Moving Hillsborough Forward is a grassroots coalition of Hillsborough County residents, neighborhoods, businesses, civic groups and community leaders determined to build a modern transportation system -- that will move us from last in commuting to one of America’s best.
Pat McCrory Visits Tampa to Advise on Hillsborough Transit Campaign
Pat McCrory, former Mayor of Charlotte, NC, who successfully led Charlotte's successful development of a light rail and multimodal transit system, was in Tampa recently to advise the Moving Hillsborough Forward campaign and business leaders on how to achieve success with the Nov. 2010 referendum.
On Thursday, May 13, 2010, the Hillsborough Board of County Commissioners voted 5-2 to put the transportation referendum on the November ballot.
Over 160 people from all backgrounds came out to the final public hearing to share their thoughts with the BOCC on the 1% sales tax and the proposed transportation projects. After a brief introduction by Ken Hagen and an overview of the proposal by David Armijo, the floor was opened for public input. The Tampa Tribune published an editorial this morning summarizing many of the most common debates made by either side in the three-hour hearing. You can check out their article here.
Pinellas County Transit Summit
Pinellas County held its own transit summit on March 22, 2010 to bring together business and community leaders to learn more about transit and how to take advantage of the employment and other opportunities it could bring to the area as well as ways to get involved. View a video of the Summit here, view Summit materials here and go to www.PinellasTransitWorks.com to sign up for updates.
Super Regional Rail Summit
Business, civic, government, environmental and labor leaders gathered in Lakeland on March 24, 2010 to talk about the Super Region with a special emphasis on high speed rail connecting Tampa Bay and Orlando. Several hundred participants from across the Central Florida Region also heard updates on regional rail and transportation efforts at each end of the high speed rail corridor. The gathering was convened by Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields, Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, and was hosted by the Tampa Bay Partnership, Central Florida Partnership and ConnectUs.
All Aboard! Florida Awarded $1.25 Billion in High Speed Rail Funds; Tampa Bay and Central Florida Work to Build Super Region
With the historic announcement of $1.25 billion awarded to Florida to construct one of the nation's first true High Speed Rail systems, it is now incumbent upon leaders across our state to leverage this investment into a transformational investment in our economy.
The next critical step is to focus efforts to build local connections that will turn the high speed rail win into a true "game changer" for Tampa Bay. We must ensure passage of the Hillsborough County Transportation Referendum in 2010 as the first segment of a regional transit system. Other counties and communities are working on transit efforts to interlink with this system.
December 16, 2009 marked a historic moment in Florida with Governor Crist signing into law the Florida Passenger Rail legislation.
This legislation put us in contention to secure $1.25 billion in federal funding to build the nation's first true high speed rail line but also strengthened our ability to successfully complete our regional projects.
This legislation signifies that the State will be a strong partner in our regional rail efforts and will have a process to offer funding and support as we move forward. See more photos from the bill signing event in Tampa here.
Regional Transportation Improvement Getting our region out of traffic...
Transportation is critical to the economic development of a region. Efficient transportation infrastructure, including well-planned road systems and mass transit, are needed to more goods, services and the workforce. Poor transportation systems can be a risk factor that deters business expansion and relocations, as well as the attraction of a high quality workforce.
The Tampa Bay Partnership is dedicated to solving our region’s transportation needs and has developed the following guiding principles to guide our efforts:
All solutions must be regional.
Stakeholders from throughout the region must be engaged in the process.
Multi-modal opportunities must be considered.
We must integrate land use and transportation.
We must work as a region to prioritize.
If you would like more information about our efforts to create a regional transportation system, please email Katie Franco at
Pat McCrory, former Mayor of Charlotte, NC, who successfully led Charlotte's successful development of a light rail and multimodal transit system, was in Tampa recently to advise the Moving Hillsborough Forward campaign and business leaders on how to achieve success with the Nov. 2010 referendum.
