Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Bay Times article on HART:
Hillsborough officials seek one voice on changes to speed up bus service
CAITLIN JOHNSTON
Tampa Bay Times
Monday, May 4, 2015 4:31pm
TAMPA — Hillsborough’s transit agency discussed plans Monday to expand the MetroRapid bus program, which provides expedited service in more congested parts of the county.
There’s one problem: Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority board members worry the plan is at odds with the county’s Go Hillsborough initiative, which seeks to build a transportation plan that could be the backbone for a 2016 referendum.
The HART MetroRapid program costs $1.43 million per mile to create and relies on adding traffic signal technology that gives buses priority in mixed traffic.
The bus rapid transit option discussed at Go Hillsborough meetings costs $54 million per mile. The vast difference in cost is associated with adding a dedicated travel lane solely for the buses in addition to using traffic signal priority.
“It’s time to wake up,” said Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandy Murman, who also sits on the policy leadership group overseeing the Go Hillsborough initiative. “We have to start speaking with one voice.”
Though HART is in charge of overseeing transit operations, the county has paid a national consulting firm $900,000 to learn what transportation improvements voters most want. The firm, Parsons Brinckerhoff, will use that feedback to present a draft transportation plan to the policy leadership group in June.
Simultaneously, HART is working on its multiyear financial and operating plan required by the state. Originally, this plan was to be completed next year, but HART CEO Katharine Eagan suggested moving it up to this summer in order to coincide with the county’s efforts.
Board members and county Commissioners Kevin Beckner, Les Miller and Stacy White echoed Murman’s suggestion that HART staff work more closely with Parsons Brinckerhoff.
If county commissioners vote to put a 1-cent sales tax for transportation on the ballot in 2016, it would be the second time officials asked residents to approve a tax in order to fund transit and road improvements.
“We cannot go down this road again where we are throwing out and comparing two different plans,” Beckner said. “That’s part of the reason why things got derailed in 2010, because we had competing plans out there that confused the public.”
The additional MetroRapid routes aren’t a new concept, Eagan said after the meeting. The routes were added in 2011 to HART’s long-term plan, which is included in information residents can peruse at the Go Hillsborough meetings and is available to Parsons Brinckerhoff.
Several board members also noted that none of the six proposed MetroRapid routes would provide service in south county, and the one that runs through Brandon does not link to the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
In other news, board member Josh Burgin, who was appointed by the governor in 2012, announced that June’s meeting would be his last. It is unclear when Gov. Rick Scott will name a replacement, HART spokeswoman Sandra Morrison said.
