Dead: Tampa-Orlando High-Speed Rail

[TisBit]

That's personal opinion, really.

You're operating under the assuming that we don't currently (hugely) subsidize every other modes of transportation, such as by car or by plane. That is not the case, as we basically fully subsidize both either through infrastructure or other support.

Also, no one is saying Orlando-Tampa is the best place to put HSR. Quite frankly, I don't know why they'd want to do that little stretch, other than it was the easiest one in the nation to get done in the fastest amount of time. I think most are ok with the fact that it won't get built.

It still does not invalidate the fact that HSR is a viable alternate mode of mass transportation that helps with pretty much every problem we face in the near and long term future in our nation.

Sure, everything is subsidized to an extent....but nothing to the extent that our rail system is. The government did not need to take over the airlines to make them work, etc. They do not operate a net loss every year and they have a profitable business margin to them....the fact that the government opts to subisdize infrastructure does not mean that it couldn't be done without that assistance. Rail is a different story.

In many respects, the route which would make the most economic sense would be the New York to Miami route.

People have become so ingrained with the often-repeated myth that passenger trains "only make sense in short and medium distance corridors where they can compete with airplanes" that to suggest otherwise takes some explaining, but there is truth behind the assertion.

I think if you really wanted to make a case for true long distance mass transit, it would need to be more like NYC to Atlanta and Spurs from those cities. Maybe even DC to Atlanta...you want a location that you can then branch off of to make interconnecting routes. The problem is that no one wants to build long distance rail lines to compete with vehicles traffic.

 

[nytimez]

They should probably start with the closest thing they have to a success, and that's replace the Acela route with a true high-speed rail -- Boston-NY-Philly-Baltimore-DC.

If they can't make it work there, in a heavily populated, heavily traveled corridor with good-to-excellent mass transit options in each destination city, then we can be pretty sure it won't work anywhere.

And if it does work, then we can feel at least a little better about investing in it for other routes.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

The problem with this is some other states have decided not to proceed with high speed rail plans and now owe the federal government back what they already spent on it. So quite possibly FL will be in this boat where they increase their debt by not building this rail project. Sure it may just be a small amount they owe back but they also will need to spend to move more traffic on I-4. It's not necessarily a wise decision the Governor made, he just picked which side of the double edged sword to be cut by.

I read and reread your post with interest. I am not sure how Florida will be increasing debt by not building the rail project. If you don't spend the money, how can the inevitable cost overruns come into play?

Let's all remember the Big Dig in downtown Boston where the cost overrun was at least double the initial estimate.

Does Amtrack make money?

 

[KYMickey]

I read and reread your post with interest. I am not sure how Florida will be increasing debt by not building the rail project. If you don't spend the money, how can the inevitable cost overruns come into play?

I think he was referring to the possibility that Florida would have to repay the Federal government for any Federal money they had already spent studying the idea or for preliminary engineering.

 

[skiingfast]

I think he was referring to the possibility that Florida would have to repay the Federal government for any Federal money they had already spent studying the idea or for preliminary engineering.

That is exactly how it works. Fed gives state X dollars to build project. State spends Y dollars of X then decides not to finish project. State owes the Fed X back, including the Y they already spent because they did not build the project. Now state's debt has increase by Y.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Ummm....because we're broke.

Except we aren't. The project creates job and apparently we aren't "broke" enough to extend tax cuts to millionaires. But hey, why let facts get in the way of your argument.

 

[yitbos96bb]

This was a big subject here a few months back... but Gov. Scott has killed the planned high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando.

Details:

Florida’s Governor Rejects High-Speed Rail Line, Fearing Cost to Taxpayers

Delayed. Not dead, regardless of what Scott wants to tout in his reelection plans. Either way, very short sighted.