UPDATE: Florida Rail Rumors Confirmed, but Questions Remain
UPDATE, 1/27/2010: It's official: President Obama will announce high-speed rail funds for Florida at a town-hall event in Tampa this Thursday. (View the AP story here.) Questions remain, however: Will Florida get the entire $2.5 billion it asked for? That would sure make Florida the big winner, considering there are 12 other corridors sharing that $8 billion pot. On the other hand, if it doesn't receive the full amount, where will this cash-strapped state find the funds? The legislature has mandated "minimal" state funding for this project. We shall see, and will report further after tomorrow's announcement. Here's my earlier post...
1/26/2010: It appears that the state of Florida might be on a bit of a roll when it comes to rail, especially if you believe the latest rumor that President Barack Obama is going to announce the state's victory in the high-speed rail stakes this week.
Let's catch up with the latest: In December, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law legislation that partially funds SunRail, a $1.2-billion, 61-mile commuter rail project in Central Florida. The state legislature had approved the legislation during a speedy special session focused on rail that Gov. Crist had convened.
And everyone was pleased, because that meant the state, having shown its commitment to rail, would now certainly receive its more than $2 billion in stimulus funds for its proposed high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando. Except for the Florida Transportation Builders Association, which had some serious concerns about Florida's proposal, which relies strictly on a public-private partnership to build and operate the Tampa-Orlando line, and commits "minimal" state funding to the project.
“If there’s a new revenue source for high-speed rail ... we can live with that,” Robert G. Burleson, president of the FTBA in Tallahassee, told Southeast Construction. “If [a potential subsidy] is supposed to come out of the current dollars that we have, then I just don’t see how it’s feasible. Given the big budget deficit that the state faces, there are going to be tremendous pressures to take money out of the transportation trust fund.”
Nevertheless, it looks like Florida may be at the front of the line to receive some of those federal rail dollars. On Thursday, the day after he gives his annual State of the Union speech--which supposedly will include a major focus on jobs--President Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, will visit Tampa for a town-hall meeting. Though the White House remains mum on any announcement to be made at that event, Florida politicos are starting to count those federal rail dollars. The timing fits with the supposed schedule for an announcement regarding the federal rail funding, and with the president's supposed refocusing on jobs, Again, here is a link to a story from the Orlando Sentinel about the possible meaning of President Obama's Thursday visit.
We'll keep you posted on further developments.
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1/26/2010: It appears that the state of Florida might be on a bit of a roll when it comes to rail, especially if you believe the latest rumor that President Barack Obama is going to announce the state's victory in the high-speed rail stakes this week.
Let's catch up with the latest: In December, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law legislation that partially funds SunRail, a $1.2-billion, 61-mile commuter rail project in Central Florida. The state legislature had approved the legislation during a speedy special session focused on rail that Gov. Crist had convened.
And everyone was pleased, because that meant the state, having shown its commitment to rail, would now certainly receive its more than $2 billion in stimulus funds for its proposed high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando. Except for the Florida Transportation Builders Association, which had some serious concerns about Florida's proposal, which relies strictly on a public-private partnership to build and operate the Tampa-Orlando line, and commits "minimal" state funding to the project.
“If there’s a new revenue source for high-speed rail ... we can live with that,” Robert G. Burleson, president of the FTBA in Tallahassee, told Southeast Construction. “If [a potential subsidy] is supposed to come out of the current dollars that we have, then I just don’t see how it’s feasible. Given the big budget deficit that the state faces, there are going to be tremendous pressures to take money out of the transportation trust fund.”
Nevertheless, it looks like Florida may be at the front of the line to receive some of those federal rail dollars. On Thursday, the day after he gives his annual State of the Union speech--which supposedly will include a major focus on jobs--President Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, will visit Tampa for a town-hall meeting. Though the White House remains mum on any announcement to be made at that event, Florida politicos are starting to count those federal rail dollars. The timing fits with the supposed schedule for an announcement regarding the federal rail funding, and with the president's supposed refocusing on jobs, Again, here is a link to a story from the Orlando Sentinel about the possible meaning of President Obama's Thursday visit.
We'll keep you posted on further developments.
According to this article from the St. Petersburg Times, no state will receive more than half of their request "tomorrow." <a href="http://tinyurl.com/yghm98o" rel='nofollow'>http://tin...
January 27, 2010
According to this article from the St. Petersburg Times, no state will receive more than half of their request "tomorrow." http://tinyurl.com/yghm98o What does that mean, exactly? Will only part of the $8 billion be announced tomorrow? Will the state of Florida have to come up with some funds on its own? Or will other federal HSR funds be available in the near future to cover the entire cost of the Tampa-Orlando line? We'll see..... Tomorrow, tomorrow - it's only a day away.
billions of our taxpayer dollars wasted on a train that no one will ride, then millions more wasted every year to maintain and subsidize it because passenger levels are below expectatio...
February 3, 2010
billions of our taxpayer dollars wasted on a train that no one will ride, then millions more wasted every year to maintain and subsidize it because passenger levels are below expectations.
The stupidity of liberals is immeasurable. Pray to God this thing never gets built.
The stupidity of liberals is immeasurable. Pray to God this thing never gets built.
