Florida Insurance Network

You really have to wonder why the Hills­borough County Public Transportation Commission disregarded its own attorney’s counsel to knock out a group of green downtown entrepreneurs for the sake of a local taxi monopoly.

Given the history of local government in Tampa, you would have to be almost naive not to cast a slightly suspicious eye on the commission’s vote, especially when Lou Minardi appears to have planned all along to jump into the free-shuttle business.

Maybe I’m missing something but isn’t the public interest better served by allowing Tampa’s free electric shuttles to keep on keepin’ on? Not only did they they prove a green business model, their existence helps establish a market for electric vehicles. Given that we would all be better off by burning less fossil fuel, it’s hard to understand how anyone but Minardi benefits by shutting down these little shuttles.

It seems to me that some cities would rather do everything possible to encourage companies like HOP Tampa. Launching a successful business is difficult under any circumstance but it’s exponentially more challenging when you’re doing it with new technology and a whole new business model. These entrepreneurs need all the help they can get.

For example, HOP Tampa proprietor Tony Perisco told me that the single hardest aspect of launching his business was finding insurance for his electric vehicles. That’s easy to understand when you stop to think about it. Insurance underwriters are allergic to unknowns. I suspect it took a fair amount of hard work to obtain insurance for his company but, in this case, you wouldn’t dare drive people around downtown Tampa without it. It sounds strange but it’s true: by insuring his operation, Perisco is helping establish a market for electric vehicles.

Bob McDonald, who recently opened a Cruise Car dealership in Celebration asked me last week to look into helping his customers find insurance for their new solar-powered low-speed vehicles (LSVs). You don’t need to be an insurance maven to understand how this is important to sales. People aren’t going to buy these units, if they can’t easily and affordably insure them.

I’m working on it. So far, I’ve found two, possibly three, companies operating in Florida that are willing to insure LSVs. It would be nice to see other companies join them.

Perisco told me he wants to franchise his business. Frankly, that seems unlikely given that we’re talking about taxi service but he’s got a right to think big. Besides, even if he doesn’t franchise his company, he might successfully expand his business, creating more demand for electric vehicles and paving the way for others like him.

Conservative politicians tend to favor free-market capitalism over government prescribed solutions. HOP Tampa is a wonderful case in point. Someone with a little imagination and an appetite for risk opens a business, succeeds and the next thing you know you’ve got computers on every desktop or electric taxis in every block?

It’s just too bad the Hillsborough County Public Transportation Commission doesn’t see it that way.