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 by showing strong community and business support for this effort.  Hillsborough County will be holding a series of Community Outreach Meetings on the transportation referendum.  Show your support by attending one or more of these meetings.  READ MORE.

 

Tampa Bay Partnership and Central Florida Partnership continue their Super Region efforts with the launch of "Connecting for Global Competitiveness - Tampa Bay-Central Florida Super Region." 

 

Additional Links:

Tampa Bay Town Hall Meeting - video and photos

Florida High Speed Rail Fact Sheet

President Obama State of the Union Address

 

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Florida Ushers in New Rail Era

December 16, 2009 marked a historic moment in Florida with Governor Crist signing into law the Florida Passenger Rail legislation. 

We now have a stronger position to not only bring home $2.5 billion in high speed rail funding but have also strengthened our ability to successfully complete our regional projects.  This legislation signifies that the State will be a strong partner in our reigonal 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.

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Governor and Cabinet Approve Resolution
Supporting High Speed Rail

 

On Sept. 15, 2009, full Florida Cabinet voted unanimously to support an official resolution of support for Florida's High Speed Rail application.

-- Read the Resolution --

 

This top-level support is critical to the success of Florida's application.  We are thankful to Governor Crist and the Cabinet members for their recognition of the importance of this issue. The Tampa Bay Partnership is committed to securing federal funding to build the Florida High Speed Rail system and strongly supports the state's efforts.

We believe the Florida application for High Speed Rail funds is extremely competitive and our state is well prepared to deliver one of the first true High Speed Rail projects in America. We believe that High Speed Rail connecting Tampa Bay to Florida’s other economic engines is critical to maintain our global competiveness.

 

READ MORE

 

 

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On Friday, July 17, 2009, the Tampa Bay Partnership Board of Directors approved the following position statement:

 

The Tampa Bay Region has an unprecedented opportunity to move forward our goal for regional prosperity by advancing both the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority’s (TBARTA) Master Plan and bringing High Speed Rail to our region.  While different in many ways, these two projects together will create a seamless transportation system that will move residents and visitors in and out of the region as well as connect our workplaces, beaches, airports and other world class attractions.

 

 

We take the following positions on these two critical efforts:

 

            The Tampa Bay Partnership supports and endorses the TBARTA Master Plan and urges TBARTA and the elected leaders throughout our region to move quickly towards implementation.  The Tampa Bay Partnership will support efforts to implement the TBARTA Master Plan and will support communities and entities that continue to work collaboratively with the region and TBARTA.  We call upon our local county and city elected leaders to take the lead on this key issue and take bold steps now to secure local funding sources that will allow us to build the economy, community and region of the future.

 

            The Tampa Bay Partnership supports and is committed to securing federal funding to build the Florida High Speed Rail system.  We believe the Florida application for High Speed Rail funds is extremely competitive and our state is well prepared to deliver one of the first true High Speed Rail projects in America.  We believe that High Speed Rail
connecting Tampa Bay to Florida’s other economic engines is critical to maintain our global competiveness.

 

 

Read the full position statement here. 
 

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TBARTA Rolls Out
Master Plan
"A Connected Region for Our Future"

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority officially unveiled its proposed Regional Transportation Master Plan, entitled "A Connected Region for Our Future."  The Master Plan Vision document provides a framework for a seamless, linked transportation system using a variety of modes such as highways, rail, and bus - connecting seven counties and 43 cities.

We congratulate the TBARTA Board for their collaborative leadership in looking beyond jurisdictional boundaries and working together to move us to this point.  We also recognize the efforts of the members of the Citizens Advisory Committee and Transit Management Committee who committed numerous hours of their time to learn about their neighbors in the region, understand transportation options and financing and committed themselves to take a lead role in this regional authority.

Thanks also need to go out to the Bay Area Legislative Delegation, especially Rep. Galvano and Sen. Mike Fasano, for their vision in creating and passing the legislation, and to the Florida Dept. of Transportation (FDOT) whose expertise and support was critical in the creation of the Master Plan within a short timeframe.  We also thank the many leaders throughout our region who worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality.

Our Tampa Bay region now has a plan that lays out a future vision for our region as well as identifies immediate opportunities. This vision allows us to imagine how our region will plug into the national vision of high speed rail and the other efforts for transit.  It also identifies the many opportunities we have to grow as a region.

As we pause to celebrate how far we have come as a region, we also need to recognize this day also marks the start of our next phase of work in Tampa Bay. Now that we have a regional vision, we need to focus on implementation. The Tampa Bay Partnership is committed to the execution of this plan and building our transportation future.

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