Study: Traffic in Tampa fifth worst in nation (Miami, Orlando: unemployment, buy)

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

Let's see.... I have no interest in having a State Income Tax like NY has to help pay for Mass Transit. I have no desire to sit outside in the sun or an afternoon thunderstorm waiting for mass transit. I have no desire to ride mass transit unless it can get from point A to point B faster and cheaper than my car and being comfortable and convenient to my schedule in doing so.

Mass transit works in places that have a city hub and where the criteria above are met. As long as there is plenty of affordable parking in Down Town and you aren't saving any time riding Mass Transit it will never take off.

And back to my original statement - I have no interest having a state income tax to subsidize mass transit in an area that frankly... doesn't need it.

Missed your post from yesterday and agree 100%.

[DUNNDFRNT]

Originally Posted by FloridaKash

Am I the only one who tires of hearing people from NY talk about how Tampa sucks because it's not NY? Or NY is better because of this and that? Hey guess what. This isn't NY. Only NY is like NY. Guess what! Most sunbelt cities have crappy Mass Transit. Tampa is the.... 53rd most populous city in the nation. Hillsborough County is the 30th most populous in the nation..... Gee - I wonder why mass transit stinks here. Miami-Dade County is the 7th most populous

List of the most populous counties in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

have even more fun... sort it by density. Imagine that.... New York has the top 4 spots if you do this. San Francisco comes in at 5.

It's pretty simple. If things are spread out you have less riders going to each destination.... meaning mass transit may not be viable.

not exactly in context though is it? We live in a tri-county area hillsborough-pinellas-pasco just hillsborough and pinellas would put you in the top 12. If you look at the tv market size which is a better indication of the amount of people in an area, we are #14 in the country. I would think centralized commuter lines would help, you can have downtown to say wesley chapel, to new tampa, so people would still drive but park and ride something into downtown, then you can work on something to to move people around once you are downtown, maybe another hub like westshore. That being said people are used to driving, they want to commute in their own timetable, that will continue to be the case until the car commutes are unbearable. We can either be reactive or proactive, we can to address it now or wait until we really need it. It is a tough call, trains, monorails are extremely expensive. In my opinion once it becomes truly economically viable private industry will step in and fill that gap, where there is money to be made usually someone figures it out. The NYC dollar vans, gypsy cabs, academy buses are all private industry, if someone can make money running a bus line from New Tampa to Downtown they will. There is also technology, big trend towards telecommuting, I work out of my house 2 days a week now, and i could probably work more if i wanted to.

[floridadreamer]

I honestly don't find Tampa that bad compared to other major cities. 15 yrs ago I remember driving in northern Virginia and having to stop so far back in traffic that I couldn't even see the traffic lights ahead to know why. If a person avoid the I-4 and 275 area and learns which ways not to go during peak times, believe me, it could be much worse.

[tinytrump]

Could be much worse and according to some studies, it will be- if something is not planned for the future. Hillsborough County ranks 13th out of more than 3,000 counties being among the top counties in the country for net in-migration. Hillsborough County grew by 23 percent and held its own as the state's fourth most populous county.. 2010 census. TampaBay is growing like it or not.

[spacyscienceguy]

Most people don't realize that the Tampa Bay media market is the largest in Florida...several market sizes larger (more populous) than Miami-Ft. Lauderdale ([url=http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2008/09/10/nielsen-local-television-market-universe-estimates/5037/]Nielsen Local Television Market Universe Estimates - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers[/url]). That fact alone should tell Florida's lawmakers that the Tampa Bay area should have roads at least equivalent to those in Miami but Miami seems to get the bulk of the funding. Maybe its because Miami looks good but at last check over 30 of those big skyscrapers they built downtown were mostly or completely empty. This area's government leaders (and I use the term loosely) need to get on the stick and start lobbying for better roads, more lanes and other traffic improvements and promote this area as a dynamic, fast-moving business center instead of a nice laid-back place to get a tan. If they don't, growth will stall out and the market will fizzle again.

[algia]

I don't believe it...mainly because I think the person assessing was probably from some tiny town and has never seen city traffic before. The traffic in Mt Lebanon, PA, was TEN TIMES WORST. AND that was just a suburb, I won't even mention the rest of it.

[tinytrump]

The drivers are nuts here- maybe less total traffic as the 826 in S. Fla -(it is a parking lot)- but I see accidents here all the time and where it makes NO sence to have one! The weaving and texting/ and speeding makes it insane. what is the rush?? I wondered if it was the elderly... but I know the college kids are worse,,, and I see the tags so I know when they pass me going home very day. Red light runners have NO concern even near schools... ask the cross guards. The lack of roads but mostly the drivers.

[TXRyan23]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Of course we have our bottlenecks (I-4/275 junction), but are we that bad in Tampa?

Ever drive through Orlando during rush hour?

or Washington DC or Houston?

Yes, I drive in Houston traffic every day. Tampa's traffic is worse.

Houston has sprawling freeways, but generally they're flowing free even if it's at 20-30mph at rush hour. In Tampa, I can remember sitting still in gridlock (especially on the Frankland Bridge) plus the tourist drivers, old drivers, ect, ect...

I don't think Tampa should be ahead or Orlando, Miami, New Orleans, or Atlanta though.

[HWTechGuy]

The fact that Tampa is #5 and Philadelphia is #17 is mind-boggling and tells me this study isn't worth the time it took me to read the table of the rankings.

[espizarro]

Tampa 5th worst of the nation?

If Atlanta, Honolulu, Miami, DC, NYC, LA and Orlando are worse how can Tampa be #5? I don't even remember being in a bumper-to-bumper jam in Tampa. It can get slow but other than accidents I don't remember being jammed in Tampa.