Pinellas: Not always easy being a rail advocate(still worth it :) )

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

beautifulplanet

Lead Service Attendant
Joined
Jan 29, 2014
Messages
337
Just 7 days until November 4, 2014 - which in many different ways might leave a lot of people excited about and impatiently waiting for that night's results regarding so many different matters.
Some rail advocates in Pinellas county, in Florida, might not only hope for their desired outcome, but also be relieved the months that lead up to the day of their referendum are over. These are supporters of a transit initiative called "Greenlight Pinellas", proposing to create a new funding mechanism to vastly improve the county's bus service as well as start building a light rail line connecting St. Petersburg, Clearwater and other communities within the county.

[Continues below "Greenlight Pinellas" concept map. :) ]

new-revenue-scenario-draft-08122013.png


The local transit authority PSTA proposed a concept, and groups like Friends of Greenlight support it, while groups like "No Tax for Tracks" oppose it. Of course many people might think it's just to oppose or support any policy, especially in the months and weeks leading up to a public decision on a matter. To some it might seem in this case, the opposition went beyond just proclaiming "we oppose that policy" and left rail and bus supporters wondering how to deal with all that, as Daniel Ruth of the Tampa Bay Times explained in his column:

Ruth: As Greenlight vote nears, opponents accelerate the lunacy
Thursday, October 9, 2014 11:18am
Daniel Ruth, Times Columnist
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/ruth-as-greenlight-vote-nears-opponents-accelerate-the-lunacy/2201409

Especially incredible to some may be the last part mentioned in the column, and there is a separate article about how opponents state they can demonstrate how light-rail is a failure by showing a picture of an empty "light-rail park-and-ride lot", while actually it was the parking lot of a local arena:

Greenlight Pinellas opponents argue Denver light rail is a failure
October 23, 2014
By Joshua Gillin
http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2014/oct/23/no-tax-tracks/greenlight-pinellas-opponents-argue-denver-light-r/

Many might be curious to find out in a week, what the voters decided, if St. Petersburg, Clearwater and many other cities on the peninsula will see improved bus service and a light-rail system (to possibly eventually connect to Tampa) or not. Even if it is not their desired outcome, some might be relieved that some preculiar aspects of the election season are a thing of the past, while probably thinking it was still worth it, and continuing to be a rail advocate in the future. :)

Pinellas county's decision might also have implications on neighboring Hillsborough county's efforts to put a transit referendum including rail on the ballot in 2016 - in case Pinellas county moves ahead one can build on that success and try to coordinate efforts regionally, in case Pinellas county opposed better public transportation funding the Tampa Bay area will know that at least for now in will be on its own trying to create an attractive public transportation system.

To learn more about ideas for possible future public transportation in the Tampa Bay area there is also the advocacy group Connect Tampa Bay offering its suggestions for how to proceed. On the advocacy group's Facebook page (that already attracted more than 1,000 "likes"), there are also frequent postings with updated information and links to recent media coverage.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I get infuriated every time I see the no tax for tracks signs in our neighborhood. There is no effective public transit here. Although there will be 4 votes yes from our family, I am not optimistic about the chances of Greenlight Pinellas. :(
 
Thank you so much for this post!

I get infuriated every time I see the no tax for tracks signs in our neighborhood. There is no effective public transit here. Although there will be 4 votes yes from our family, I am not optimistic about the chances of Greenlight Pinellas. :(
Many might think, that sounds really great, that there are already 4 yes votes from just one single family. :) To some, it will be encouraging to hear, that there are people who notice that there is not effective public transit yet (and want it to improve). Is there anything you did outside of the realm of family? Were you able to talk to friends or co-workers about Greenlight Pinellas? Or did you join any pro-Greenlight group? :)

My personal impression is in general, that a lot of people also don't seem to know that there's anything happening on November 4, and there are others who don't care to participate in any political process, and often my impression is, understandably so. One example would be a single mom, she's working a lot, also "funky hours" (sometimes starting very early, sometimes getting out very late) and studying after work and on the weekends, in order to get ahead in the future, so really has a full plate right now, and obviously everything else doesn't really matter. Or someone who has a family member being very sick, possibly passing away soon, so currently they don't really care about anything else. People who are already registered and also voted in past presidential elections, but won't vote next week.

Oh, by the way, did you happen to already like Greenlight Pinellas on Facebook? More than 7,000 already did. Also about 2 weeks ago, there was the endorsement of John Wilson of FOX13. Some people might think, when even the local FOX station supports this bus and rail proposal, then there still could be a chance. ;) The endorsement video is still available here: http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/clip/10716273/my-view-vote-for-penny-for-pinellas
 
I get infuriated every time I see the no tax for tracks signs in our neighborhood. There is no effective public transit here. Although there will be 4 votes yes from our family, I am not optimistic about the chances of Greenlight Pinellas. :(
I feel the same!

It's unfortunate & disappointing to see opposition to this issue!

I just got back from Portland Oregon , had a great time there! MAX LINE was great!
 
Austins Newbys and Anti-Everything crowd ( aka T-Party) have spent a fortune running a Vote No on the Light Rail Prop 1 here! Even though I'm not a fan of the plan being proposed half a loaf is better than none so I voted Yes!

Last time it took 20 years to get the Red Line built and running when Voters kept voting No to Light Rail due to similar Big Lie and Disinformation campaigns!
 
There was an interesting article in a recent issue of the Economist (which unfortunately I can no longer find) which looks into the history of rail transit construction in the US. One of the remarkable patterns they found is that voting down a rail transit proposal in US is quite a futile act of desperation, because given time it does get built in most cases anyway! And trust me, the Economist is no raving pro-rail rag either. It is actually very reputable and considering that I agree with about half of what they says and the other half drives me up the wall, it is likely that they are relatively well balanced too, at least within some reason.
 
Thank you for posting this.

In order to not get off-topic here in this thread about improving transit in beautiful Pinellas County, Florida, any response to the "autonomous vehicle" as a transit replacement should probably go into a seperate new thread. :)

Some might think, just like mentioned above in the first post like mentioned in the column of Daniel Ruth: "not always easy being a rail advocate" (in Pinellas county), so this might be another very questionable opposition rail advocates had to deal with on their path towards November 4. :)
 
The self-driving car argument is a red herring/canard/your word here. It's not like all of a sudden all of the millions of cars already on the road will be replaced overnight with new self-driving cars, nor will all new cars be self-driving, etc. It's much like the segway, they talked about how it would change urban design when it was introduced yet I haven't seen any difference (or, for that matter, that many individuals using them other than on tours).
 
Somewhat facetiously speaking.... the self driving car thing will be of relevance more to the famous Gated Communities of Florida than to the general transportation scene. Maybe self-driving Golf Carts would be even more important and keep people from crashing into ditches when they are out for their morning constitutionals. :)
 
Somewhat facetiously speaking.... the self driving car thing will be of relevance more to the famous Gated Communities of Florida than to the general transportation scene. Maybe self-driving Golf Carts would be even more important and keep people from crashing into ditches when they are out for their morning constitutionals. :)
Programmed to seek out early bird dinner specials? Heh heh
 
According to the unofficial results from the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections, the Greenlight Pinellas initiative was rejected by voters with 38.13% yes, and 61.87% no (results found as "County Referendum Question", "YES, for the 1% sales surtax" and "NO, against the 1% sales surtax" - some might think that this is an interesting wording):

http://enr.votepinellas.com/FL/Pinellas/54020/147431/en/scrolling.html?rnd=0.9031075154434238

See coverage here:

Greenlight Pinellas trounced at the polls; supporters vow to fight on

November 4, 2014

By Christopher O'Donnell

http://tbo.com/news/politics/greenlight-pinellas-fails-at-ballot-box-20141104/

Analysis here:

Editorial: Lessons from the defeat of Greenlight Pinellas

November 4, 2014

By Tampa Bay Times Editorial Board

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-lessons-from-the-defeat-of-greenlight-pinellas/2205120
 
Back
Top