Why is it that Tampa has given itself over to the automobile with such reckless abandon?

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In the midst of palmetto meadows, pine forests, cypress swamps, fields, and lakes, there is Tampa. It is directly at the gulf. Mangroves, beaches, and islands define the coastline. The land is beautiful. Tampa, however, is ugly. Its suburban sprawl gobbles up wilderness and excretes real estate. Its commercial zones are of the shoebox style — square concrete boxes plopped carelessly on square asphalt lots. Its transportation network is an exploded spaghetti bowl of highways, bypasses, turnpikes, and toll roads, clogged by commuters. There are no urban trains nor subways to release steam from the traffic pressure cooker. Bicycling is iffy and unpleasant, and the bus system is a joke.

The University of South Florida is at the northeastern edge of Tampa. For want of alternatives, cars control the campus as they do the city. The university is a flat rectangle of parking lots, multi-lane streets, and buildings. Gas stations are at three corners of the campus rectangle. 50 mph streets, with up to eight lanes of traffic, define its sides. In the campus quarter, there are no separate bikepaths, no systematic sidewalks, and no safe crossings. Predictably, and typical of an urban community that discourages modes of transportation other than the automobile, many people here are flabby and have paunches.

Why is it that Tampa has given itself over to the automobile with such reckless abandon? Was it ever different? Could it ever be different again? Is there hope that Tampa might become more livable again and follow the example of San Diego, St Louis, Portland, or Dallas? This website is the work of Honors students at the University of South Florida who have investigated the possibility of a mass transit system in Tampa.

Danielle Dupont summarizes the historical dismantling of mass transit systems that happened both locally and nationally at the behest of car and oil companies. Stephanie Corson analyzes the environmental impact of automobiles and compares it to public modes of transport. Binit Shah describes two successful urban transit systems, the one domestic, the other abroad. John Zolna peeks in the smoky backrooms of local politics and describes the current controversy over whether Tampa "needs" trains. Emily Minor, last but not least, pulls out some maps and compares the present bus system with the mass transit proposal that is at city hall, with suggestions for improvement.

Dr. Martin Schönfeld
Department of Philosophy, and
Environmental Science and Policy Program
University of South Florida, Tampa