Without Mass
Transit, Tampa Bay Businesses, Economy May Face Slow Death
A recent article in
the St. Petersburg Times outlines how loss of public transit
funding could spell economic disaster for Tampa and other areas.
Florida might become the new "rust belt" without better public
transit to move workforce and facilitate commerce.
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FORWARD
THIS TO FRIENDS AND INVITE THEM TO SUBSCRIBE.
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Gainesville
Ridership Record
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On Wednesday,
August 25, RTS
shattered its single day ridership record with nearly 60,000
passengers. Without public transit, up to 60,000 more cars a day
would be clogging Gainesville's streets, polluting the air, and
burning imported oil.
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Annual Conference
Oct 16-18 in Miami
Save the date! Once a year
Florida's transit agencies come together to plan, network, and
brainstorm.
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Ballot
Initiatives
Hillborough
Moving
Hillsborough Forward is a coalition determined to build a modern
multi-modal transportation system that will create tens of
thousands of jobs, attract billions of dollars in investment, and
provide mobility options.
Click Here for more
information.
Polk
People
for Polk's Future is a coalition committed to improving public
transportation across Polk
County.Their
main mission is to reach out to voters and educate them on the
benefits of public transportation so that citizens will be in a
position to make a more informed decision at the polls in
November.
Click Here for more
information.
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We would like to hear from you! Feel
free to
drop by our page and
say hello or leave a comment.
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VOTE
TRANSIT
An important
election is coming up in November. Our Governor, a
U.S. Senate seat, all of Florida's 27 U.S. House Seats, most of our
state Legislature, and a plethora of local positions are being put
to the voters. Citizens in Hillsborough and Polk Counties will be
asked to vote on ballot initiatives (see stories at the bottom left
of this page).
Florida transit is
at a crossroads. It's up to voters like us to determine whether
Florida is at a Renaissance or whether transit will slide backwards
with budget cuts. Never before have so many Floridians, on both
sides of the aisle, come to realize the need for strong,
functioning transit systems in our urban areas. As someone who
represents the interests of public transit in our Legislature every
year, I can vouch that your voice will be heard in the halls of
Tallahassee. I urge each of you to make sure that your positions on
transit are made clear at the ballot box. I also invite you to urge
your friends to subscribe to this newsletter, the larger our base,
the more we will be heard.
Wes
Watson, Executive
Director,
Florida
Public Transportation Association
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Notable
"Tell Your Story" Entries
The
Florida Public Transportation Association recently held one of the
most successful TELL YOUR STORY contests in the nation. Here are
just a few stories that you can enjoy by visiting our web site.To
see more compelling stories, please click here,
or on any of the headlines below for the full story.
 Romance on the
Bus
We
received dozens of stories of people falling in love or
establishing lifelong friendships on the bus or train. Here, a
rider snaps a quick picture showing her and her boyfriend enjoying
a ride, with some fresh flowers her boyfriend just surprised her
with at the bus stop.
 Short, Creative, Video About
Transit
Check this out, its short and sweet. A thought provoking
animated piece illustrating the contrast between a grungy world
filled with crowdedstreets
of polluting cars, and a green world of public
transit.
 Mother and Son Have Adventures
Together Using Public Transportation
Tyler
and his mother are thankful for Tri-Rail, which
enables
them to have multiple adventures around town. Whether it's to the
aquarium, or a museum, they find it easy to use transit to reach
their destinations. Along the way, they found they had a lot of fun
taking public transportation.
 Vicki Writes a Poem About a
Touching Experience on the Bus
Vicki often takes the bus to go shopping, and while doing so
has interesting conversations with fellow passengers. She shares an
inspiring poem about one particular conversation with a young man
she met on the bus. Even though
they were years apart in age, she felt as though she had a
connection with him.
 Young Man Uses Transit to Get
Around After Losing Father
Acompelling
story of a young man who
lost his father and faced the challenges of coping with such a
loss. One of many hurdles was finding a way to get around without
his father, whom he had depended on for rides. With
the
help of public transportation, he has been able to move on
independently with his own life.
 Mark
Organized a Pub Crawl Using Transit
Mark is a long-time advocate of public transportation, in fact he
recently organized an event promoting the use of public
transportation
as an alternative to reckless drunk driving. He shares a couple of
photos from the event, as well as his story.
 Scenes of the
Commute
George
owns a Honda Accord, but instead uses public transit to get around.
He uses the extra time to get things done. He took a series of
photos illustrating the times he enjoys during his daily transit
rides.
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The Four
Major Benefits of Transit to Florida
 There
are four major benefits
of public transportation to Florida: Environmental, Economic,
Energy Independence, and Quality of Life (a healthy alternative to
fighting traffic congestion).
In coming editions of the Florida Transit Advocate, we will
exploring each of these and describing ways that Florida can
benefit by bringing its public transportation system into the 21st
century. In the meantime, here are some teasers:
Did you know that....
- The total amount of oil spilled
in the Gulf was about 200 million gallons. Public transportation
saves more than twenty times that, about 4.2 billion gallons each
year.
- That's 4.2 billion gallons that
the US does not have to import from Venezuela or
Arabia.
- In a recent Gallup poll, 33% of
drivers with long commutes report neck and back
pain/problems.
- Per dollar invested, public
transit creates more jobs and economic activity than money spent on
health, education, or roads and bridges.
Check
out FloridaTransit.org
for more facts.
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