Florida’s special legislative session finally yielded a comprehensive rail plan. To the surprise of everyone — given the controversial subplots involving SunRail — it wasn’t close. Among those working the corridors of the capitol — cajoling and buttonholing state senators right up to the 27-10 vote — was Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard who is also the vice chairman of TBARTA (Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority).
His Pinellas perspective is one we’re not always privy to amid all the heated Hillsborough rhetoric. Pinellas, Florida’s most densely populated county, he stressed, could ill afford to fall further behind in transportation. Enlightened self interest was Clearwater’s motivation.
“On the high speed rail front, a spur all the way to Pinellas County would be ideal,” he said by phone from Tallahassee. “That would give us Orlando to the beaches. But the fact is, that’s not going to happen. We need regional rail to connect high speed to Pinellas.
“We want to be connected, so our people have alternatives,” explained Hibbard. “To go to work. To go to a game. To not be married to a car. And we can all harken back to $4-a-gallon gas. And frankly that day will come again. But even if we had hydrogen-run cars now, we can’t continue to build lanes.
“It’s no secret that we’re trying to compete with other cities for jobs,” underscored the Clearwater mayor. “We’re forced to compete with cities — Phoenix, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, and the list goes on and on — who already have a leg up. They’ve already made their investment in mass transit.”
Hibbard reflected briefly on what the passage of the controversial rail plan meant and who had helped make it happen.
“We greatly appreciate the contributions of all the members of the Bay Area Legislative Delegation,” he pointed out. “This vote now allows Florida to pursue billions of federal dollars for High Speed Rail funding – dollars that would have gone elsewhere without today’s action.
“But now our hard work really begins,” he stressed. “We must work diligently to turn this comprehensive rail plan into reality.”