Transit calls for courage

This hurts, but I'll say it anyway. I hope gas prices continue to go up, or at least hold steady at their high rates.

Of course, I definitely don't want little kids to go without dinner because parents spend all their money fueling up the car to get to work.

But if higher gas prices prompt people to think about alternative ways to get around, then I'm all for it. Because let's face it, Tampa folks will have to feel quite a bit of pain before they leave their car at home.

It seems we may be reaching that threshold. HARTline is reporting higher ridership, especially on express routes, and people are talking about rail and other transit options with a new urgency.

Even elected officials are taking notice. At a political forum Tuesday night, nearly every candidate running for County Commission seemed willing to ask voters to raise taxes to pay for transit projects.

"Definitely," said Dorothy "Nicolle" Admire, who's running for District 3.

"Absolutely," said Don Kruse, a District 1 candidate. "If local transit was a horse, we'd have to shoot it."

It's a "joke," said District 3 contender John Craig, stressing that Tampa can never become America's next great city without an efficient transit system.

Those comments come in striking contrast to talk about transit even three years ago. In 2003, commissioners killed a plan to seek voter approval for a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for new roads and buses.

Although commissioners recognized the need, they couldn't agree on how to meet it. Commissioners Jim Norman and Ken Hagan wanted to look at the county's existing budget for the money. Commissioner Kathy Castor wasn't sure how money would be spent to improve bus service.

The proposal died, dashing hopes for transit improvements any time soon.

It wasn't the first time. In 2000, commissioners rejected a $1-billion plan to reduce congestion, as suggested by a huge, diverse panel called the Committee of 99. The plan would have upped the gas tax by 5 cents, raised developer impact fees and put a referendum on the ballot to increase the sales tax.

Again, a majority of commissioners didn't like the idea and feared failure if they asked voters to okay higher taxes.

That could change after this fall's elections. The dozen or so candidates at the forum, sponsored by the Hillsborough Advocates for Improved Transit, seemed more than willing to let the public decide their fate on transit options.

Mary Mulhern, a District 1 candidate, asked the audience for a show of hands. Who would vote for a sales tax increase? Almost everyone. Who thinks gas prices are going down? No one. Who wants the beltway (linking southern Hillsborough, West Pasco and North Pinellas)? Almost no one - with the exception of Commissioner Ronda Storms, who represents east Hillsborough.

Not surprisingly, this crowd of mass transit fans had little love for the proposed beltway. Pierre Mathurin, vice chair of the advocacy group, said it makes no sense to pursue a new project when we can't pay for projects already in the works, such as the Interstate 275 expansion from the Howard Frankland Bridge to Himes Avenue, which recently came in $100-million over budget.

To that, I'd add: Why build a road in the middle of nowhere? Who's it going to benefit? Not existing motorists already struggling to get around Tampa.

If anything, the beltway would boost the need for more transit. Those rural pastures along the route would become sprawling subdivisions packed with people, many of whom would work in the urban centers. They'd be able to get to the boonies just fine. But Tampa or St. Petersburg? Forget it.

Get ready to wave to them while sitting in traffic on Interstates 4 and 275.

Interestingly enough, the current majority of commissioners likes the beltway idea. "Excellent" and "bold" rolled off the tongues of the commissioners as they gave conceptual approval to the idea, which is far from a done deal.

The Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority, which is leading the drive for the project, says private money and tolls would pay for a large portion of the road, estimated in the billions.

So it seems commissioners like transit projects they don't have to pay for and oppose ones that take a tax hike. That's fine and dandy, provided the projects they support don't cost the public even more down the road.

Let's elect commissioners with the guts and vision to really improve Tampa's transit.

THE LAST DROP: Yet another plan for the Tampa Museum of Art has emerged, this one next to the Poe parking garage and planned Children's Museum. Oh, please, let this one stick before everyone loses interest.

Susan Thurston can be reached at thurston@sptimes.com or 226-3394.