News & Public Affairs

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio talks transit at Suncoast Tiger Bay listen

09/09/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Transportation, transit, Pam Iorio, Tiger Bay Club

Today at the Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, the Suncoast Tiger Bay Club hosted Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.

Iorio focused much of her address on issues of mass transit in the Tampa Bay region and how Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties can connect by light rail and other transportation options.

“You know, I think it’s OK to say ‘yes’ to something. For too long I think our politics have been ruled by ideology. Local politics even: ‘I’m against anything has to do with fill-in-the-b...

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Florida High-Speed Rail supporters rally for federal funding listen

08/18/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: high-speed rail, Transportation, transit, kathy castor

Many Florida elected officials, community groups, and business leaders are pushing for the state to construct only the second high-speed rail line in the country. Gatherings in Orlando, Lakeland, and Tampa today hoped to rally support for $2.5 billion of federal stimulus funding to connect those cities with 150 mile-per-hour train service.

According to U.S. Representative Kathy Castor, “Florida is ready to get moving. Florida is ready for high-speed rail.”

Castor stood on a balcony at ...

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USF partnership to offer hourly rental cars to students listen

07/23/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Transportation

A new partnership between the University of South Florida and a private company has introduced four hybrid cars to the Tampa campus for students to rent by the hour as a substitute for owning a car. But there appears to be only slight interest from students who don’t own an automobile.

WeCar is the name of the car-sharing arm of Enterprise Rent-A-Car that began accepting USF members on Thursday. Students, faculty, and staff can pay a $20...

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Task Force: Not all of referendum funds will go to transit listen

06/02/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Transportation, Hillsborough County, light-rail, mass transit

Last night, the Hillsborough County Transportation Task Force held the second of its 12 planned meetings to inform residents about a possible 1-cent referendum for rail and other transportation projects on the 2010 ballot.

Although the emphasis has been about the funding becoming crucial for Tampa to begin to construct a light-rail system, Lucia Garces, speaking for the Transportation Task Force, said the meeting are also to learn what other projects that the public wants that tax to fund....

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Iorio touts high speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando listen

05/29/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: Transportation, high-speed rail, Pam Iorio

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is in Spain today to speak with companies involved in high-speed rail construction. LaHood traveled to other European countries this week and rode on France’s 200 mph bullet train because President Barack Obama has allocated $13 billion in stimulus funds to improve existing rail lines and construct new high-speed lines.

Last week in Orlando, the Florida Department of Transportation met with officials from the U.S. Department of Transportation and...

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Iorio addresses Hillsborough MPO on transit plan listen

05/05/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Transportation, Hart, light rail, commuter rail, buses, mass transit

The question of how to sell a light rail system to Hillsborough County voters next year was discussed at the County’s Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting this morning.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, who has been the leading figure in raising the possibility of light rail finally coming to the region, was given the floor.

Iorio referred to the last serious plan for rail in Hillsborough County a decade ago. She said the biggest since her tenure as a County Commission in the 1980s was that...

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Car companies wage turf war in Hillsborough listen

04/08/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Transportation, Hillsborough County, taxi cabs, NEVs

Within the last year, people in Tampa could get free rides to take them to certain parts of town. Because those rides from Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) are free, they’re not regulated.

But local taxi cab owners are unhappy, because they say it is taking business away from their industry. They want the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission (PTC), which regulates cabs, limousines and towing companies, to regulate these cars.

Charles Smalling is a Yellow Cab drive...

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Hillsborough drafting ballot language for light rail amendment listen

04/01/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Transportation, light rail, Tampa

Hillsborough County Commissioners today took their first concrete step toward getting a possible sales tax referendum on the 2010 ballot that would help pay for a mass transit system.

The Board approved a motion to have the County Attorney and staff work with a task force to come up with draft language for the proposed referendum – but not before one commission said he didn’t think the measure would pass anyway.

Lucia Garces is the with the Administrative Planning & Infrastructure Depar...

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TBARTA supports referendum for light rail funding listen

02/27/09 Seán Kinane
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Tags: TBARTA, Pam Iorio, transportation

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) voted unanimously this morning to support Hillsborough County’s efforts to build light rail. TBARTA will back a referendum that could be placed on the 2010 ballot in Hillsborough to fund transit by increasing sales tax.

Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio has been a leader in the effort to construct four light rail lines that will link downtown Tampa with the University of South Florida, Tampa International Airport and beyond.

“And I thin...

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Mark Sharpe defends his work on mass transit listen

02/25/09 Mitch E. Perry
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Tags: Transportation, Hart, light rail, commuter rail, buses, mass transit

A clash of egos broke out at a budget meeting today with Hillsborough County Commissioners regarding a possible referendum next year on funding a mass transit system.

Commissioner Mark Sharpe has been actively involved in discussions with other local agencies over the past couple of years on the issue.

After coming back from a meeting with Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, as well as members of HART, the County’s Metropolitian Planning organization and the region’s transit agency, TBARTA, Sharpe s...

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