News & Public Affairs

TBARTA board meeting listen

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Tags: TBARTA, transit, commuter rail, light rail, Denise Layne, Pam Iorio

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, or TBARTA, held their monthly board meeting this morning in Tampa. They heard presentations about how changing demographics will change transit needs in the future and saw results of a survey of residents in the seven counties in the region.

John Fregonese is a planning consultant based in Portland Oregon who briefed the TBARTA board on how the region’s future transit needs could be affected by a population that is getting older and has smalle...

Economic Development Conference held in Tampa listen

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Tags: Legislature, 2008 election, CSX, TBARTA, Transportation, budget cuts, commuter rail, marriage amendment

The Florida Economic Development Conference is taking place in Tampa this week. The focus of this gathering of business leaders is “Driving Transformation: Innovations fueling economic development.”

The conference, sponsored by the Florida Economic Development Council, featured a lunchtime panel Monday with current and former Florida lawmakers discussing the legislative session that ended this month. There was optimism about the state’s economy from Sen. Mike Fasano, despite the fact that...

Will Crist OK $2M TBARTA budget? listen

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Tags: TBARTA, transit, commuter rail, light rail, Tampa Bay Partnership

This session the Florida Legislature provided the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) $2 million. But Gov. Charlie Crist could still veto that funding, like he did to the $1 million in startup funds the Legislature attempted to give TBARTA last year.

Pinellas County Commissioner Ronnie Duncan serves as the vice chair of the TBARTA Board. Duncan said TBARTA needs the one-time funding from the Legislature to secure private and government transit money and to finally hir...

Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council meets listen

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Tags: Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, TBARTA, transit, One Bay, Rays stadium, Tampa Bay Partnership

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council met today in Pinellas Park to discuss regional transit and what future development might look like in the Tampa Bay Area.

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council’s mission is to provide “a forum to foster communication, coordination and collaboration in identifying and addressing issues and needs regionally” among the 43 jurisdictions in Manatee, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.

Deborah Kynes is a Dunedin City Commissioner and the chai...