News & Public Affairs
Howard Frankland span replacement could spell transit improvements over Tampa Bay listen
05/07/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: transit, PSTA, HART, FDOT, Howard Frankland Bridge
The Northbound section of the Howard Frankland Bridge will need to be replaced sometime in the next decade or so. That leaves a host of options for transit agencies on both sides of Tampa Bay.
During a stakeholder meeting in Pinellas County Tuesday, the Florida Department of Transportation’s district planning manager, Ming Gao said the plans could include some premium transit options.
Be the first to comment“We know the in-kind replacement is around $367 million. You’ve got the transit option; you’re tal...
Regional transit in Tampa Bay is getting an updated vision listen
04/26/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, PSTA, HART, transit, rail, buses, transportation
The board coordinating transit agencies from all over the Tampa Bay area is updating its master plan this year. The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority discussed the changes during its meeting Friday. Even though the board considers the update minor, it includes opportunities for increased regional connectivity.
Much of the focus will be on making it easier to get between Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties. Bob Clifford is TBARTA’s executive direct...
1 commentsLocal transit
04/01/13 Jon ButtsSustainable Living and Alternative Health Listen to this entire show:
Tags: TBARTA, HART, PSTA, transit
On today’s program we talked with four people involved with our local transit systems. Our guests included Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) Chief Operations Officer Katharine Eagan, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) External Affairs Officer Bob Lasher, Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) Director of Programs and Operations Sandi Moody and also TBARTA’s Communication Specialist, Al...
Be the first to commentPinellas keeps breaking its bus ridership records listen
03/11/13 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Monday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: PSTA, transit, transportation, transit tax, Pinellas County
The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) broke another ridership record in February.
It’s the sixteenth month in a row that more people rode the bus in the county than did the same month the previous year.
Bob Lasher, the spokesperson for PSTA, says ridership numbers have been outstanding.
HART also announced Monday its ridership continues to be strong.
Be the first to commentPinellas will have transit tax referrendum on 2014 ballot - where will those funds go? listen
02/27/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Pinellas County Commission, transit, transportation, light rail, PSTA, sales tax, referendum
Despite push-back from more than a dozen tea party activists, five Pinellas County commissioners said it was time to get moving on transit. At a meeting Tuesday in Clearwater, commissioners approved a 2014 ballot measure asking for an up to one cent sales tax increase to fund transportation. During a follow-up Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority board meeting Wednesday, transit officials started talking about how to allocate the money if voters approve the referendum.
1 comments“The transit impro...
Pinellas transit officials react to a Hillsborough Commissioner's suggestion to start transit talks listen
02/27/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: transit, transportation, Mark Sharpe, Ken Welch, PSTA, Brad Miller
As officials in Pinellas County gear up to expand transit options, Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe has said he wants to start talking about funding some enhancements on his side of the Bay. The Tampa Bay Times reports Sharpe said he wants to start building support for a 2014 referendum. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority CEO Brad Miller says that’s a good thing.
2 comments“PSTA has worked very hard to try to develop our Alternative Analysis in a regional way and one of the challen...
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says transit merger is not TBARTA's problem listen
02/22/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Bob Buckhorn, transportation, HART, PSTA, TBARTA
Even though the idea of a cross-bay merger is off the table for now, the boards of the transit agencies in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties still say they want to work on some projects together. After a state mandated merger study, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority had requested the state fund a second study taking a deeper look into possible cost savings. HART filed a separate report requesting no further studies. During a Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority meeting, o...
Be the first to commentPinellas Commissioners will vote this month on whether to add transit referendum to ballot listen
02/12/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Norm Roche, Ken Welch, Pinellas County Commission, transit, PSTA, light rail
Pinellas County Commissioners scheduled a vote on whether or not to put a sales tax referendum on the November ballot. The measure would likely increase county sales tax from 7% to 8, but commissioners could change that. Commissioner Norm Roche who is also on the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Board voted last month to move the issue to County Commission, but was the only descending commissioner during today’s discussion.
Pinellas County Commission chair Ken Welch rebutted concerns...
Be the first to commentPSTA forwards transit measure to Pinellas County Commission for referendum decision listen
01/23/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: PSTA, transit, transportation, light rail, Pinellas County
On Wednesday Pinellas transit officials unanimously approved plans to move forward with a transit overhaul by passing the issue to county commissioners. During three hours of public comment Michael Marino with the Tampa Bay Partnership said he met more than 100 times with people in the community about what their priorities were and the answer almost every time was improved transit.
Be the first to comment"This is not a debate about taxes or trains. This is a debate about do you want to have a positive impact o...
PSTA expected to ask Pinellas County Commission for sales tax referendum listen
01/22/13 Janelle IrwinWMNF Drive-Time News Tuesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: PSTA, Brad Miller, light rail, transit, transportation
Board members for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, or PSTA will decide once and for all tomorrow whether or not to ask Pinellas County Commissioners to put a sales tax referendum on the November, 2014 ballot. As proposed, the measure would boost the county’s sales tax from 7% to 8% and would fund a massive transit overhaul. The improvements would include better bus service and eventually light rail connecting downtown St. Pete to ...
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