Mariella Smith Files

I was happy to open the Bike Walk Tampa Bay Summit 2019 on Friday. Safe streets and alternative transportation have been passions of mine for a long time. Our streets consistently rank among the deadliest in America. The deaths of pedestrians and cyclists on our streets is a shameful tragedy.

Voters gave us clear direction in the Transportation Tax referendum that they want to spend 12% of each municipality's share of the tax on safe bike/ped infrastructure. But the judge in Commissioner White's lawsuit threw out all the percentages and has now left the spending priorities solely up to the County Commission. If you feel, as I do, that we need to build safe infrastructure for bicycles and pedestrians, including school children biking and walking to school, please let your County Commissioners know that you want them to spend that 12% as the voters intended. (While you're at it, you can ask them to keep the 45% share for transit that 
was in the referendum.)

Contact Commissioners: https://hcflgov.formstack.com/forms/contact_commissioner

Another opportunity to provide input on transportation is the survey for the Hillsborough County 2045 Transportation Plan: http://www.planhillsborough.org/2045lrtp/

And finally, here's a cool group I learned about at the Summit: WellBuilt Bikes is a non-profit bike shop offering refurbished sales and low-fee repairs. Earn-A-Bike program and sliding scale fees available. Donate your old frames and parts. They reuse & recycle. AND they seem like a fun bunch! 
More here: https://www.bikeshoptampa.com/about-us/