That said, my perception of both traditional and direct media coverage surrounding the announcement is that it contains a hidden message as important as Legoland itself. I encourage you to read this post from The Daily Disney blog “A Mom and the Mouse” by Kristin Ford. The column highlights the Lego Imagination Center at Downtown Disney, which is an existing interactive play area and Lego store to which children flock en masse. The author includes an important paragraph acknowledging the new Polk Legoland and its proximity to the Orlando attractions. And she closes the piece by encouraging financial incentives and other “tie-ins” to entice visitors to venture off the Disney property and try something new.

As I read more about the author, I learned that she is a self-proclaimed Disney enthusiast who’s been given a space on that blog by The Orlando Sentinel specifically to discuss activities at Disney. So “don’t look now,” but here’s another example of a neighbor to our East focused on a big deal in Polk, and encouraging regional ties.

What’s more, news from around the world has been regionally refreshing. Read this post by an on-line British news source titled Legoland Florida Coming 2011 to be World’s Biggest. This London-based piece tells readers how near Legoland will be to the other Orlando theme parks, while acknowledging the prominence it will enjoy among Florida’s best attractions. Here is the writer’s closing argument :
“Florida is already home to the biggest Disney park in the world, as well as Universal Orlando, which features two theme parks – Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Now no one will be able to go wrong with a vacation in the Sunshine State.”

The bottom line is that if you’re from London, Stuttgart or Tokyo, a 40-minute hop isn’t far at all to visit another first-class attraction. And you won’t know, nor will you care, that the local folks there are struggling to develop as a world “Super Region.” To you, it already is, which leads me to my point: It’s happening in spite of ourselves. But if we embrace regionalism by cooperating with our neighbors, I submit that it’ll make all the difference in the world.

Just an aside, but as we contemplate all the folks who’ll now be considering a brand new Central Florida theme park, I can’t help but ponder the question: How should we transport them throughout our region?

photo credit: Amodiovalerio Verde

There is an old saying that Americans will always do the right thing, but only after they have tried everything else first.

Unfortunately, it’s hard to make the transition. Latest example: visceral opposition to high-speed rail by those who should be thinking more innovatively. Consider Robert Samuelson’s recent column in the Washington Post– “A Rail Boondoggle, Moving at High Speed.” Samuelson cites the usual statistics–that we are an auto culture, that not enough people ride trains, that the costs are high. So, he concludes, President Obama’s commitment to high-speed passenger rail is a fool’s errand.

But Samuelson’s among those who has been playing this song for over 20 years. Their message has turned into a weird anomaly given what is happening around the rest of the globe.

First, lets look at the true subsidy costs of a mono focus on highway investment. At least $100 billion of state, county, and city general funds are invested every year in highways and highway costs. Those are direct subsidies to the highway system, outside of any “user pay” trust fund. The federal government has started to invest general funds into highways, in part because no one wants to actually have to pay for the costs of highways with an increase in user fees.

Second, there are over 2 million Americans injured every year on America’s roads, at an annual medical cost of over $200 billion. Saving half of that cost would pay the entire cost of health care reform over the next decade.

Third, the energy and environmental costs of our auto culture drive our defense and medical costs in ways that we have all agreed to turn a blind eye to–though the true cost is probably in the range of a half trillion dollars a year.

If we can manage to ignore the $750 billion cost of our highway fixation, then Samuelson’s argument makes some kind of weird sense–though you have to suspend logic, economics, and global experience to get there.

Why has every industrialized nation in the world made, and continues to make, large scale investments in high-speed rail? That’s what Samuelson’s argument can’t reach. If you look at the roll call of nations with high-speed passenger rail, it includes Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, China, and South Korea. Could all of them be wrong? China alone is pursuing a 3,000-mile high-speed network. What propels all of these industrial nations to invest so seriously in this mode of transportation? They are making hardheaded decisions about their nation’s future and their economic self-interest. We have just started to do so.

In the U.S. House of Representative, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has marked up a reauthorization bill for highways and transit. The bill proposes to spend $550 billion over the next 6 years. The vast majority of those funds would go to the highway program. The bill would allocate $50 billion over the life of the bill for high-speed passenger rail. That’s less than 10 percent of our national transportation funding. The Samuelsons of the world may call it a waste. I see a humongous greater waste–the $750 billion we’re incurring, year-in and year-out, in the indirect costs we incur by failing to build alternatives to our transportation monoculture. That’s the unconscionable economic waste.

I am not suggesting that highways are going to be anything other than the dominant mode of transportation in the United States for a long time. I am suggesting that there are corridors, less than 500 miles long, where density and economic activity make high speed passenger rail the only viable mobility investment. The total trip time of air travel in those corridors, combined with the energy costs, makes high speed rail the logical choice and a far better choice than the costs of expanding highway capacity in those congested and dense corridors. For those trips, high-speed rail delivers you to the heart of the city, not to a remote airport. I am also suggesting that there is simply no comparison between the safety of a train trip verses the safety of an auto trip. In the end, we need a broader set of mobility choices than we have created for ourselves. The public seems to understand this, as editorial and public opinion polling is making clear.

What is discouraging in this debate is that someone as bright as Samuelson cannot think in broader, more expansive terms about the American future. We can do better. Yes, we can!

Tom Downs is chairman of the North American Board of Veolia Transportation and a former president of Amtrak. His e-mail is tmdowns1@aol.com.

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Travelers cut costs by boarding the bus

Free TV: How to live without cable, Direct dishes and the bills that go with them

Transit Authority Receives Funding

Rising Gas Prices Resulting In Changes in Retail Locations

Partnership may be a main engine for commuter rail

Yes – that headline says April 15. Your tax forms must be in the mail by midnight tonight.

Apopka Cops say that the house being used for a reality show was once used to broadcast live sex acts for an adult entertainment Web site. Can’t you imagine the idiots behind this? “Hey, we got this house sitting here – we need to use it to get rich and famous!”

In Haines City, work on the North Sixth Street streetscaping project has been postponed because of paperwork requested by Florida’s Department of Community Affairs. Meanwhile in Winter Haven, Third Street between Avenue A Southwest and Avenue E Northwest is undergoing a face lift as part of that city’s continuing effort to improve the downtown. The work is expected to take the rest of the year.

Mulberry Police Deputy Chief Jody Beaudry was arrested Monday on charges of sexual battery and engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor. FDLE investigators say in 2004, Beaudry threatened to revoke a 16 year old girl’s probation if she did not have sex with him. Sounds like rape to me.

A Ledger editorial notes the Bush Administration’s terrible EPA record.

Compared to 2007, Sun ‘n Fun President John Burton said that daily attendance during the week was down 5 percent or 6 percent each day for the first four days of the six-day event. There was no dropoff in deaths surrounding the event.

Media General’s Florida Communications Group is offering voluntary buyouts to about half its 1,326 employees, including those with The Tampa Tribune and WFLA, News Channel 8. They are trying to reduce staff and other costs in a difficult economic environment in the Tampa Bay area, said John Schueler, president of Florida Communications Group, which oversees the operation of The Tribune, WFLA, TBO.com and other Florida media outlets.

The book The Land is about the son of a prosperous landowner and a former slave whose white father raises him openly in post-Civil War Georgia. The book includes use of the N-word. After a parent’s complaint, a committee of school administrators, parents and teachers from Turner Elementary School in northeast Hillsborough County said The Land by Mildred Taylor was “above the maturity level of elementary students” and will donate the book to a middle school, school officials said Monday.

Tampa Tribune Editorial: In scoring and hosting championship games, Tampa has been outstanding. But Orlando is investing a billion dollars in sporting venues and other facilities, and are on the way to building commuter rail. Tampa needs to stay ahead of Orlando.

That’s it for now. Feel free to go finish your taxes.

In addition to your votes that transportation is the first issue to tackle, recent and upcoming TBARTA public meetings and debating red light cameras, Rich Shopes tells us that the Florida Department of Transportation says morning commute times will increase significantly by 2025. The story includes a map of six routes and the estimated driving times during peak hours currently and projected for 2025.

Helpful information missing from the map is the actual mileage for these commutes, driving time outside of rush hour, and alternative means of transportation. It wouldn’t be too hard, since Google does most of the work. Google Maps gives us the actual mileage as well as their calculation of approximate driving time. On top of that, Google Transit is helpful in determining if HART might be a good choice.

If you plan to use this in a court of law, you might want to double-check my math, but here is what we found:

We will start with the longest route given to us by the Tribune, Wesley Chapel to Westshore:
Google Maps Distance: 28 Miles
Off Peak (Google) Time: 33 minutes
Peak Commute Time: 56 minutes
2025 projection: 68 minutes
Google Transit: 91 minutes (two hours for the 6:30 bus) plus a short drive to the Park & Ride. Car ride and two buses for less than 30 miles – sounds like fun, no?

Next is St. Pete to Downtown Tampa:
Google Maps Distance: 24.1 Miles
Off Peak (Google) Time: 28 minutes
Peak Commute Time: 53 minutes
2025 projection: 65 minutes
Mass Transit: 80 minutes includes PSTA Bus #59 for 25 minutes, a 10 minute wait, then 100X for 45 minutes. Couldn’t get Google Transit to include Pinellas.

Valrico to Downtown Tampa:
Google Maps Distance: 14.1 Miles
Off Peak (Google) Time: 19 minutes
Peak Commute Time: 45 minutes
2025 projection: 60 minutes
Mass Transit: 60 minutes (short drive to the P & R, plus 50 minutes on 22X).

Carrollwood to Westshore:
Google Maps Distance: 11.6 Miles
Off Peak (Google) Time: 16 minutes
Peak Commute Time: 45 minutes
2025 projection: 37 minutes
Google Transit: 80 minutes (two buses)

Plant City to downtown Tampa
Google Maps Distance: 24.2 Miles
Off Peak (Google) Time: 29 minutes
Peak Commute Time: 38 minutes
2025 projection: 50 minutes
Mass Transit: 60 minutes (short drive to the P&R and 50 minutes on Route 28X).

And finally, Brandon to downtown Tampa
Google Maps Distance: 14.1 Miles
Off Peak (Google) Time: 21 minutes
Peak Commute Time: 27 minutes
2025 projection: 31 minutes
Mass Transit: 50 minutes (short drive to the P&R and 40 minutes on Route 27X)

All of that only tells us that current rush hour commute times are simply ridiculous – the average speed from Valrico to downtown is less than 20 MPH, and those of you who drive from Carrollwood to Westshore average less than 16 MPH!!! – and our existing mass transit is even more ridiculous. Can’t wait to hear about your trip, Wayne!

In addition to the outrageous volume of traffic, we know that inattentive and/or distracted drivers hold things up or cause accidents, too. Which is highlighted nicely by the story’s inclusion of a photo by Trib Photog Dave Geiger taken while he was driving.

First, check out the maps that were posted around the room, with �general connections� identified. Then fill out the same questionnaire that was handed out, just as if you were there.

Uh-oh. What�s that green swath on the map of South Hillsborough Options? Is that the Green Swath of Death rearing its ugly head again? So soon after it was scraped off our county planning maps by massive citizen opposition? (See my article, �roads to sprawlville� for background on this beltway/bypass.)

I asked a couple of the TBARTA folks about this, but they were kind of vague. �It�s just a possible corridor,� they told me. �We�re asking for input on all the possibilities. Everything is on the table at this point.�

Hmmm. It looks kinda like a rail corridor, but then it hooks up with a new road corridor. Could this be a resurrection of the Brandon Bypass?

I mentioned that Green Swath on my questionnaire. I told �em that new roads in rural areas attract expensive suburban sprawl, waste farmland under new development, and pour more commuter traffic on all our roads; and, I told �em, we need to be concentrating our growth and infrastructure along urban transit corridors in order to make mass transit feasible. And I told �em I don�t like roads carving up my nature preserves.

Certain people � the people who make money this way � are still pushing for new roads to open up cheap farmland for more sprawling subdivisions full of commuters. If you have an opinion on transportation, you might want to voice it soon, because

TBARTA is charged with developing a Regional Transportation Master Plan by July 1, 2009.

TBARTA is also charged with engaging the public in developing this plan, so let them know what you think about rail, buses, roads, alternative transportation � anything that matters to you in your regional transportation plan.

… 10 Hillsborough County intersections will get red light cameras that supporters say save lives and detractors claim cause more – not fewer – accidents.

Red light cameras cause about as many crashes as red lights. Neither are the reason for accidents. Selfish, careless, negligent, thoughtless, self-centered, inconsiderate, and inattentive drivers are to blame for wrecks.

Once these cameras are installed, you better look out. RLCs won’t change the habits of these people right away. They will still be driving on your streets while on the phone, applying makeup, reading the newspaper, and texting their peeps. And the odds are they will be right behind you when you slow quickly for a yellow light (which is what you are supposed to do). So there will be a few fender benders.

But not to fear. It costs a lot less to fix the rear of your vehicle than the front of it. And after just a couple of months (and plenty of front-end body work), those selfish drivers will realize that they should maybe pay a bit more attention to the road. All will be well in no time.

We applaud the decision of your Hillsborough County Commissioners.

Where Do Your Daily Travels Take You? TBARTA Wants to Know

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority seeks public participation in its master plan.

As the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA) begins the task of developing a transportation �master plan� for the region, it is asking the public to share their ideas and concerns at a series of Community Workshops that will be held from March 10 � 20, 2008 at locations throughout the seven-county region.

Community Workshops will be held from 5:30 � 7:30 p.m. at the following locations. The workshops will be held �open house� style and members of the public are invited to stop by any time.

Hillsborough County � Monday, March 10
Hilton Garden Inn (I-75 & Fletcher), 13305 Tampa Oaks Blvd, Temple Terrace

Hernando County � Tuesday, March 11
Hernando County Courthouse, 20 N. Main St., Brooksville

Citrus County � Wednesday, March 12
Lecanto Government Building, Room 166, 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto

Pinellas County � Thursday, March 13
Holiday Inn Select (Ulmerton & Roosevelt), 3535 Ulmerton Rd., Clearwater

Manatee County � Monday, March 17
Bradenton Auditorium, 1005 Barcarrota Blvd., Bradenton

Pasco County � Tuesday, March 18
West Pasco Government Center, 7530 Little Road, New Port Richey

Sarasota County � Thursday, March 20
Sarasota County Technical Institute Cafeteria, Building 5, 4748 Beneva (at Proctor), Sarasota

TBARTA has been tasked with creating a transportation �master plan� that will connect the seven counties of our region and improve mobility for people and goods. Stage one in the master planning process focuses on important regional transportation corridors, areas where the majority of people are currently traveling back and forth across our region. In each of a dozen areas, community workshop participants will be asked to consider possible locations for transportation improvements. For example, I-75 today carries a significant amount of regional traffic between Sarasota, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pasco Counties, and sometimes breakdowns occur. Other parallel corridors in this area include US 41, US 301, and a rail corridor owned by CSX Corporation. Would any of these four corridors be a good location for a major transportation project to carry regional trips? The Community Workshops will allow TBARTA to ask the public directly for their suggestions and recommendations in each of the twelve areas.

�These Community Workshops are an important first step in developing our transportation master plan,� said Shelton Quarles, TBARTA Chairman. �Identifying the best corridor choices to serve each area�s needs would be nearly impossible without hearing from the people who know each area best.�

As the master planning process moves into stages two and three, additional workshops will be held for public input as well.

For more information on TBARTA and the master planning process, visit www.TBARTA.com or call 813-217-4048.

Individuals requiring accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act or persons who require translation services (free of charge) should contact Brandie Miklus at 813-217-4037 at least three (3) days prior to the meeting. Public participation is solicited without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, nation origin, disability, or family status.

The Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority was created by the Florida Legislature in 2007 to plan and develop a multimodal transportation system that will connect the seven counties of the Tampa Bay region. These counties include Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota. TBARTA�s mission is to improve mobility and expand multimodal transportation options for passengers and freight throughout the seven-county region. The legislature has mandated that TBARTA must create a Regional Transportation Master Plan for the Tampa Bay region by July 2009. The goal of this Master Plan is to engage the public in developing a vision for regional integration of transportation systems and foster partnerships with government agencies and business entities.

The only “community workshop” scheduled for Hillsborough County is tonight in Temple Terrace.

Hillsborough County � Monday, March 10
Hilton Garden Inn (I-75 & Fletcher), 13305 Tampa Oaks Blvd, Temple Terrace

Pinellas hosts TBARTA on Thursday

Pinellas County � Thursday, March 13
Holiday Inn Select (Ulmerton & Roosevelt), 3535 Ulmerton Rd., Clearwater

Last week we discussed Tampa Bay�s top ten problems, according to Wayne Garcia:

1. Suburban sprawl
2. Urban density (lacking)
3. Transportation
4. Environment (weak protections)
5. Living green
6. Diversity (racial, ethnic, class)
7. Professional sports (over-subsidized and over-idolized)
8. Media consolidation (lack of independent voices)
9. GLBT Rights
10. Save our young (with economic opportunity)

We asked if you thought the list was comprehensive, but Chaaalie suggested we add education, economics, taxes, and cost of living. Besides these being vague, I assume Garcia left them off his list since those are essentially statewide issues.

But we can certainly do our part here in Tampa Bay to bring about change, so I have added them, and combined a couple of the issues above in a new poll to find out where you think we ought to get started. Pick your top three issues that should be worked on FIRST:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

Jermaine DeWhite Anderson drove a pickup down West Main Street, and ran through a red light. He swerved to avoid a vehicle crossing through the green light, and crashed into Azor at a high rate of speed.

For those of you who say red light cameras will cause more rear-end collisions, well, I’m simply OK with that.