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Light Rail, Buses Among Transit Options

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By Carl  Orth | The Suncoast News

Published: February 12, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. - When Commissioner Ann Hildebrand lived in Detroit, she would wave goodbye to her husband each morning as he drove to the depot to catch a train to commute to work.

And that was when gasoline cost 50 cents a gallon, Hildebrand said with a chuckle.

Today, with gasoline hovering around $3 a gallon, more public transportation might make a lot of sense for Pasco County and the region.

Hildebrand represents the county on the board of Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority – TBARTA for short – looking at options such as light rail and more buses for a seven-county region.

Today, Pasco County Commission members are getting a TBARTA briefing from Bob Clifford, district planning manager for the District 7 office of the Florida Department of Transportation.

Next week, Rich Balkcom, of Balkcom Associates, a Trinity-based financial services firm, will attend the first meeting of a TBARTA citizens advisory committee as Hildebrand's appointee.

On March 18, the public can look over TBARTA's preliminary plans for themselves at a workshop from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey.

For more information go online to the TBARTA Web site or call 813-217-4048.

A TBARTA map shows primarily "enhanced transit" using buses along the U.S. 19 corridor in West Pasco.

The organization is supposed to finish its master plan by July 2009 before anything can be built.

Likely a light-rail commuter train service probably would start in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, according to Hildebrand. Hildebrand, however, can visualize a rail route eventually going up U.S. 19.

"This was all pre-Jan. 29," Hildebrand cautioned, referring to the property tax amendment passed by Florida voters last month. It could cut government revenues.

TBARTA, however, has been empowered to raise money in various ways, including bond issues or tolls. Federal grants are available.

For commuter trains, Hildebrand and other TBARTA leaders are looking closely at the Regional Transit District, in the Denver metropolitan area.

TheRide, as the Denver RTD system is known, is a mix of light rail and buses.

Naming Balkcomb to TBARTA citizens advisory group "was an easy decision," Hildebrand said. "His real hot button has been rail."

Balkcomb served on a similar advisory group for the Pasco County Metropolitan Planning Organization, the county's main transportation planning agency.

As a leader in the Trinity Rotary Club, Balkcomb has been promoting transportation needs for the past 10 years. Congestion will only get worse, especially in booming areas such as Trinity, he said, since many Pasco residents still commute to jobs in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

"Light rail is on the table," Balkcom said about some of the options the advisory group will discuss. Express buses and separate lanes for buses might be alternatives.

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