Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio urged the business community on Tuesday to help educate the public on Hillsborough County's proposed mass transit system that's dependent on voter approval of a 1-cent sales tax referendum in November.

And businesspeople also should send e-mails to Hillsborough County commissioners in support of the new multimodal system, which will include light-rail, to ensure the commission votes later this month to put the issue before the voters. Now, the commission primarily hears from those opposed to the system proposed by the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority.

"There aren't many opportunities in your life like this,” the mayor said at the transportation panel discussion sponsored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

Hillsborough voters have a chance to influence public policy issues that will change the region for the better for decades to come, the mayor said.

Other panel members - Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields, Hillsborough Area Transit Authority Chief Executive David J. Armijo, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority Executive Timothy S. Garling and Pinellas County Economic Development Director Mike Meidel - said officials must stop talking about improvements to mass transit and make them happen.

A recent study that placed the region last for commuters shows how important it is to provide reliable, efficient mass transit to foster economic development, Meidel said.

Densely built Pinellas County has improved its roads but needs reliable mass transit to improve traffic congestion.

Fields arrived late for the 7:30 a.m. discussion because he was caught in Interstate 4 rush hour traffic. "I apologize for not taking the train,” Fields said of the high-speed rail system that President Obama announced in February will be built to connect Miami, Orlando and Tampa.

There were also references to how Charlotte, N.C.'s light rail system should have been built in Tampa. In the 1990s, the Hillsborough commission refused to match federal funds to build the system.

Iorio said that she's often asked how TBARTA's 2010 mass transit master plan is important.

"We just got it,” she said. "Yeah we're behind a little bit, probably four decades.”

The good news about being one of the last cities of our size to build a multimodal transportation system, she said is "we can learn from the others.”

"We are a region that has it all, except a modern transportation system,” Iorio said.

For high-speed rail to work effectively, Hillsborough must build a system that offers frequent connection options, said Armijo.

Commerce will flourish when businesspeople can take trains and work on computers as they travel to Orlando and Miami, Iorio said.

In turn, roads will be less congested allowing for easier transit of goods by commercial trucks.

Businesses in Polk County are also being asked to support a sales tax referendum that will create a countywide transit system.

In Pinellas, a transit summit is scheduled for March 22 at the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park, 950 Lake Carillon Drive. It begins at 7:30 a.m. Registration is required by March 18 at http://business.stpete.com.

Iorio expects the Hillsborough commission to discuss the November sales tax referendum at its 9 a.m. March 17 meeting. She asked transit supporters to attend to show support.