For those of you in Tampa, you might not be aware our city has a Climate Action and Equity Plan. There are numerous city projects that have not received adequate public input, especially regarding our roads and land use.
For example, driving lanes are being removed on historic El Prado Boulevard and the community is upset. The city agreed to hold a public meeting but I was told by a city councilman “The city staff are now about to start the construction stage” and “they tell me the purpose would be to inform the public.” (i.e. not make any changes)
In Tampa’s Vision Zero Action Plan, they highlight a “data-driven and collaborative approach”. As I explain in my petition, the latest Vision Zero project has hardly been data-driven, their study is a decade old, and didn’t project future volumes or consider the dangerous impact of spillover (from congestion) into our residential streets—not designed for through traffic. Their “study” skipped an entire segment of the Boulevard. In 2022, my questions addressed to the city were not answered. No signs have ever been posted on El Prado for public meetings, not then, not now.
Vision Zero is not about saving lives, it is about reducing carbon or greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Removing driving lanes for bikes is not their only plan for reducing carbon emissions. Their plans call to densify Land Use “TO INDUCE ALTERNATIVE MOBILITY CHOICES.” Ultimately this is all to “help the City to decrease its GHG emissions.”
In other words, they don’t want you driving in cars. This is made quite clear in their Climate Action and Equity Plan, which describes increasing population density to eliminate the need to drive:
Planning for our Vision Zero congestion nightmare pays well, up to $115,876/year.
The city introduces this “new” job listing as: “This is professional work in urban planning in pursuit of Tampa’s Vision Zero initiative.”
Tampa’s Climate Action and Equity Plan suggests establishing policies such as “Re-evaluate, decrease and, where appropriate, eliminate off-street parking requirements.” They want to decrease and eliminate parking.
I thought the concern was 15-minute city prisons? They are aiming for 10 minute neighborhoods.
They want to collect data about vehicles on the road and archive it, so they can track and monitor progress of reducing vehicular use. Keep in mind some of that data might be about your movements and is collected by companies such as Flock:
The City of Tampa links to the Vision Zero Network, explaining it “was created to build momentum and advance Vision Zero in communities across the U.S.”
Vision Zero Network makes it clear they are using a “carrot and stick approach” and tells us they encourage “disincentivizing single-occupancy driving” with congestion pricing:
Remember the real goals here and how NYC eventually implemented congestion pricing. The pricing is not a flat fee. It sounds like a hidden algorithm. According to the Metropolitan Transit Authority “The toll amount depends on the type of vehicle, time of day, whether any crossing credits apply, and the method of payment. There are also discounts and exemptions that apply to certain drivers or vehicles entering the Congestion Relief Zone.”
Let’s not forget how intimately Vision Zero is tied to the United Nations, afterall Sustainable Development Goal #11 says “Bike, Walk or use Public Transportation.”
The UN and actions of WHA, UNRSC, WHO, and UNGA “led to Vision Zero…as a viable road safety strategy” and they promote Vision Zero as a model for countries and citizens in road safety programs.
We are a sovereign nation, we do not answer to the UN or globalists.
Governor DeSantis just signed HB1217, an anti-Net Zero law. The legislation states:
“Net zero policy” means any policy, program, or initiative designed to achieve a balance between total amount of greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere with an equal amount removed from the atmosphere.”
It also states:
Will this law help us stop the whacky transformation of our transportation infrastructure to achieve net-zero? Will it stop the densification of our communitites to achieve net-zero? I hope so. In the meantime…
This is our community—not a globalist playground. We are Floridians, American citizens, not global citizens. Efforts to remove driving lanes could result in increased congestion, ugly barriers in the road, increased deaths and accidents, as well as a future where residents are encouraged to use public transit through negative motivations such as congestion pricing or smart parking pricing. It is time to stop Vision Zero and Tampa’s plans to densify our communities. Speak up and tell your city council and Mayor what you think about these plans.
CitizensLighthouse 