We believe that the goals of the various parties involved with the Central Florida Commuter Rail project are not mutually exclusive and with proper dialogue and cooperation, solutions can be found that will benefit our region and the entire state. We encourage all parties to work together to reach a resolution that is in the best interest of all those involved.

The Tampa Bay Partnership is most effective when we play the role of honest broker and regional convener on issues in order to ensure that we understand all positions, evaluate all viewpoints and bring key stakeholders together to find meaningful solutions for our region.

In 2006, before the Tampa Bay Partnership embarked on our current transportation initiative, we created a set of Guiding Principles that continues to be our framework for transportation decision making. These principles state that we are committed to serving as a regional convener and honest broker on transportation issues and that we will focus our efforts to look at issues from a true regional perspective.

Our commitment to these guiding principles allowed us to participate in a transparent process that resulted in the successful formation and development of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA). We remain fully committed to these guiding principles as we move ahead in supporting TBARTA and other transportation initiatives for our region.

The Tampa Bay Partnership has been asked by our investors and our community partners to participate in conversations regarding the Central Florida Commuter Rail project and its impacts on our region. We have accepted every invitation to come to the table and learn from all involved. Most recently we took members of our executive committee to Tallahassee to continue these conversations. During this time we met with our elected officials and other key representatives from our region and around the state in an attempt to gain a true understanding of this complicated issue.

Our findings to date lead us to believe that:

• Finding multi-modal solutions that address a community’s transportation needs is important to our region and state. Providing transit alternatives to move residents and visitors efficiently and effectively within and between regions is essential to our economy as well as to building connectivity within our state.
• Ensuring that our downtown communities remain viable and healthy is a key economic development objective that is essential to offer the high quality-of-life that will attract and retain the talented workforce that our region needs.
• Developing critical infrastructure for our region’s important logistics and distribution industry is important to support our growing population and to increase our international opportunities.

If you have any questions or need any additional information on this matter, please feel free to contact me at 813-878-2208 or at srogel@tampabay.org.

cc:     Bay Area Legislative Delegation
          City of Lakeland
          Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce
          Lakeland Economic Development Council
          Winter Haven Chamber of Commerce
          Haines City Economic Development Council
          East Polk County Committee of 100
          Central Florida Development Council
          Central Florida Partnership
          Central Florida Rail Commission
          Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos,
                  Florida Department of Transportation
          Secretary Stan Cann, Florida Department
                  of Transportation, District 1
          Secretary Noranne Downs, Florida Department
                  of Transportation, District 5
          Secretary Don Skelton, Florida Department
                  of Transportation, District 7
          Mike O’Malley, CSX