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PCPT Eyeing Bus Route In Moon Lake Area
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Published: August 27, 2008
NEW PORT RICHEY - Pasco County officials recently unveiled plans to extend bus routes to the Moon Lake area by 2010.
That would be the first step of a 5-year transit plan the county unveiled to curious residents at public hearings.
A cross-county link between west and east Pasco could follow in 2011 if all goes smoothly.
Marygene Byrd of Beacon Woods quizzed county consultant Laura K. Everitt about the addition of a Moon Lake route. Byrd believes she could commute around the area better and leave the car in the garage, since gasoline prices remain above $3.50 a gallon right now.
Buses would travel farther east along S.R. 52 and turn south on Moon Lake Road and then double back along Ridge Road. Hourly pickups are envisioned.
"I'd like to see it now," Commissioner Pat Mulieri commented about the Moon Lake route. About a year ago, county funds for a matching bus grant fell victim to budget cuts, which shut out Moon Lake area residents from bus service.
Actually, the Moon Lake addition at one time had been scheduled for 2008, but the money simply isn't available yet, according to Doug Uden, Pasco's transportation planning coordinator. County leaders are hoping money can be found by 2010.
In 2012, buses could be running as late as 11 p.m., instead of the current schedule ending shortly before 8:30 p.m., Everitt added, who is a senior project manager for Tindale-Oliver & Associates, the Tampa-based firm helping the county on its transit plan.
In 2013, the plan calls for express service along U.S. 19.
Other transit options might come along later.
The seven-county Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority might consider a monorail-type system such as SkyTran, Uden mentioned.
The mag-lev network is detailed online at unimodal.net. The high-speed, non-stop, on-demand service lets riders dial in their destination and then relax as the monorail car whisks them to their destination.
A Holiday resident, Michael Mizok Jr., presented a system in a similar vein during a March county workshop. He envisioned an elevated, enclosed passageway with battery-powered carts, recharged from solar panels on the roof, zipping along medians of roads.
MIT Media Lab is studying a stackable, two-seat electric car that can be checked out like a luggage cart at an airport, Mizok noted. Go online to cities.media.mit.edu, click on the "Mobility" link and then the "CityCar" link.
Carl Orth can be reached at 727-815-1068 or corth@suncoastnews.com.
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