News & Public Affairs
TBARTA: public transit faces cuts in funding, spike in demand listen
05/06/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, Rick Scott, Ronnie Duncan, Bob Clifford, high-speed rail, transportation, light rail, transit
Public transit is clearly a tough sell in Florida these days, though skyrocketing gas prices are making the case for alternative transportation. Facing increases in demand and decreases in funding, transit officials may have to do more with less.
The state legislature created Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, known commonly as TBARTA, in 2007, when times were different. Facing cuts in state funding, executive director Bob Clifford said the organiza...
4 commentsHART Board extends CEO David Armijo's paid leave listen
04/04/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, Hillsborough County, penny transit tax, David Armijo, light rail, administrative leave, alleged corruption, Mark Sharpe, Kevin Beckner, Sandy Murman
Hillsborough County’s top transit official is facing tough scrutiny in the wake of accusations of misconduct ranging from retaliation against whistleblowers and misuse of travel funds. Today the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit board placed agency CEO David Armijo on two more weeks of paid leave while they try to figure out whether or not to keep him on board.
The complaints came back in February. Two weeks ago the board voted to suspend HART CEO David Armijo with pay when national emplo...
Be the first to commentTampa Bay Transit Call-In
03/21/11 Jon ButtsSustainable Living and Alternative Health Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, PSTA, transit, light rail, rail, busses
On today’s program our guests were Managers of Community Relations for two of our area’s largest counties’ transportation providers. Bob Lasher joined us from Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and Donna Chen from Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority. Also we were happy to have Sandi Moody, with Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA). Sandi was formally with Bay Area Commuter Services, which has merged with TBARTA, So we still have an agency in our area that provid...
Be the first to commentHART to weigh carpool lanes, light-rail starter line listen
01/24/11 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, Hillsborough County, penny transit tax, David Armijo, BRT, light rail
As rush hour picks up throughout Tampa Bay, you may be wondering if there will ever be a fix for all the gridlock. Transportation officials met in Tampa today to talk about possible short term solutions to Tampa’s transit woes.
Being stuck in traffic is a fact of life almost everywhere, especially in the Tampa Bay area. Hillsborough County voters said no to a large-scale transit overhaul, but Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (or HART) officials are still looking at ways to ease traffic o...
6 commentsHART Board gives CEO raise, mulls Pinellas transit aspirations listen
12/06/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, Hillsborough County, penny transit tax, David Armijo, Pinellas County
In the wake of last month’s election, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority has a new makeup – including Sandy Murman, a freshly-elected Republican County Commissioner. How this will affect the organization’s transit plan has yet to be seen, but rail continues to factor in as the board looks to the future.
It was one of the HART board’s slimmest agendas in recent memory. The board meets one Monday morning per month at a bleary 8:30 time slot. In the lead-up to last month’s faile...
Be the first to commentOfficials, stakeholders meet in St. Pete to talk transit listen
12/02/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, Pinellas County, Bob Clifford, regional connectivity
Thursday morning in St. Petersburg, local community and business leaders met to discuss the future of mass transit in Pinellas County at the second of several Stakeholder Alternatives Analysis meetings. Stakeholders were asked for input regarding locations that would benefit the most from transit improvements.
Created in 2007, Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, or TBARTA, developed a master plan that included transportation improvements for 7 Bay Area counties. Now, Pinellas...
Be the first to commentTBARTA: most residents want rail, but not to pay for it listen
11/19/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, transportation, no tax for tracks, Karen Jaroche, Bob Clifford, Ann Hildebrand, Ronnie Duncan, Frank Hibbard, CSX, regional connectivity
Results of a post-election poll suggest the economy is the main reason Hillsborough County voters turned down a transit tax earlier this month. The board overseeing region-wide transit said today it hopes to present a multi-county transit plan to voters once the economy improves.
According to a poll surveying some 400 Hillsborough residents, jobs trump all other issues. Ben Kelley of the Kenney Group, the Denver-based consulting team commissioned to do the survey, says this year’s poll res...
2 commentsTampa Bay area transit officials and business leaders hope to resuscitate rail listen
11/17/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, Hillsborough County, penny transit tax, Mark Sharpe, Pinellas, Ed Turanchik, No Tax for Tracks
Looking to raise rail from the ashes of the November Second vote, Tampa Bay area transit leaders met at the Straz Center this morning to reflect on what they’ve learned. They discussed possible reasons the penny transit tax withered on Hillsborough’s ballot, and speculated possible strategies for its future success.
Officials say there’s no silver bullet that nails the reason Hillsborough County voters didn’t buy into funding rail, bus and road improvements with a penny from every dollar t...
1 commentsPinellas Transportation Task Force considers regional sales tax for light rail listen
11/16/10 Matthew CimitileWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Transportation, local government, light rail, buses, transit, TBARTA, Pinellas County
Hillsborough County voters have rejected a one-cent transit sales tax, but what about the other side of the Bay? The Pinellas Transportation Task Force met yesterday to discuss a variety of revenue options for a light rail system in Pinellas County.
The Task Force of county officials, business leaders and other citizens are considering a regional transit sales tax to fund a light rail system that would link to a proposed high-speed rail terminus in Tampa. Pinellas County Commission Chair ...
3 commentsCounty transit officials to tread lightly on rail listen
11/15/10 Kate BradshawWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: HART, TBARTA, Hillsborough County, penny transit tax, Mark Sharpe, transportation
In the wake of the Hillsborough transit referendum getting shot down in the polls, officials are grappling with the question of what to do next. Members of the county’s transportation agency are opting to tread lightly as they look for new ways to go forward on transit.
Facing the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Board this morning, transportation advocate Pierre Mathurin says he has a regret.
1 comments"I wish that I would have done more to encourage people to vote for countywide transportati...
