the start and close of the average workday can expand to about six hours in some large metro areas. The worst time to be on the road ...
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A brief history of the Tara Bridge: It was conceived in 1989, died in December 2010, was exhumed in January and revived Monday.
The Metropolitan Planning Organization, a regional transportation planning group, voted 12-3 to add the project back to its list of long-term projects.
The vote came afte...
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Paradise isn't supposed to have smog.
The Tampa Bay area, though, is the second smoggiest metropolitan region in the Sunshine State, according to a report released this week by Environment Florida. Tops on the list was Pensacola.
The report came a day after Businessweek.com attempted to rank "...
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Those 80 and over will be riding free on county buses after the Manatee County Commission today OK’d the arrangement.
County Commission Chairman Carol Whitmore proposed allowing free rides on all MCAT buses on grounds of public safety, and other commissioners went along with the plan.
Older ...
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County residents get their first chance tonight to weigh in on plans for express bus service, short-distance train service and other forms of “premium transit” planned for the region.
The public workshop on the Sarasota-Manatee Area Regional Transit Study, called SMART Connect, will be ...
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Sarasota County Area Transit fares will rise dramatically for one-way users early next month in a move designed to avoid cutting back on service.
One-way fares will rise from 75 cents to $1.25 starting Oct. 3. Other fares will also increase significantly.
They include:
• One-way reduced fare...
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If you drive on the Veterans Expressway, get ready to pay more next year.
The same is true for the Suncoast Parkway, the Sunshine Skyway, the Pinellas Bayway and the Polk Parkway.
On pretty much every toll road in the Tampa Bay area and across the state – with the exception of the Lee Roy Se...
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State Sen. Jack Latvala told HART officials Monday night the only way he would draft legislation to combine the Hillsborough and Pinellas transit services is if it would save money and make sense for riders.
"There needs to be a consensus to do it," Latvala said about merging the agencies...
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Not so long ago, fixing Hillsborough County's often clogged transportation network was the top priority of commissioners and many civic leaders.
So it's notable that the budget recommendation in the final stages of vetting by commissioners calls for wholesale postponing of traffic improvements and ...
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It sounds like the latest Apple product, but it has the power to create far more jobs with little government money
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City commissioners didn't budge on a proposed budget allocation for public transit at the city's first budget hearing Wednesday night.
Commissioners want to give Winter Haven Area Transit $5,000 this year, $3,500 less than the $8,500 they have contributed in recent years.
Even after Paul Simmons, ...
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This was a landmark day for Arturo Rodriguez.
The 81-year-old from Spring Hill would set foot in Cuba for the first time since 1959, the year Fidel Castro took power. Rodriguez would see the younger brother and sister he'd only talked with by phone all those years.
"I want to go before I die,...
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"Can't you imagine how great this would be? Isn't this neat?"
Alan Snel can't stop talking about the potential for a bike trail on a beaten-down, makeshift path along the Tampa Bypass Canal.
The Tampa Bay area's leading bicycle advocate is giving me a walking tour along the canal through...
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Can an electric cart taxi service find happiness and success in this city by offering free rides between tourist districts?
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The House Appropriations Committee announced Wednesday it was allocating $55 billion for transportation, housing and urban development next year, with $16.7 million going directly to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Travel along a portion of U.S. 19 in Hernando County will become a bit more challenging in the coming months as a major repaving project gets under way Monday.
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But what makes a city a city and a not-city a not-city is the fact that a city is dense and a not-city isn’t.
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The Tampa Bay Business Journal newsroom explores Tampa Bay's most dangerous spots throughout their commute.
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The jobs that Winter Haven has awaited for five years are almost here.
No, really.
CSX officials announced Wednesday they will host a kick-off meeting and job opportunity fair Nov. 10 in Winter Haven to begin the process of hiring the companies and workers it needs to construct the new rail termin...
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Tampa's carbon footprint rivals that of cities twice its size, and is expected to get even bigger unless actions are taken to reduce the city's greenhouse gas emissions.
That's according to a Tribune analysis of other cities and a recently completed study estimating the city's 2009 emissions of car...
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A little more than year ago, the office at Tampa Steel and Supply was packed with TV cameramen, reporters, then candidate Rick Scott and several of his advisers. It was the backdrop for Scott's successful run for governor and spotlighted his campaign slogan: "Let's get to work."
Tampa Ste...
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There are some 150,000 bridges in need of repair in the United States, according to the Department of Transportation. Last week's 5.8 magnitude earthquake sent engineers out to inspect many of them along the East Coast to ensure their safety, a prescient reminder that bridge and road solidity can't ...
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More than 700,000 American households do not have a car and lack access to public transit, making them less likely to find and keep jobs, transit advocates said
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The Tampa Port Authority made a shortsighted decision to abruptly end its $150,000 annual subsidy to the cash-strapped streetcar
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In recent years, signs of life in this sleepy part of town have been sporadic.
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Development of a fast bus line or light rail system for the Clearwater-Gateway-St. Petersburg corridor is expected to have economic consequences in terms of job growth and transit-oriented development.
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Florida is a case in point: A Collins Center report found that while Florida has a commendable track record of maintaining its roads and bridges, it is coming up short on transit alternatives.
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Jolley Trolley officials say business owners along the new North Pinellas route have been clamoring to expand the three-day weekend service's hours of operation to include Thursday.
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Here's something different. A group of Tampa businesses is asking for more and tighter restrictions, not fewer, and they're doing it in hopes of creating more jobs.
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The section of U.S. 27 in this part of Florida has changed from a rural, high-speed corridor flanked by citrus groves to a nearly nonstop stretch of subdivisions, shopping centers and traffic lights.
All it took was a series of devastating freezes, a massive rewrite of Polk County's growth map and ...
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Long famous for its top-notch highways and passion for cars, the United States is letting bridges rust as traffic chokes overburdened roads, threatening a pillar of its economic strength.
A prime example of this neglect is the Brent Spence Bridge over the Ohio River. It worked well when it opened i...
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Gov. Rick Scott has launched his own stimulus program with the state's smart decision to speed up more than $1 billion in road projects. The move doesn't excuse the governor's decision to kill the federally funded high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando. But it will create jobs, and it's a good do...
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Victor Crist stunned colleagues on the Hillsborough County Commission and the county's aviation authority when he proposed cooperative efforts among the area's seaports and airports that typically compete.
"We need to take a look at how we could benefit the region by thinking differently and c...
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Tractor-trailers and school buses routinely speed past Liz Pless' home along rural 15th Street Southeast in Ruskin.
There's no safe place on the busy two-lane street to ride a bike or go for a walk.
Her mailbox stands precariously at the edge of a storm-water trench, and the sidewalk is across the...
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From the Truth-O-Meter at PolitiFact.
If high-speed rail had moved ahead in Florida, Scott said the state would have had to pay $1 billion to build it.
Scott bases his claims on hypothetical cost overruns from a suspect study written by a libertarian think tank. While the study correctly points ...
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Three independent organizations recently teamed up to identify the most cost-effective strategies for improving the nation's transportation system.
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Gov. Rick Scott, who killed high speed rail in Florida earlier this year, is pushing ahead with a major transportation plan that calls for speeding up road projects and relying more on new tolls to help pay for them.
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A bipartisan coalition has released a new report urging Congressional leaders to reconsider American investments in roads, ports, broadband and other elements of a high-tech transportation network.
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Florida – the state that turned its back on high-speed rail – has jumped on accelerating some $1.2 billion in road projects.
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Construction of a new high level bridge along the Pinellas Bayway is now scheduled to begin early next year.
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Pasco County has embraced a new way to pay for transportation that will mean a generous break for developers of employment centers and high-density neighborhoods.
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Editorial, Tampa Tribune
August 8, 2011
HART board members are taking some grief because they voted to slightly increase the property tax millage for the county transit operation.
But the alternative was for the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority to eliminate more than 477,000 passenger...
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The budget that Hillsborough County's mass transit agency has proposed for the coming years comes nowhere close to what's needed for the fourth-largest county in the fourth-largest state.
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Wave of the future, or glorified golf cart? Lisa Nisenson says that dismissing neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) is a mistake, and planners can use NEV planning to make more walkable urban centers.
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Many things come to mind when you think about transportation: Traffic, congestion, mass transit and the cost of fuel, to name a few. You might also think about the economy, urban planning and the environment...
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As part of a pilot program, the trucks will be available in Seattle and five other metropolitan areas, including Portland (Ore.), the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles, Knoxville (Tenn.) and the Tampa Bay area.
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Rising gas prices drive more people to use public transportation: Meet South Florida's users of public transit and recent converts.
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The Suncoast Parkway is a lot more than a road that connects the Tampa Bay area to points farther north.
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By Llewellyn King, Hearst Newspapers
In Print: Thursday, June 16, 2011
The late, great senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, used to lament that Americans had lost the courage for big projects like the one he championed unsuccessfully for the West Side of Manhattan, the Westway, which wo...
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Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Offering increased efficiency and expedited travel, the new HART MetroRapid is slated to begin operations by early 2013, connecting downtown Tampa to northern parts of Hillsborough County.
The first rapid transit system in the area, the North-South MetroRapid will run north ...
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Tampa Tribune Editorial
Recent setbacks to local transportation plans and dreams make it clear that the Tampa area cannot count on Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature to offer any help.
Only with innovative thinking to maximize local resources can the region hope to meet its costly highway and tra...
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A Times Editorial
In Print: Friday, June 10, 2011
Hillsborough County's mass transit agency, HART, looks to be in desperate shape. In the last year, county voters rejected a light rail plan, Gov. Rick Scott killed a high-speed train between Tampa and Orlando, and HART's governing board fired its c...
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By John Chambliss
THE LEDGER
The Lakeland Area Mass Transit District board voted 4-0 Wednesday to eliminate Saturday bus service, reduce the frequency of bus runs and have employees take eight unpaid days off to address a $2.4 million shortfall.
The cut in bus runs means at least 15 Citrus Connec...
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By Michael Sasso
Tampa Tribune
June 9, 2011
Hillsborough and Pinellas counties' bus services could merge into one, according to a proposal before the Florida Senate Transportation Committee.
It's just an idea at this point, but consolidating the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority and t...
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Last Updated: Wednesday, June 8, 2011
TAMPA --
Just when many thought the discussion about rail was over, a Bay area organization is trying to get the conversation going again.
The Tampa Bay Partnership has launched a new website to help make that happen: TampaBayonTrack.org.
"We wanted to...
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Jun 8 2011, 9:00 AM ET
The neighborhood you live in can have a huge effect on your ability to spend or save, do the kind of things you really want to, and navigate the ongoing economic crisis. The chart below, from a new report by The House Democratic Livable Communities Task Force (via Grist...
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By Dan Tracy
Orlando Sentinel
June 8, 2011
Lobbying for and against the SunRail commuter train is growing louder and more frenetic as Gov. Rick Scott gets closer to his self-appointed deadline of July 1 to decide the fate of the $1.2 billion project.
Politicians such as Orlando Mayor Buddy...
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By Laura D’Andrea Tyson
New York Times
June 3, 2011
Years of under-investing in the nation’s transportation infrastructure are apparent in congested roads, freight bottlenecks, airport delays and overcrowded or nonexistent public transit operations. Yet the heated debate in Washington...
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Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist
St. Petersburg Times
In Print: Sunday, June 5, 2011
November's voter referendum on mass transit in Hillsborough County? Strike 1.
Gov. Rick Scott putting the kibosh on the Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail line? Strike 2.
Scott's recent line-item veto gutti...
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While paying for its hefty infrastructure costs may be ambitious, many high-speed rail systems cover their operating costs and even turn a small operating profit.
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By: Ted Jackovics
TAMPA -- When Gov. Rick Scott rejected $2.4 billion in federal funds to build the Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail leg in February, he told the U.S. Transportation secretary other projects were more important -- including widening I-4 in Orange County and widening I-275 in Hillsborou...
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Agency has worked to bring effective and efficient regional transportation solutions to Tampa Bay
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By PILAR CONCI
One of the hottest trends in urban mass transit is—the bus.
Not your old-fashioned bus lines. Cities all over the world are switching to bus rapid transit, or BRT, a modern transit system that combines the flexibility of buses with the speed, comfort and reliability of rail.
...
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by Tanya Snyder on May 16, 2011
The Reason Foundation, a free-market think tank, is not always a transportation reformer’s best friend. Its scholars gave Florida Gov. Rick Scott inaccurate advice he then used to justify killing high-speed rail in his state. They want to prevent the gas tax fr...
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Lakeland Ledger Editorial
This is National Transportation Week in America. But there is little reason to celebrate in Florida.
Not since Gov. Rick Scott rejected $2.39 billion in federal high-speed-rail funds. That money has now being reallocated to other states.
"These projects will put tho...
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By Ledyard King
WASHINGTON — For nearly 80 years, motorists have paid a tax every time they put gas in their cars. What if they were taxed based on how far they drive instead?
That's just what a number of groups, including the organization representing state transportation agencies, say ough...
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by Tanya Snyder on May 6, 2011
A few final notes before we all head home for the weekend…
Jonathan Maus at BikePortland just brought our attention to a recent comment we wish House Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-FL) hadn’t made. As the Orlando Sentinel reported yesterday,...
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Article by: KATIE HUMPHREY , Minnesota Star Tribune
A bill driven by the Cedar Avenue bus rapid transit project would ease the addition of more bus shoulder lanes with higher transit speeds
Buses zip along the shoulder on freeways across the metro area, and they'll need to do the same for bus rapi...
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Gov. Rick Scott should like what he's hearing from the train's supporters and experts.
Orlando Snetinel Editorial
With Gov. Rick Scott now less than two months from making his decision on SunRail, those looking to influence him on the commuter train for Central Florida have adopted two distinct st...
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by Tanya Snyder on May 5, 2011 - DC Streetsblog
A bill to provide Americans with more transportation choices than just driving is one step closer to becoming law. Reps. Doris Matsui (D-CA) and Steve LaTourette (R-OH) just introduced the Safe and Complete Streets Act of 2011 [PDF]. The bill doesn&rs...
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By TED JACKOVICS | The Tampa Tribune , CHRISTIAN M. WADE | The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 05, 2011
TAMPA --
A non-profit group will announce Saturday it has cobbled together $50,000 for a fund to endow the ongoing restoration of Tampa Union Station.
The presentation by the Friends o...
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Posted By Ryan Holeywell | May 4, 2011
As federal lawmakers draft a new surface transportation bill, local leaders are urging them to give cities a bigger piece of the funding pie and pursue a large-scale reorganization of the way transportation spending is allocated.
The message from mayors is cl...
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By Dan Tracy
Gov. Rick Scott derailed the high-speed train between Tampa and Orlando, despite opposition from a host of politicians and civic leaders along Interstate 4 and a majority of the state Senate.
But on Scott's side was the state Supreme Court, which ruled he had not overstepped his autho...
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By John Chambliss THE LEDGER
April 20, 2011
LAKELAND |The four board members of Winter Haven Area Transit unanimously voted Wednesday to disband the group.
Winter Haven City Commissioner Jamie Beckett, the chairman of the WHAT board, said the board was pointless.
"There was a consensus amon...
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By Justin George, Times Staff Writer
TAMPA — After meeting for more than four hours and taking several competing votes, directors of Hillsborough County's mass transit system decided Monday night to fire embattled chief executive David Armijo.
The termination, on a 7-4 vote, caps a monthlong...
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Since 2004, regions including Denver, Portland, Salt Lake City, Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Charlotte and the Twin Cities have been planning large transit network expansions that would move forward faster than the one-line-at-a-time production schedule that in the past had been economically and p...
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According to a report released today by the National Association of Realtors, Americans favor walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods over neighborhoods that require more driving between home, work and recreation. 77 percent of respondents said they would look for neighborhoods with abundant sidewalks and...
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Shocking statistics on pedestrian fatalities in Tampa Bay
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No high-speed rail for Florida; court rules for Scott, feds move to give money to someone else
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Pro-transit isn't socialist and it isn't anti-car
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Transportation more important than taxes to relocating businesses
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Nearly two-thirds support state or federal funding for High Speed Rail, including those that live in Florida; one in five oppose, 15% unsure
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Americans want transit, don't want to pay
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Public Transportation Key to Transforming Communities
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Tampa streetcar now reached downtown
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