This article was published in the Tampa Bay Business Journal on October 14, 2022.
Tampa Bay is a dynamic, fast-growing region, but our transportation infrastructure has not kept pace.
To remain competitive and sustain our burgeoning economic growth, Tampa Bay must address our long-standing transportation infrastructure needs, including better regional connectivity. We are dismayed at the recent ruling by Judge Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe which blocked the All for Transportation referendum from the Hillsborough County ballot this November.
In 2018, Hillsborough voters said yes to All for Transportation and built pathways to funding some of the $13 billion in backlogged transportation projects. By stopping the referendum at this stage, the community is facing significant losses to critically overdue infrastructure needs.
If it had passed, the referendum would have yielded a transformational $340 million in annual revenue. A third of those sales tax revenues would have been paid for by visitors.
Each year the Tampa Bay Partnership releases the Regional Competitiveness Report in conjunction with Community Foundation Tampa Bay and United Way Suncoast. Based on that research, our region ranks last among competitors in public transit ridership. The AFT referendum was slated to drive nearly 45% of annual revenues toward the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority to expand transit options.
The partnership’s 2018 study on accessibility showed that expanding transit options in Hillsborough County will create positive impacts throughout the region, connecting residents to increased job, health care, education and recreation opportunities.
Public transit is especially important for commuters and cost-burdened individuals. Nationally, transportation is the second-highest household expense. Tampa Bay is no exception. On average, nearly half the residents across our 8-county region fall beneath the poverty line or are considered Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE).
Unfortunately, this ruling further delays Hillsborough’s progress toward better, cheaper public transit.
In addition, without AFT funding, safety improvements will face setbacks. Walking, biking, e-scooters and even getting to a bus stop require well-maintained streets, intersections and sidewalks. Tampa Bay residents are more than twice as likely to have a pedestrian or cyclist fatality than the national average, so this is a huge loss for our community.
More than half of the AFT revenue, 54%, would have been spent on road maintenance, safety and infrastructure improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Tampa Bay’s glowing reputation has attracted new residents and businesses, and more than 700,000 people are moving to Hillsborough County alone in the next 30 years. It is time that these strengths are reflected in a dynamic transportation system.
Flexible, affordable and efficient options are necessary for residents and visitors to navigate to their destinations and explore the region. The 1% transportation sales tax in Hillsborough was necessary to help us remain competitive. Regional collaboration and investments are needed to solve our transportation issues.
Bemetra Simmons is president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership.
TAMPA BAY PARTNERSHIP
Bemetra Simmons is president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership, a coalition of nearly 40 regional business and nonprofit leaders working together to improve to improve Tampa Bay residents’ personal and economic well-being.