DRAFT

Amendment 4 (Florida Hometown Democracy):Amendment 4 would give Florida voters the right to decide whether their local comprehensive landuse plan should be changed. In effect, Amendment 4 would require referenda for everycomprehensive plan land use change. City councils and county commissions currently make landuse decisions. The measure will be placed on the statewide ballot on November 2, 2010. Themeasure may have an impact on transit-supportive land use amendments proposed in the PinellasCounty Future Land Use map, such as increases in residential or commercial densities, transitorienteddevelopment, and mixed-use zoning.Implications – PSTA must consider the implications of both SB 360 and Amendment 4 on futureservices. While SB 360 may provide additional funding for service enhancements, Amendment 4could negatively impact transit-supportive land use changes in Pinellas County.Public InvolvementPSTA has undertaken several activities to garner public input on future transit enhancements. On April 13,2010, a workshop was held with members of the TAC to discuss PSTA transit enhancement priorities forthe next 10 years. The workshop was conducted to provide a forum for the TAC members and other keystakeholders to generate ideas and prioritize the most important needed improvements for the PSTAsystem. Additionally, an on-board survey of PSTA fixed-route buses was conducted in April 2010 to collectrider input on current transit services and to provide direction for future improvements, marketing, andpolicies. Finally, a telephone survey was conducted in April 2010 on Medicaid bus pass users. The majorpurpose of this survey was to identify the main reasons for these Medicaid bus pass holders to use PSTAfixed-route service, their satisfaction levels with PSTA customer service, and opinions on possibleimprovements to the system.More frequent service and more weekend service were mentioned in the top five priorities of each publicinvolvement activity. Improving service frequency will increase ridership by making the service moreattractive to those who do not regularly use transit as their primary form of transportation. Implementationof more weekend service will assist PSTA users in daily travel needs, especially those who require publictransportation on weekends to reach employment. Additional weekend service is important for thosewithout other transportation choices.Additionally, both on-board survey respondents and Medicaid respondents mentioned later service andmore shelters as top priorities. Since 48 percent of on-board survey respondents and 25 percent ofMedicaid respondents use PSTA service for work trips, later service will further assist PSTA users inreaching destinations. Installing more shelters will make transit use more comfortable for riders, especiallyin the hot and rainy summer months.Tindale-Oliver & Associates, IncPinellas Suncoast Transit AuthoritySeptember 2010 6-12 Transit Development Plan