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Light Rail in Hillsborough County -- It is Prophesized
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How's That Half Penny Saved In Taxes Workin'....Ah, Never Mind (0)
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Regular HART Board Meeting Today (0)
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Broken Window (0)
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Train of Elephants On Streetcar Line (0)
Hillsborough County Transportation Task Force Meeting - Yesterday! (0)
America's Light Rail Climax Began With MAX Itself (0)
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Downtown, Contemplating the Great Anticipation (0)
Tampa Rail Community Crossposts (0)
Introducing LRE: Light Rail Envy (0)
Past Changes Yield Ridership Surge at Tampa Union Station (0)
The Teco Line: Toolchest of Development (0)
Central Florida Commuter Rail - We Should Probably Get Excited About It Anyway (0)
Advance in Subway Building Tech Bodes Well for Tampa (0)
Learning From LA (0)
Tampa's Light Sail System (0)
Running Of The Streetcar (0)
The Boston Big Dig Party Leaves Dirt Pile Of A Lesson (0)
Merry Christmas Everyone! (0)
TBN's Whirlwind Coverage of Mass Transit and TBARTA (0)
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You Can Join TBARTA (0)
Chairman Discusses Transportation Authority's Mission (0)
I Can't Believe I Have to Do This Again.... (0)
Let the Trains Roll! (0)
Please Update Tampa Rail Links (0)
Westshore Executive Director, and Tampa Rail Friend, Appointed to TBARTA Committee (0)
Welcome Heritage Trolley Subcommittee (0)
So, How'd Charlotte's New Lynx Light Rail Do On Opening Day? (0)
In Charlotte, Light Rail Opens to the Public! (0)
New HART BRT Map (0)
Major BRT Station Opening in Tampa Next Tuesday (0)
Looking for Cheap Gas? Window Shop for a New Car While You're At It (0)
Introducing the Tampa Rail Community (0)
Tampa Bay Business Journal on New HART CEO (0)
THIS Pam Sticks Like Crazy to It (0)
Police Converging on Robbery at or Next to Zelda's Cafe (0)
Meanwhile In Seattle, We Have Other Lessons to Learn (0)
Phase IIa Extension of TECO Line Streetcar System - Exposed! (0)
Charlotte, NC Election Results (0)
Vote on Future of Charlotte Light Rail North Carolina (0)
See the Most Popular Tampa Rail User Comment Ever (0)
Light Rail Proposed to Connect Airport to Business Districts (0)
Light Rail Falls Out of the Clear Blue Sky (0)
Streetcar and Heritage Trolley Group to Meet in Tampa (0)
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Card Dispenser Installed at Streetcar Southern Transportation Plaza (0)
So I Attended a TBARTA Meeting (0)
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Streetcarfest Breaks Attendance Record After All (0)
Urban Tour of Homes on the Streetcar (0)
Here's Where I'll Be Today (0)
Tampa Rail Question Handed to Tampa Police Chief - And Chief Responds (0)
Tampa Streetcar and Tampa Urban Development to Marry this Saturday (0)
A Rising Tide of Good News for Urban Rail Transit (0)
Still Bringing TR 2008 Up to Date (0)
Would You Like Transit Directions With That? (0)
More Details Posted Regarding Tampa Bus Rapid Transit Service (0)
An Update on Piloting Modern Streetcars in Tampa (0)
Has Anyone Put it All Together? We Have a Completely New Transit Front (0)
Massive Conspiracy to Blow David Pinero's Head Up (0)
Closing In On a Half Million Streetcar Riders (0)
WMNF Report on Transit Concept (0)
Streetcar Cameras Protect Tourists from Terrorists, And Others... (0)
Welcome to Tampa Rail 2008 (1)
Beating Bus Rapid Transit. We Don't Really Need To. (0)
Transit Concept for 2050 (0)
A Sneek Peek at the Preferred Transit Scenario (0)
If You Blinked, You Missed Birth of Regional Transit Blueprint (0)
Public Safety and a New Urban Core, Walking Around Skypoint (0)
Latest Light Rail Project is a Tidy One (0)
Port Authority is the Support Authority (0)
An Unofficial Station Stop At End of Teco Line (0)
Tampa Rail Community Soon to Tower With Power (0)
Tampa Rail Experiencing Ups and Downs (0)
Railroaded! Trib Extropolates on 434-Day Old Blog Posting at TR (0)
The Cities of TBARTA (0)
Transit Blog Aggregation - For the Refined Transit Advocate (0)
TBO Poll Asks What You'd Like in Mass Transit (0)
Mass Transit Critical to City's Very Viability (0)
TBARTA Meets for the First Time (0)
Forbes Blows the Cover Off What it Costs to Save a Half Penny (0)
BRT Vehicle Takes Stage Downtown - And Here Are Some Pics (0)
TIA's Light Rail Station Progress (0)
Mark Aesch Fails to Deliver Hillsborough Light Rail (0)
It's Officially About Mass Transit for Tampa (0)
Will Mark Aesch Bring Tampa Light Rail? (0)
Official Hart Release on New BRT System (0)
Taking Note 4 (0)
Make Way for Hillsborough Light Rail (0)
Funding Current Mass Transit Level is not Championing Mass Transit Advance (0)
My One Pic of the Tampa International Airport Monorail (0)
Two Whispy Twirls In the Same Transit Steam Bath (0)
Online Tool Gets A Lot of Buzz Today, But Here's to Applying Said Tool Locally (0)
Pedalling Toward Car-Free Empowerement (0)
Regional Rail Finally Gets a Back Bone (0)
National Eyes On Tampa Mass Transit (0)
40 Million For BRT: Will New Transit Friendly Hillsborough County Commission Be On Board? (0)
High Speed Rail Is Regional Solution (0)
TBARTA Is Born and How the Tampa Rail Website Helped! (0)
New Web Link Added to Regional Rail Category (0)
Streetcars Are Indeed A Magnet: The Wall Street Journal (0)
Dump the Pump Thursday, But Then Dump It For Good (0)
Gotta Fund Mass Transit People, It's That Simple (0)
Taking Note 3 (0)
Another Google Transit Enhancement for Hart (0)
Mass Transit Funding Is Issue Of The Day (0)
GPS Tells You Where The Buses Are (0)
Fathers Ride Streetcar For Free (0)
Veto Zaps Transit Money (0)
What Has The Streetcar Done For Tampa? Ask The Streetcar. (0)
How Franklin Street Will Look After Streetcar Extension: Computer Generated Mock-Ups (0)
Approved Research Project Could Herald Rolling Modern Streetcars In Tampa (1)
New Address: Florida Coalition of Rail Passengers (0)
Taking Note 2 (0)
Regional Transportation Authority is Imminent (0)
HART Director Ray Miller Dies (0)
Transit Authority Clears Senate Hurdle; Hurdles Toward House Vote (0)
Video Clip: Streetcar Pulls Into Southern Transportation Plaza (0)
Tampa's Secret Pedestrian Walk Project (0)
City Council Approves Streetcar Extension (0)
Invigorated Pro Rail Voices Making Local Strides (0)
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Killing Me Softly With Your Wrong (0)
Mass Transit Is Pam Transit (0)
Embassy Suites Has A View After All (0)
House And Senate Panels OK Transit Bill (0)
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Tampa's Mandate For Light Rail: Pam! (0)
Rail Sails! (0)
What Does New York City's First Subway And Tampa's Light Rail Have In Common? Its Designers. (0)
Oh, There's Another Bout Of Local Elections (0)
Just In Time For Your Morning Coffee (0)
Un-Completed Streetcar System May Be Factor In First Ever Ridership Decline (-1)
Great Transit Efforts Started With Community Investment (0)
Links To Channel 8 Light Rail Stories (0)
Another In-Depth Rail Article (0)
Candidates Answer Trib's Light Rail Question (0)
Five Whiting Street Options (0)
Super Transportation In Miami For Super Bowl (0)
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10 Years Of Tampa Rail, What's This All Been About? (0)
Mass Transit Wears Many Caps. Well, At Least One Maybe (0)
The Ybor Stogie No Fogie On Transit (0)
Light Rail Potent Issue In Mayoral Race (0)
Hillsborough Transit Study Poised To Launch (1)
Building A New City Around Jet-Setting Suits? (0)
Training TR Readers For Love (0)
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A Streetcar Runs Through It (0)
Saving On Mass Transit Tax Is Expensive For You And Your Family (0)
The New York City-Fication Of Tampa, Transportation Choice Is Critical (-1)
You Tube Videos Shed Light On Hillsborough Light Rail Experience (-1)
Mass Transit Is The Reason Pam Runs (0)
Streetcar Extension Will Seek Public Input (0)
Yet More Tax Support For Hillsborough Transit (0)
Media Roundup, And Tampa Rail's New Jackass (0)
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Summing Up New Board's Rail Attitude, Trib Style (0)
Manatee Mulling Light Rail - Or Is It? (0)
Embassy Suites Downtown Opens At Tip Of Tecoline Streetcar Line (0)
Citizen's Advisory Committee Efforts Appear to Pay Off (0)
Rail in Pinellas Park (0)
Hart's New Website (0)
New Hillsborough County Commissioners Open to Mass Transit and Rail (0)
Rail Meeting # 1: Strategy (0)
The Wheels On The Bus Go Round and Round - Rapidly (0)
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It's the Mass Transit, Stupid (0)
Portland Light Rail Started as Highway Balk (0)
Transportation Top Topic (0)
If There's Anything Local Candidates Know This Year, It's To Support Rail! (0)
Streetcar Fest is Most Successful Ever! (0)
Getting the Ball Rolling - Let's Merge Bus Networks (0)
No Time For Wishy-Washiness in Rail Movement (0)
Annual Streetcar Fest This Saturday (0)
Comprehensive History on the Rail Debate in Tampa (0)
Have a Hart, Stop Calling it Hartline (0)
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The Chosen RNC Site Has Something Tampa Doesn't (1)
Miracle Tool Puts Tampa Transit Ahead (0)
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Letters Seem to Agree, New Look at Rail is Good Idea (0)
Do Sidewalks and More Roads Mean Better Rail? (0)
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Tampa Rail Reaches 100 Comments. But Where Else Can You Spout? (0)
Bringing Rail Back to the Front (0)
It's Official, We're a Rail Attic: For Now (0)
New Urban Rail Movement in Hillsborough is Fire Hydrant of Material (0)
Pam Iorio: Blow Dust Off Hillsborough Rail Plans (2)
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Attitudes Have Sure Changed (0)
New Candidate Poll: Marylyn Mulhern (0)
Last Mile Foils Intercity Rail Transit Again (0)
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Temple Terrace Citizen Connects Decline in Community to Existence of Hartline (0)
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Candidate Forum Re-Aired This Afternoon at 4:30 (0)
Beltway Versus the RIGHT Way Discussed on TV (0)
Troxler: It's a Godzilla of a Road Plan (0)
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Candidate's Forum on Mass Transit (0)
And Now an Extremely Rare Word From Our Sponsor (0)
Carl Zimmerman Wants to Hear From You About Mass Transit (1)
Streetcars In Tampa, It's About Time (0)
Streetcar Expansion Has Study Money (0)
Tampa Leaders Balk at 2nd Rate Status to Orlando (0)
Light Rail Consultants to Begin Work in Tampa (0)
Orlando Commences Commuter Rail; Tampa Commences...Roads! (0)
Transportation Choice: Which New Road Do You Want? (0)
Tampa Rail in the Tampa Bay Sun (0)
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Conservatives Driven to Mass Transit Investment (0)
Teco Line Streetcar Shines for the Shriner Imperial Session (0)
Things Are Rosey for Hartline Buses, and Getting Rosier (0)
Responses to Questions Regarding Regional Rail Are Positive (0)
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Bay News 9 Asking If We'd Use Mass Transit System (0)
The Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Board That Wasn't (0)
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If We had a Decent Light Rail System (0)
Okay, So Where in Florida CAN You Get To by Rail From Tampa? (0)
Kudos on Union Station Anniversary (0)
See the Teco Line Streetcar Whiting Street Extension for Yourself (0)
Trib Columnist: Mile for Mile, Light Rail Would Have Gone Further in Future (0)
Regional Transit Authority is a Step Closer (0)
Tampa's First Light Rail Station May Open October 1, 2015 (0)
Pre-1947 Tampa Streetcar System Map and Brochure (0)
Believe it or Not, Pedestrians Can Now Stop Traffic (0)
Brian Blair's Study Complete (0)
Tampa Monorail Project Springs to Life. Surprise! (0)
Hooper Harps About Transit Woes and Frustration (0)
Continuing to Address the Need for Mass Transit (0)
CSX Has Tampa Urban Rail's Prized Right of Way (0)
Florida Avenue as Tampa's Mass Transit Future (0)
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Pinellas Monorail Falls to BRT (0)
Streetcar is Whiting for Expansion (0)
Downtown Parking Needs Resolution; Costing Tampa (0)
More Defense for Tampa Streetcar (0)
Fixed Guideway is Affixed to Map (0)
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Heavily Criticized Systems Bloom (0)
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Tuesday 6/15/10 (44 days ago)

Light Rail in Hillsborough County -- It is Prophesized

Posted by tdave365 under Site News at 4:17:18 AM
Score: 0 | Comments (0) | Make Comment | Demote (0) | Promote (0) | Focused: 231 | Permalink | Digg It | Read the Nut

That's right everyone, I've been away from the TR a bit thanks to another important project of mine.  I'm still watching things from afar, though.  Meanwhile, I'd say all the major pro-rail outlets have everything covered.

As for my project, anyone who knows me knows that I develop little "prototype" web applications for the sheer fun and creationism of it.  The one that has been keeping me extra busy this past month has been Headline Prophet. 

www.headlineprophet.com

Headline Prophet Screenshot

Headline Prophet, Great for the Planet -- bad for Tampa Rail, sorry -- I still love you! :)

It's a web site where you can discuss news before it happens.  For instance, news like groundbreaking for Hillsborough County light rail!

Drop by the site and play the game.  The hard part is over and I'll be back here pretty soon!

Rail Back (0)   


Hart Logo Looking for official Hillsborough/Tampa mass transit information?
Visit Hart. For official streetcar information visit the Teco Line Streetcar site.
TBARTA Logo For the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority, visit TBARTA.
 
 

Sunday 5/23/10 (67 days ago)

The Official Website for Transit Investement Campaign

Posted by tdave365 under Tampa Rail Project Funding at 10:12:33 PM
Score: 0 | Comments (6) | Make Comment | Demote (0) | Promote (0) | Focused: 400 | Permalink | Digg It | Read the Nut

Now that Tampa and Hillsborough County are poised to bring the question of improved, modern, transit to county residents, you should know that the official campaign website appears to be at Moving Hillsborough Forward. They also operate a Facebook fan page right here.

Motorman Henry called my attention to Creative Loafing piece The Bumpy Ride to Light Rail in Tampa, which is a ride not quite over but I'm now guessing will be, in large part, come next November.  It's the most pronounced press on light rail since the referendum's inclusion on the ballot passed.  Another interesting article is St. Pete Times's Hillsborough County Rail Tax Faces Tougher Road than Funding for Buccaneers Stadium, which disturbingly notes that even rail's biggest cheerleaders (which might well be this site, right?) are worried the tax won't pass. Personally, maybe I was worried in pre-hearing thinking, but after reports of so many transit advocates showing up and outnumbering and outlasting transit foes, I've grown more confident. 

Plus, as is noted in the Trib's The Many Faces of Transit Backers, the winning side simply has more intelligence and muster behind it in terms of relevance.   The cranks who stood up at the public hearing meeting and enjoyed such a sneering overtone to their position statements revealed the "kind" of people who typically oppose progress.  Sneering, selfish, self-righteous, and even somewhat intellectual in that creepy kind of "don't jitter their worldview even a little lest they pull out a gun and start shooting wildly" kind of air.

Chris Cooper in American Beauty

Col. Frank Fitts, USMC
(Chris Cooper in American Beauty) - A Composite of the Anti-Transit Personality in HIllsborough County

In fact, you must remember this about the transit and rail issue in Hillsborough County to fully understand just how likely it is for this vote to pass after all.  Bottom line, the movement is supported by the Tampa business community, the folks who stand to lose the most in terms of prosperity and job enrichment to the community at large if it doesn't; something business-smart local Republicans understand just as well.  Anti-transit-anti-tax folks usually rant against government's decisions in these matters, but in this debate they have little to shoot at.  The light rail question in Hillsborough is not a government-driven affair.  It's one being pushed, and mightily so, by the smart financial types with business plans that anti-government people swear government should smartly regard themselves.  These are the people who stand to lose or gain real dollars in decisions made by local politics, not people like some who spoke during the hearing, who only know the limits of their selfish economics.

Rail Back (6)   


Friday 5/14/10 (76 days ago)

The Vote is On!

Posted by tdave365 under Tampa Rail Project Breaking News HART at 8:52:51 AM
Score: 0 | Comments (2) | Make Comment | Demote (0) | Promote (0) | Focused: 340 | Permalink | Digg It | Read the Nut

It's on folks!  Your day is here!  An opportunity to bring better mass transit to Hillsborough County, including light rail.

Light Rail is Tampa's eventuality.  Next November makes for the very real possibility that it will happen sooner rather than later.

Obviously, more to say on all this coming up! ;)

Rail Back (2)   


Thursday 4/29/10 (91 days ago)

I Doubt It's Really This Complicated But....

Posted by tdave365 under Tampa Rail Project Florida High Speed Rail Initiatives at 12:19:15 PM
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I really don't know what to make of this story running in the St. Petersburg Times.  Personally, I don't think as many people are as confused about the high speed rail project and the proposed light rail project as the story's very existence seems to validate.  This supposed confusion can't possibly be generating new opponents among those who might ever be inclined to embrace light rail.  If they're confused, as far as I'm concerned, they were never for a rail project to begin with and are simply looking to add to their own fire of resistance with malicious obfuscation.

In the off chance there's some legitimacy to the point, let me explain in a nutshell that the high speed rail project which we associate with Obama's blessing, is a Florida-wide one that happens to involve Tampa as the system's starting point.  It involves a high speed rail connection between Tampa, Orlando, and, eventually many other parts of Florida.  This is the system that is going to happen no matter what happens with any tax referendum in Hillsborough County, in November.  It's a done deal.

The light rail system, by contrast, is a system that will run in and connect points within Hillsborough County, similar to subway systems in larger cities, or, light rail systems up and running in places like Dallas, Charlotte, and Phoenix.  The actual route is not yet decided but will be a starter line that either connects USF to downtown, or, downtown to Westshore and the neighborhood of the Tampa International airport.   Ultimately, it will be a system of both the USF and Westshore lines, and then some.  If you want to see the routes under consideration, you can visit HART's web page devoted to the topic and download the 2 PDF files you'll see linked there.

Incidentally, contradicting a point I may have made earlier, it now does seem, by looking at those two PDF maps, that an effort is being made to make sure that either light rail line does in fact wind up connecting to the High Speed Rail terminal in the first build.   In that case, this is a matter of 2 separate projects, one funded and ready to go (the high speed rail), and one as of yet to be (the pending voter-approval and Federal funding), coming together to form a seamless rail connection network.

Rail Back (3)   


Tuesday 4/27/10 (93 days ago)

Bay News 9 On The Streetcar Extension

Posted by tdave365 under Video Teco Line Infrastructure at 12:04:55 PM
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I've gotten some private e-mails last week steering me towards a Bay News 9 piece on the streetcar Whiting Street extension project. 

Image of production boiler plate at BN9 website of story on streetcar extension project.

See the video at Bay News 9. Click here.

It's an exciting story all right and I wish I could be there to take some real ground footage of the work in action.  If anyone actually does take pictures and posts them, be sure to let me know the link.  They can also mention it on the Tampa Rail Facebook Group page.

The BN9 piece does show off some great footage of the work, and, I notice, gives encouraging press to the future of the system.  It's rare that an MSM story goes out of its way to point out that the plan for the streetcar isn't to run between Ybor and Channelside, which proves to be fodder for those who oppose the project, but rather, to loop the entire downtown area.  This plan will not likely be realized for many years, but it's still the system's manifest destiny.

Rail Back (3)   


Wednesday 4/21/10 (99 days ago)

Transit Vote Reaching Apex of Certainty

Posted by tdave365 under Tampa Rail Project Funding Mass Transit Politics at 8:36:27 PM
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It looks like a date has been set to put the vote for transportation choice into play.  As per Bay Buzz, the big day will be May 13 at the All Peoples Life Center located someplace in East Tampa.  The Hillsborough BOCC will vote to put the referendum on the ballot following a public debate in which no doubt those favoring a thriving local economy and transportation choice, will square off against those favoring limited mobility and expensive gas fillups for the privileged minority who can comfortably afford them.

Satirical Soviet Union Flag With Al and Jim Pasted In

Soviet National AnthemJim Norman, Al Higginbotham: Let Mother Government Decide Transit, Not Democracy

Actually, Bay Buzz says that the debate will be against the intelligent and ideologically conservative Marke Sharpe, and Al Higginbotham, the latter who has taken the position that only government should decide whether or not a better mass transit agenda should move forward; not voters.  Higginbotham and cohort Jim Norman have emerged as the sole proponents for keeping the refererendum out the democracy pipeline while concurrently failing to explain how either of them would proceed with mass transit expansion or the execution of light rail. 

Assuming Higginbotham fails to persuade all BOCC members that never is the time to do anything, and the vote goes through, it will, finally, be time for the transit investment campaign to kick in.   

The burning question has to be, what are the odds it will be successful?  It's true light rail is coming to Hillsborough County, but can it really take the major step needed to be on track as early as next November?   Will the vote for rail really pass in just one election as most of us hope for sake of expediency, or, will it take more than one, as some of us might have expected? 

Right now, gas prices are likely headed back up once again over the summer.  This is sure to inflame memories of $4/gallon two years ago and remind of the importance of an infrastructure that provides a means and ways to keep us moving when things get tight at the pump.  Certain that risk is too great, folks might prefer a private body to roll into Tampa and build Hillsborough a mass transit network, but, that will never happen.  Logically, this must instead be a private interest/government-engaged approach to something everyone agrees must be addressed.

Then again, national politics including a the furor over health care, not to mention the pressures wrought by tight state and local government budgets, might cause some people to capriciously blend the matter of quality of life value-building in with the rant of tea bag dialogue.  The argument against big government and "taxes" is of course weak and selective, but due to these factors, today its volume is amplified.

It's a crapshoot, but, one that will be expertly managed by the Tampa business community, intelligent progressives and conservatives, and this here website.  As much as possible given my position.

Rail Back (1)   




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The anti-transportation choice lot in Hillsborough County has long dominated these high profile convsersations in any story covering the advance of rail, and indeed, any pro urban living vision story for Hillsborough County that happens to run. The Tampa Rail Comment Brigade consists of TR readers like you willing to show up and punch back. Retort, refute, bury, and make clear to the majority casual readers: Support for rail in Hillsborough County is the dominant reality.