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Record of Proceedings

Hillsborough TPO Special Meeting - May 5, 2026

Hillsborough County Archive View Page — Tuesday, May 5, 2026
BodyHillsborough County, Florida
SessionHillsborough County Archive View Page
DateTuesday, May 5, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 2:03:48

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
2:31

I guess that would help, wouldn't it?

2:33

So good morning, everybody.

2:34

I'll try again.

2:35

Welcome to the uh May 5th special meeting of the Hillsborough TPO.

2:39

Uh, if you would please uh stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

3:02

Thank you, everybody.

3:03

Mr.

3:04

Secretary, would you please call the role?

3:08

Good morning, TPL board.

3:11

Ross.

3:12

Here.

3:13

Wolstall's excused.

3:16

Miller here.

3:21

Cullen.

3:24

Bowles?

3:25

President.

3:28

Council Member Clendon is excused.

3:31

Hertak.

3:34

Carlson.

3:37

Kilton here.

3:40

Here.

3:42

Clube.

3:44

Stevens.

3:47

Slater.

3:49

King.

3:50

Here.

3:51

Joseph?

3:52

Here.

3:53

Thank you.

3:54

You have a quorum.

3:55

Very good.

3:56

Thank you.

3:56

And just for the record, I'm told our colleagues at the city of Tampa were previously scheduled for a state of the city event this morning.

4:04

And so some of them will probably filter in as they can get here.

4:08

So if anybody's wondering where the city of Tampa is, that's where they are.

4:11

And that meeting was scheduled before this one.

4:13

So has everybody had an opportunity to review the minutes from December 2nd?

4:19

And if so, is there a motion to approve?

4:25

And seconded by board member Gray.

4:27

Any discussion or corrections to the minutes?

4:30

If not, all those in favor say aye.

4:32

Aye.

4:33

Opposed.

4:34

No nays.

4:35

We have two people signed up for public comment.

4:42

One of them is on virtual, and one of them is here in person with us.

4:46

And the first one on virtual is Hong May.

4:49

And so Mr.

4:50

May, you are recognized, sir, for public comment.

5:03

My name is Hong Mai and my address 14031 North Delma Bree Tampa Highway.

5:13

I thank you very much for the opportunity to me up here in front of you to offer my opinion as the capacity of the professional engineer with a strong interest in trampolation industry.

5:27

I had the opportunity to examine 11 different MPO TBO with multiple county.

5:35

They are falling in the 15 to 17 voting member rents, with the exception of Belusia, Flackler, Auriva to the C TBO and Metro Plan of Lando are 28 and 25 respectively.

5:51

Interesting enough, Belusia Flackler TBO creates six member executive leadership committee who provide a guidance to the 28 member of TBO governing board.

6:05

I understand you are lending to the regional MBO for 25 voting members, and I also understand the reason behind this decision.

6:19

In this setup, Hilbert Gaudi will have 12 voting member, Penelas will be eight, PASCO will be five.

6:28

IOD her other counties that Hibro Gauthier will always have the majority, and you might have you might have some you know pushback and you need to defend this, you know, selection.

6:42

Uh between I agree with you to include Tamba Pog Authority and Hillborough Aviation Authority in the voting member to the regional TBO.

6:56

My point are the Propel 25 member voting risk, slower decision, dispute, accountability, and more politic in every technical choice, which is difficult for DOT district seven to be a your partner, coordinator, and implement a consistent with FDOT work program.

7:25

I understand you follow your federally mandate, regional planning transportation organization, but uh DOT district seven with two other Gaute, Citrus and Hugnando, they have to follow.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Urban Planning████████████████████████████28%
Transportation Safety███████████████████████████27%
Technology and Innovation████████████████████████24%
Public Transportation████████8%
Public Safety█████5%
Procedural███3%
Economic Development███3%
Public Engagement█1%
Affordable Housing█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Hillsborough TPO Special Meeting - May 5, 2026

The Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) held a special meeting on May 5, 2026, at 9:00 AM (local time) to receive a presentation from Waymo on autonomous vehicle expansion and to discuss and vote on a crucial action item regarding the proposed regional MPO merger with Pinellas and Pasco counties. The meeting included public comment, a detailed status report from Waymo, and extensive deliberation on apportionment scenarios for the merged board.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approval: The minutes from the December 2, 2025 meeting were approved unanimously via voice vote with no discussion or corrections.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Hong Mai (Professional engineer, address provided): Expressed concerns about a 25-member voting board for the regional MPO, arguing it would slow decision-making, reduce accountability, and increase politicization of technical choices. He proposed creating a 5- or 6-member executive leadership committee to guide the governing board, citing examples from other MPOs like Volusia/Flagler.
  • Bill Roberts (Hillsborough County resident): Spoke in strong support of regionalism, urging the board to think regionally and create a representative MPO. He emphasized the importance of including Port Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Aviation Authority as permanent voting members, and cautioned against repeating the failures of the TBARTA experience.

Discussion Items

Waymo Autonomous Vehicle Expansion Status Report

  • John Tupps (Waymo Government Affairs) presented remotely, detailing Waymo's operations: 500,000 fully autonomous trips weekly (up 2.5x year-over-year), 4 million autonomous miles weekly, and operations in 11 markets including Miami and Orlando. He described the technology (Jaguar I-Pace with 29 cameras, 6 radar, 5 LIDAR sensors) and highlighted safety data: 92% fewer serious injury crashes compared to human drivers. In Tampa, mapping is underway with human safety specialists; no public launch timeline was given. Board members asked about manual override, citation liability, cost competitiveness (stated as within a few dollars of Uber/Lyft), wait times, teen accounts (Waymo Teen available in Phoenix for ages 14-17), service area (planned initial 40-60 sq miles around downtown Tampa, surface streets only), speed adherence (follows posted limits), insurance coverage, and inclement weather performance (LIDAR/radar handle rain, fleet can be deflected). Waymo also announced a pothole data-sharing initiative with Waze and emphasized economic benefits including jobs (mechanics, dispatchers, etc.) and tourism.

Regional MPO Apportionment Update and Discussion (Action Item)

  • Dr. Johnny Wong (Executive Director) recapped the 2.5-year merger study process, noting that the original apportionment plan (25 voting members, Port & Airport off-top, 23 population-based seats) was supported by Hillsborough TPO and the Tri-County TMA, but Ford Pinellas MPO recently declined to act and instead proposed changes. Three options were presented:
    1. Original plan (25 seats: 2 off-top for Port/Airport, 23 population-based: Hillsborough 11, Pinellas 8, Pasco 4) with a majority voting provision requiring approval from a majority of each county's delegation for key documents.
    2. Pinellas proposal (eliminate off-top seats, allocate all 25 by population; Port/Airport seats would come from Hillsborough's allocation).
    3. TMA alternative (keep Port/Airport off-top, Hillsborough donates 1 population seat to Pasco, resulting in Hillsborough 10, Pinellas 8, Pasco 5).
  • Board members expressed varying positions: Commissioner Cohen prioritized Port/Airport having voting seats but was flexible; Mayor Kilton preferred option 3 to avoid a supermajority; Commissioner Slater urged keeping focus on the regional goal; Councilmember Hertak advocated for including a transit seat (rotating among HART, PSTA, GoPasco) off-top. Commissioner Myers supported moving forward. Board member King offered a substitute motion to include transit agencies as voting members (altering allocations to Hillsborough 13, Pinellas 7, Pasco 5), which failed 2-9 (only King and Clendennan in favor).

Key Outcomes

  • Substitute Motion Failed: Motion by Board Member King (seconded by Councilmember Clendennan) to include transit agencies as voting members, adjusting seat counts, failed with 2 ayes (King, Clendennan) and 9 nays.
  • Original Motion Passed: Motion by Commissioner Cohen (seconded by Mayor Kilton) to adopt Option 3: 25-member board with Port Tampa Bay and Hillsborough Aviation Authority as voting members off the top; remaining 23 seats allocated by population; Hillsborough County to donate one of its population-based seats to Pasco County (resulting in Hillsborough 10, Pinellas 8, Pasco 5). Passed with a majority (nays: King, Hertak, Clendennan).
  • Phase Two Authorized: Staff directed to proceed with Phase Two of the merger study, including drafting the interlocal agreement, bylaws, staffing plan, and transition plan. The apportionment details (sub-allocation within Hillsborough County) will be discussed later in summer/fall 2026.
  • Next Steps: The TPO will communicate this counter-proposal to Ford Pinellas and Pasco MPOs. The next regular TPO meeting is scheduled for May 13, 2026, at 10:00 AM, where priority projects will be considered.

Meeting Transcript

I guess that would help, wouldn't it? So good morning, everybody. I'll try again. Welcome to the uh May 5th special meeting of the Hillsborough TPO. Uh, if you would please uh stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you, everybody. Mr. Secretary, would you please call the role? Good morning, TPL board. Ross. Here. Wolstall's excused. Miller here. Cullen. Bowles? President. Council Member Clendon is excused. Hertak. Carlson. Kilton here. Here. Clube. Stevens. Slater. King. Here. Joseph? Here. Thank you. You have a quorum. Very good. Thank you. And just for the record, I'm told our colleagues at the city of Tampa were previously scheduled for a state of the city event this morning. And so some of them will probably filter in as they can get here. So if anybody's wondering where the city of Tampa is, that's where they are. And that meeting was scheduled before this one. So has everybody had an opportunity to review the minutes from December 2nd? And if so, is there a motion to approve? And seconded by board member Gray. Any discussion or corrections to the minutes? If not, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed. No nays. We have two people signed up for public comment. One of them is on virtual, and one of them is here in person with us. And the first one on virtual is Hong May. And so Mr. May, you are recognized, sir, for public comment. My name is Hong Mai and my address 14031 North Delma Bree Tampa Highway.

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