Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission

Ridesharing smoothing the roads in Florida

Published on February 15, 2017 in Peter by Peter Schorsch

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber; it’s also no secret that I am NOT a big fan of the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission, a bully of a governmental entity applying 19th-century thinking to a 21st-century innovation. The PTC’s blatant quest to stifle ridesharing while clinging to the outmoded taxi and limo industry has been as disgraceful as it is misguided. This should be the final nail in the coffin of…

Keep Reading

Kyle Cockream to step down from Hillsborough PTC at the end of the year

Published on November 9, 2016 in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by Mitch Perry

A change in government in Washington has been preceded by a changing of the guard at one of the Tampa Bay area’s most troubled government agencies, the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission. On the same day the PTC finally approved rules legalizing ridesharing companies Uber and Lyft to operate in the county, the agency lost its chairman and soon, its executive director. Kyle Cockream announced Wednesday he will depart from the agency at the end of December. His tenure has become…

Keep Reading

Will Ken Hagan save ridesharing in Hillsborough?

Published on September 30, 2016 in Peter by Peter Schorsch

They say the past is prologue. If that’s true, past votes and actions by Hillsborough County’s Public Transportation Commission can give us a glimpse at how the showdown over ridesharing may unfold. And it looks like it could all be in the hands of one board member: Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan. Oct. 13 is the date of the public hearing that could determine the future of ridesharing in Hillsborough County. That’s when the PTC is expected to vote to…

Keep Reading

If there is one member of the PTC who should support Uber, it’s David Pogorilich

Published on September 8, 2016 in Peter/Top Headlines by Peter Schorsch

Beyond convenience and affordability, ridesharing services like Lyft and Uber have become an essential, safe alternative to drunken driving. One person who should understand this best is David Pogorilich; Uber could have prevented his DUI nearly two decades ago. An Uber ride — at only a few dollars — is certainly preferable to a DUI, which brings thousands of dollars in legal fees, not to mention the possible tragedy of a wreck. Pogorilich, a member of the Hillsborough County Public…

Keep Reading

PSTA program to provide free Uber, taxi rides to second, third shift workers

Published on July 20, 2016 in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by Anne Lindberg

Low-income residents on late shifts could get free transportation to and from work under a pilot program unveiled Wednesday by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. The TD Late Shift program is a partnership between the PSTA, Uber and United Taxi. The program, funded by a $300,000 grant from the state Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged, could affect up to 6,000 Pinellas workers, PSTA officials said. The goal of the year-long pilot is to develop a model that can be replicated…

Keep Reading

Be careful what you wish for, Victor Crist. It might cost you your job

Published on January 15, 2016 in Peter/Top Headlines by Peter Schorsch

Be careful what you wish for, Victor Crist. In the ongoing struggle at the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission over what to do about Transportation Network Companies (TNC) Uber and Lyft, Crist — the commission chair — threatened a “radical solution” if the lawmakers didn’t act during the 2016 Legislative Session. “If they don’t fix it within the next 60 days, we will here,” Crist said, as reported by FloridaPolitics.com. “You may or may not like our fix. But this…

Keep Reading

Mitch Perry Report for 11.25.15 – And now there are 2 states who don’t automatically restore voting rights to ex-felons

Published on November 25, 2015 in The Bay and the 'Burg/Top Headlines by Mitch Perry

Outgoing Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday immediately restoring voting rights to more than 100,000 ex-felons convicted of nonviolent offenses. “This disenfranchisement makes no sense,” Beshear, a Democrat, said in his announcement. “It makes no sense because it dilutes the energy of democracy, which functions only if all classes and categories of people have a voice, not just a privileged, powerful few. It makes no sense because it defeats a primary goal of our corrections system, which is to rehabilitate…

Keep Reading