Post by Cesar Hernandez
The Hillsborough County Young Democrats have adopted a mass transit resolution that calls on the County Commission to put greater emphasis on mass transit, suggesting that the Go Hillsborough plan takes more of a “Roads First” approach. In the resolution, adopted by its E-board and officers at the end of last month, the HCYDs expresses concern that Hillsborough County’s transportation future will be gridlocked if Go Hillsborough passes in its current form. The document states, “We are already decades behind, fighting congestion and gridlock, losing our quality of life, and failing to attract and grow higher paying jobs because of our lack of investment in mass transit and continuing investment in the sprawl machine.”
The resolution comes at an opportune time, as later this month, the Commission will release plans for Go Hillsborough. The resolution suggests adopting user fees as well as a five-cent local gas tax, something that has been done in 29 other counties around the state.
Maya Brown, President of the Hillsborough County Young Democrats, held a press conference on January 19th to discuss the plan and the resolution. You can read more about the press conference here.
You can read the complete resolution here.