Hillsborough County has a choice to make: It can continue to cut service and pretend thatmass transit plays no role in the region’s future. Or it can invest in the very sort oftransportation system that communities across the country are building to make themselves more competitive. The voters’ rejection of a broad transportation plan two years ago clearly was a setback. But the county should learn from the loss, not wallow in it.
The 2010 referendum on the transit tax was far from perfect. County commissioners dragged their feet in putting a plan on the table; the rail component had no route; and cost estimates were all over the map. Still, the measure would have created a broader and more stable funding base for a broad range of options — from new rail and bus service to more and better roads — and it would have created opportunities to rebuild older parts of the city.
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