Telephone Town Hall Schedule Details

PSTA is excited to host a series of three Telephone Town Halls to discuss the Greenlight Pinellas Plan. Residents from all over Pinellas County will receive automated calls inviting them to participate, to listen and make their voices heard.

Listeners will have the chance to ask questions *live* during the town hall meeting, with instructions given during the call. In addition, listeners can also share questions and comments via our social media channels. Make sure your voice is heard!

Thursday, July 24 at 10:00 a.m.

• On the call: Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala and PSTA CEO Brad Miller
• Dial 877-229-8493, and enter meeting 19878
• Submit questions online through one of these channels
  o   PSTA Facebook (We will post a call for questions that morning, enter your question as a comment on the post)
  o   PSTA Twitter (@RidePSTA and include #townhall)
  o   Greenlight Pinellas Facebook (We will post a call for questions that morning, enter your question as a comment on the post)
  o   Greenlight Pinellas Twitter (@Greenlight2014 and include #townhall)

Tuesday, July 29 at 7:15 p.m.

• On the call: PSTA Board Chair Ken Welch, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, and PSTA CEO Brad Miller
• Dial 877-229-8493, and enter meeting 19878
• Submit questions online through one of these channels
  o   PSTA Facebook (We will post a call for questions that afternoon, enter your question as a comment on the post)
  o   PSTA Twitter (@RidePSTA and include #townhall)
  o   Greenlight Pinellas Facebook (We will post a call for questions that afternoon, enter your question as a comment on the post)
  o   Greenlight Pinellas Twitter (@Greenlight2014 and include #townhall)

Thursday, July 31 at 7:15 p.m.

• On the call: Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long, Largo Vice Mayor Harriet Crozier, and PSTA CEO Brad Miller
• Dial 877-229-8493, and enter meeting 19878
• Submit questions online through one of these channels
  o   PSTA Facebook (We will post a call for questions that afternoon, enter your question as a comment on the post)
  o   PSTA Twitter (@RidePSTA and include #townhall)
  o   Greenlight Pinellas Facebook (We will post a call for questions that afternoon, enter your question as a comment on the post)
  o   Greenlight Pinellas Twitter (@Greenlight2014 and include #townhall)

We look forward to talking with you!

PSTA to Host Greenlight Pinellas Telephone Town Hall Series

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) will host a series of interactive telephone town hall meetings to share information and gather feedback about Pinellas County’s transit future.

Residents from all over Pinellas County will receive automated calls inviting them to participate, and anyone can dial in to 877-229-8493, meeting #19878 to listen and make their voice heard. Participants will be able to ask questions, both on the call and through social media channels.

The first town hall meeting will take place on Thursday, July 24 at 10:00 AM. The call will feature Pinellas County Commissioner Susan Latvala and will be moderated by PSTA CEO Brad Miller. The call will be open to press; additional dial-in information will be advised early next week.

This will be the first of three telephone town hall meetings in the month of July; the others will take place the following week with PSTA Board Chair Ken Welch, St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Pinellas County Commissioner Janet Long and Largo Vice Mayor Harriet Crozier.

“We’re bringing vital information about Greenlight Pinellas right to the people – and giving them a chance to share their opinions and thoughts at the same time,” said PSTA CEO Brad Miller. “We’ve already incorporated feedback from 120,000 Pinellas residents into the Greenlight Pinellas plan, but we’re excited to hear directly from even more people about our county’s transit future.”

Participants can ask questions during or in advance of the call by tweeting to @Greenlight2014 or @RidePSTA, or on the Greenlight Pinellas or PSTA Facebook pages.

About Greenlight Pinellas: Greenlight Pinellas is a transit improvement plan incorporating feedback from the public, the business community, planning agencies, the Pinellas Alternatives Analysis and Community Bus Plan. The Greenlight Pinellas plan is a comprehensive, countywide transportation improvement proposal to help Pinellas County develop the most efficient and economically viable transit service possible.

www.GreenlightPinellas.com

Press Release: Pinellas County Commission Passes Elimination of PSTA Property Tax

On Tuesday, June 3, the Pinellas County Commission voted 6-1 to eliminate the PSTA portion of property taxes for Pinellas County homeowners, a key element of the Greenlight Pinellas plan.

“Eliminating PSTA property taxes is a critical part of the Greenlight Pinellas plan that will save Pinellas County homeowners over $32 million per year,” said Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority CEO Brad Miller. “We thank the County Commission for taking this important step as we move to a fairer, more broad-based revenue source to fund Greenlight Pinellas and transit in our community.”

“I’m proud of this step that the County Commission took today to protect Pinellas taxpayers from double taxation,” said County Commissioner Ken Welch. “This agreement will help usher in a new era of tax fairness and fund vastly improved transit options through Greenlight Pinellas.”

“I’m glad my fellow County Commissioners agree the sales tax is a fairer way to fund public transit, paid by tourists and non-homeowners versus the current property tax on residents only,” added County Commissioner Janet Long.

Known as the transit surtax interlocal agreement, the agreement takes a number of steps that will provide strong accountability between PSTA and the County Commission following passage of the Greenlight Pinellas initiative in November. Most notably, the agreement eliminates the 0.7305 mill property tax levied to fund transit in Pinellas County, which brings in $32 million per year.

A central part of the Greenlight Pinellas plan, if approved by voters, will be a 1% increase in sales tax to replace the eliminated PSTA property tax, known as the tax swap. This revenue will fund a 65% increase in bus service across the county, increased evening and weekend service to Tampa, Bus Rapid Transit service on major Pinellas corridors, future passenger rail service, and more.

About Greenlight Pinellas: Greenlight Pinellas is a transit improvement plan incorporating feedback from the public, the business community, planning agencies, the Pinellas Alternatives Analysis and Community Bus Plan. The Greenlight Pinellas plan is a comprehensive, countywide transportation improvement proposal to help Pinellas County develop the most efficient and economically viable transit service possible.

www.GreenlightPinellas.com

Inspector General Finds Greenlight Pinellas in Full Compliance with Law

The Florida Department of Transportation’s Inspector General is set to release a report stating that PSTA’s Greenlight Pinellas educational outreach is in full compliance with state law on public communications.

“We are thankful for the very thorough review by the Inspector General, and commend him and his staff for their diligence,” said Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority CEO Brad Miller. “PSTA always strives to be a responsible steward of taxpayer money, whether keeping nearly 200 buses on time daily or educating Pinellas residents about their transit options.

And because PSTA believes in full transparency, we will be posting the Inspector General’s final report on our own website at GreenlightPinellas.com, where anyone can view the report.”

The report indicated there is no evidence that Greenlight Pinellas communications violated any law, or used any state funding. Excerpts of the report are below.

On the report’s findings:

“We reviewed expenditures for the Greenlight Pinellas campaign to determine if PSTA violated the advocacy provisions of state law. Our review disclosed no evidence that PSTA Greenlight communications contained text prohibited by law. We also reviewed state funds available to PSTA through department grant agreements to determine if they were used in accordance with laws, rules, regulations and provisions of the grants. We determined PSTA did not use state funds to pay for the Greenlight campaign.” [Report 14C-6007, Page 1]

On Greenlight Pinellas expenditures:

“Our review disclosed no evidence PSTA campaign expenditures violated the advocacy provisions of state law. Communications on PSTA’s ‘Greenlight Pinellas’ website, advertisements and promotional items contained no text prohibited by law nor any ‘magic words’ which would expressly advocate for electors to vote ‘yes’ in the referendum. Orders for promotional items were reviewed and there was no evidence these items contained statutorily prohibited phrases.” [Report 14C-6007, Page 7]

On No State Funding of Greenlight Pinellas:

“We determined no state grant funding was used to finance the Greenlight campaign. PSTA requested and received direct authorization from the [Federal Transportation Authority] for the use of federal funds for Greenlight educational messaging and branding, including development of a Greenlight website.” [Report 14C-6007, Page 8]

“Based on our review, we determined PSTA did not invoice or expend [Florida Dept. of Transportation] funds to pay for the Greenlight campaign. … There is no evidence the department reimbursed PSTA for any Greenlight expenditures against any of the state grants.”

The Inspector General’s final report, when posted, can be viewed in full at http://www.dot.state.fl.us/inspectorgeneral/fiscalyear2013-2014.shtm

About Greenlight Pinellas: Greenlight Pinellas is a transit improvement plan incorporating feedback from the public, the business community, planning agencies, the Pinellas Alternatives Analysis and Community Bus Plan. The Greenlight Pinellas plan is a comprehensive, countywide transportation improvement proposal to help Pinellas County develop the most efficient and economically viable transit service possible.

www.GreenlightPinellas.com

###

Deconstructing PSTA Ridership Charts

As we have been discussing Greenlight with the public over the past months, we have had lots of opportunities to talk about our ridership numbers. This has been a great opportunity for us at PSTA (a.k.a. public transit geeks) to talk about the science of how we plan and manage our routes.

The chart below was developed through our Community Bus Plan and it simply illustrates total ridership by route:

The danger here is that this one chart doesn’t tell the whole story or really give you the full formula of how we manage routes, it simply shows ridership on routes- not the frequency of those routes.  For an example, look a the 98 (yellow). This chart makes it look no one is riding it; but, this route only runs five times a day and is a popular commuter route.

To really understand this you need to look at this second chart:

This chart is a true measure of transit success. It shows the number of people boarding PSTA buses while they are in service. Now look at the 60, 14, 78 & 67 – they’re four of the top producing routes in the entire PSTA system, even though the first chart makes it seem like they’re not. And, the 98 may only run 5 times a day, but there are a lot of people getting on and off those buses. Just like many others in the system, it’s a very productive route.

So, when one has all of the data, it’s easy to see that most PSTA routes perform quite well. Like any system, there are routes with lower ridership – these are the routes that feed riders into the corridors where the higher ridership routes are running. Think of it like your neighborhood street feeding into a main street, which feeds into the major roadways in our county – they all work together as a system, just like PSTA’s bus routes.

Press Release: Belleair Bluffs City Commission Endorses Greenlight Pinellas

After careful consideration and debate Monday evening, the City Leaders of Belleair Bluffs voted 3-2 to endorse the Greenlight Pinellas Plan. “I’m pleased to include Belleair Bluffs as being among the many forward looking cities in Pinellas County that have endorsed this comprehensive transit improvement plan,” says Commissioner Joseph Barkley, who also sits on the PSTA Board of Directors. “This is a financially sound, sensible and viable approach to improving our transportation system to a level that finally rivals those of our peer cities across the country.” Barkley, along with Mayor Chris Arbutine, Sr. and Commissioner Jack Nazario voted to support a resolution endorsing Greenlight Pinellas, while Vice-Mayor Taylour Shimkus and Commissioner Suzy Sofer opposed the endorsement.

At the heart of the Greenlight Pinellas Plan is a referendum set for November 4, 2014, which will ask voters to approve a funding change for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority from its current .7305 mil property tax to a 1% sales tax (not applied to groceries, medical items and limited to the first $5,000 of any purchase). That change would allow for significant and foundational improvements to the county’s transit system, giving residents and visitors more convenient and varied transportation choices.

If approved, the Greenlight Pinellas Plan will encompass a 65% increase in bus service including:

• Buses running more frequently and for longer hours of the day – especially on weekends
• Service to Tampa at night and on weekends including Tampa International Airport and Westshore
• Buses running every 15 minutes on core routes and every 30 minutes on the supporting network
• Park ‘n’ Ride lots
• Circulators connecting neighborhoods to the primary corridors

Those enhancements will then form a foundation of quick and easy connections to a passenger rail line from St. Petersburg to the Gateway/Carillon area and to Clearwater, which is expected to be running by 2024.

If the Greenlight Pinellas funding change doesn’t pass, the plan also encompasses service cuts of nearly 30% in 2017 when PSTA’s reserve funds will be depleted.

The transit agency is currently experiencing all-time record ridership and gave more than 14.45 million rides in 2013. Despite the loss of more than $40 million dollars in property tax revenues since 2008 coupled with fare increases and significant cuts in service – PSTA ridership has grown by an impressive 19% over the same period.

Details of the Greenlight Pinellas Plan along with Q&A and background data can be found at www.greenlightpinellas.com.

###

Population Projections in Pinellas County

There has been some discussion about how PSTA came to the population projections used in the development of the Greenlight Pinellas Plan. Here is a summary of the methodology we used:

For the Greenlight Pinellas Plan, PSTA used population projections developed by the Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO). Following Federal recommendations, the MPO developed projections for multiple land use and transportation scenarios, including the “Trend” scenario and a “Transit Investment and Land Use” scenario.

The Trend scenario assumes that no new major investments in transit are made and that growth reflects existing local land use policies. Because state projections don’t take into account these local polices, the MPO, in coordination with the Pinellas Planning Council (PPC) and local governments, develops independent population projections using an approved methodology. This method results in projecting an additional 64,000 people in 2040.

The Transit Investment and Land Use scenario assumes that the Greenlight Pinellas Plan is fully implemented prior to 2040. Based on the experiences of other places around the country, it’s reasonable to assume that population and employment growth will increase significantly due to the presence of a light rail transit system. Areas around and adjacent to transit stations have seen substantial investments in new development and have attracted new residents and jobs. This scenario results in projecting an increase of approximately 200,000 residents.

The Pinellas population and employment growth projections are based on the results others have experienced, as well as on the increased land use densities and transit oriented development (TOD) strategies adopted by the local governments in the light rail station areas. For this reason, the MPO determined that the Transit Investment and Land Use scenario, with its 200,000 additional residents, was a reasonable assumption and that’s the figure that PSTA used when developing the Greenlight Pinellas Plan.

To learn more about the plan, please visit www.GreenlightPinellas.com.

Source:  Pinellas Transportation Plan 2040 Socioeconomic Data Technical Memorandum – Forecast Scenarios, October 2013.

Press Release: Clearwater City Council Unanimously Endorses the Greenlight Pinellas Plan

Who: The Clearwater City Council
What: Unanimously endorses the Greenlight Pinellas Plan
When: March 6, 2014
Where: At regularly scheduled City Council meeting, 112 S. Osceola Avenue, Clearwater, FL
Why:  To improve public transportation in Clearwater and throughout Pinellas County

After careful consideration and following presentations from both supporters and opponents of Pinellas County’s new comprehensive transit blueprint known as the Greenlight Pinellas Plan, the Clearwater City Council voted unanimously to support the transformational, countywide proposal.

“I think this is what is needed for Pinellas county and the Tampa Bay region,” said Mayor George Cretekos after talking about his experiences using public transit in other cities and how Pinellas County is so far behind those metropolitan areas when it comes to transit options. Pinellas County Commission Chair, Karen Seel was also on hand and reminded the city leaders and their audience that the Tampa Bay region is now the last major metropolitan area in the United States that doesn’t have a robust transit system.

Council members asked PSTA CEO Brad Miller numerous questions about the financial assumptions of the Greenlight Pinellas Plan and for additional details regarding service implementation and funding. Miller addressed those concerns and Council Member Paul Gibson, known as savvy fiscal conservative, said that he has spent considerable time going over the Ernst & Young report on the Greenlight Pinellas financials and found them to be sound and that he believes that the plan is in the best interests of the citizens of Clearwater.

Those financials include a referendum set for November 4, 2014, which will ask voters to approve a funding change for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority from its current .7305 mil property tax to a 1% sales tax (not applied to groceries, medical items and limited to the first $5,000 of any purchase). That change would allow for significant and foundational improvements to the county’s transit system, giving residents and visitors greater and more convenient transportation choices.

If approved, the Greenlight Pinellas Plan will encompass a 65% increase in bus service including:

• Buses running more frequently and for longer hours of the day – especially on weekends.
• Service to Tampa at night and on weekends including Tampa International Airport and Westshore.
• Buses running every 15 minutes on core routes and every 30 minutes on the supporting network
• Park ‘n’ Ride lots
• Circulators connecting neighborhoods to the primary corridors.

Those enhancements will then form a foundation of quick and easy connections to a passenger rail line from St. Petersburg to the Gateway/Carillon area and to Clearwater, expected to be running by 2024.

PSTA is currently experiencing all-time record ridership and gave more than 14.45 million rides in 2013. Despite the loss of more than $40 million dollars in property tax revenue since 2008 (due to the Great Recession), which resulted in significant cuts in service – PSTA ridership has grown by 19%.  To help prevent further cuts in service, the agency is currently using reserve funds to meet the all-time record demand. If the Greenlight measure doesn’t pass, those reserves will run out and the agency will be forced to cut service by 28% in 2017.

Details of the Greenlight Pinellas Plan along with Q&A and background data can be found at www.greenlightpinellas.com

###

Press Release: PSTA Sets 2nd Highest January Ridership Ever!

Who: Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA)
What: Continues trend of robust ridership
Where: Throughout Pinellas County
When: January 2014

2014 kicked off with another strong month of transit use in Pinellas County. Last month, PSTA provided 1,158,951 rides throughout the county and to Tampa – making for the second highest ridership ever for the month of January. Agency officials say they were hoping for another all-time record, but that Mother Nature didn’t cooperate thanks to a stint of unusually cool and rainy weather. Transit leaders say they tend to see a bigger impact on ridership from rainy weather this time of year as opposed to the warmer months. Nonetheless, the agency is still struggling to meet demand along many routes as supervisors scramble to ensure that riders are not passed by because of full buses. “I was driving yesterday and there were people at almost every single stop,” says PSTA Road Supervisor Lloyd Jernigan.  When told that opponents of the county’s new transit improvement plan insist that PSTA buses always run empty, Jernigan’s eyes steel and he counters, “Those have to be people who never ride the bus. No one who rides would ever say that.”

To help meet increasing demand for service, PSTA and county leaders will be asking voters to change the agency’s funding from its current property tax to a 1% sales tax this coming November.  If approved, PSTA will then eliminate its current property tax of .7305 mils and be able to implement transformational changes and enhancements to the county’s transit system as part of the Greenlight Pinellas Plan. That plan features a 65% increase in countywide bus service along with the implementation of a future light rail system. Details, questions and answers along with study data and videos can all be found at www.greenlightpinellas.com.

If you’d like to take advantage of Pinellas County’s increasingly popular transit system, just visit the agency’s award-winning website at: www.PSTA.net. Patrons are also encouraged to use PSTA’s new Real Time Bus Information system to find out exactly when the next bus will arrive at their stop. Simply visit  www.RidePSTA.net or call the PSTA InfoLine at (727) 540-1900 for more information.

###

Press Release: Dunedin Leaders Endorse Greenlight Pinellas Plan

Who: The Dunedin City Commission
What: Endorses the Greenlight Pinellas Plan
When: February 6, 2014
Where: At regularly scheduled City Commission meeting:  542 Main St, Dunedin, FL 34698
Why:  To improve public transportation throughout Pinellas County

Pinellas County’s new plan to significantly improve public transit picked up another critical endorsement this evening. Leaders from the city of Dunedin voted unanimously to endorse the transformational, county-wide transit proposal known as the Greenlight Pinellas Plan. “One thing I’m excited about is that this is a comprehensive transportation plan, not just one mode or one area. We’re putting the right kind of transportation in the right communities throughout the county,” said Dunedin Commissioner and PSTA Board Member Julie Ward-Bujalski.

“It can’t be understated as to what the increased frequencies and later service hours will mean to our community,” added Mayor Dave Eggers after hearing details about the bus service improvements in the plan.

At the heart of the proposal is a ballot measure set for the November 4, 2014 election asking voters to approve a funding change for the county’s transit system – PSTA – from its current .7305 mil property tax to a 1% sales tax (not applied to groceries, medical items and limited to the first $5,000 of any purchase). That change would allow for significant improvements to the county’s transit service, and vastly increase transportation options throughout the county. Details, Q&A and background data can be found at www.greenlightpinellas.com.

If approved, Pinellas residents will see a 65% increase in bus service including:

• Buses running more frequently and for longer hours of the day – especially on weekends.
• Service to Tampa at night and on weekends including TIA and Westshore.
• Buses running every 15 minutes along core routes and every 30 minutes on the supporting network
• Park ‘n’ Ride lots
• Limited stop express lines
• Circulators connecting neighborhoods to the primary transit corridors.

Those enhancements will then form a foundation of quick, easy connections for a future passenger rail line from St. Petersburg to the Gateway/Carillon area and to Clearwater.

The recession has reduced PSTA’s property tax revenue by more than $40 million dollars since 2008, however, service cuts and streamlining and record-setting demand have led to a 23% increase in bus ridership over the same period.  To help prevent further cuts in service, the agency is using reserve funds to accommodate the record ridership. If the Greenlight measure doesn’t pass, those reserves will be depleted by 2017, forcing a 28% cut in bus service.

###