[SadieMirsade]

How High-Speed Rail Can Help Expand the Economy - Richard Florida

[DailyJournalist]

Originally Posted by SadieMirsade

How High-Speed Rail Can Help Expand the Economy - Richard Florida

The only thing the Orlando-Tampa rail is going to expand is the pockets of Disney. This rail is not being built to help the residents of Orlando or Tampa with their daily commutes, it is being built to shuttle tourists from the Tampa beaches to the Disney theme parks. I say let Disney pay for it, why should the tax payers pay for it.

[GLS2010]

Originally Posted by DailyJournalist

The only thing the Orlando-Tampa rail is going to expand is the pockets of Disney. This rail is not being built to help the residents of Orlando or Tampa with their daily commutes, it is being built to shuttle tourists from the Tampa beaches to the Disney theme parks. I say let Disney pay for it, why should the tax payers pay for it.

we know this is true in your fantasy world. But in real life, everyone knows it will benefit the two metro areas.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by GLS2010

we know this is true in your fantasy world. But in real life, everyone knows it will benefit the two metro areas.

Right on!

[SadieMirsade]

Originally Posted by DailyJournalist

The only thing the Orlando-Tampa rail is going to expand is the pockets of Disney. This rail is not being built to help the residents of Orlando or Tampa with their daily commutes, it is being built to shuttle tourists from the Tampa beaches to the Disney theme parks. I say let Disney pay for it, why should the tax payers pay for it.

I have thought of that too. If anything...there should be emphasis on a train running between Miami and Tampa....continuing all the way to Houston.
That seems to make a lot more sense to me.
I see a line running around connecting all the major southern cities in Texas, Gulf States, Florida and Georgia. I really believe that this will be an essential foundation of the new South of the 21st century.
Look, new energies and mass transportation are the wave of the future. The Arab sheiks may have goofed up when they started building those skyscrapers, but they are now looking at more sustainable development options.
They`re also hoping to build a high-speed rail line connecting the UAE to Turkey (Turkey has already embarked on an ambitious high-speed network project).
And the most interesting gossip is.....the oil rich, rich, rich Qataris are buying up alternative energy companies and start-ups...eg. Wind, Solar....throughout the world....especially in Europe. They are trying to position themselves as the owners of future energy sources, primarily...technology.
The reason I mention the UAE is that they have gone from sand and oil....and are looking beyond, investing in their survival beyond the oil age. Yeah, they love their SUVs and fancy airlines, but they`re neither dumb nor intransigent. They realize that once the oil is gone, they`re left with sand and a bunch of buildings to maintain. No water, no farmland...the sun burning down all day long. Moonscape.

Here are some links....
http://www.unece.org/trans/doc/2007/...ons/Turkey.pdf

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/52024...-link-on-cards

http://www.balkantravellers.com/inde...k=view&id=1464

http://www.qatarenergyinvestors.com/EventContent/Home.aspx?id=65&new=1 (broken link)



For once, the US can look to the rest of the world for examples, ideas and solutions.

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by SadieMirsade

I have thought of that too. If anything...there should be emphasis on a train running between Miami and Tampa....continuing all the way to Houston.
That seems to make a lot more sense to me.

For once, the US can look to the rest of the world for examples, ideas and solutions.

It is already planned. A direct Tampa to Miami would be near impossible and much more expensive. The current proposal would not require purchasing much land.

Orlando to Miami is the second part of the rail line. Then there are more proposed routes.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Feds Give Fla. $800M More For High-Speed Rail Line (http://cbs4.com/local/Florida.Orlando.Tampa.2.1979236.html - broken link)
The federal government has given Florida another $800 million to build a high-speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando....Florida also is getting $8 million to plan an Orlando-Miami leg.

[HeartofFlorida]

LAKELAND | U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office announced Monday that Florida will get an additional $800 million in federal money to help pay for construction of a high-speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando.

Nelson, D-Fla., said he was informed of the grant by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

Florida officials applied for a $1.1 billion grant in August, which will require a 10 percent match by the state, and expected an answer this month or November.

The grant was needed to supplement the $1.25 billion in stimulus funds President Barack Obama announced for the project in January.

The line is the first-ever high-speed rail project in the United States. The new financial award means Florida needs only about $300 million more from the federal government, in addition to the state's share of funding, to complete the $2.6 billion project, Nelson's office said. The remaining federal funds could come next year.

"This is fantastic news for Florida," Nelson said. "This will ensure the state remains full speed ahead with high-speed rail construction. As I've said many times, high-speed rail will be a game changer for Florida's economy, along the likes of the interstate system and Disney."

Other officials connected with the project were cheered by the news.
"This is what we expected," Lakeland Mayor Gow Fields said.

"What's good is that it's not stimulus, but part of an annual appropriation and if we stay on track, we'll get the other $300 million."

"This is the greatest news I've heard in a long, long time," said Tom Patton, executive director of the Central Florida Development Council.
Patton said the prospects that the project is moving forward as planned gives him hope that the promised economic stimulus accompanying the project will happen, too.

"We'll be the first spot on the map," he said.

Kevin Thibault, executive director of the Florida Department of Transportation's Florida Rail Enterprise, which will be overseeing the project, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

The first section of the Florida high-speed rail line is scheduled to begin running in 2015.

Construction of the 84-mile Tampa-to-Orlando route is scheduled to begin by 2012.

In the meantime, work will begin early next year on clearing the corridor of any physical obstacles in the train's path.

That will include replacing the bridges over Interstate 4 at State Road 559 in Auburndale and County Road 557 north of Lake Alfred because the bridges' center columns are in the way of the rail line.

The Florida Rail Enterprise has recently posted preliminary drawings containing some additional details of the plans for each segment of the rail line. They can be viewed at Interactive Map - Florida High Speed Rail.

The rail line, which will predominantly follow the median of Interstate 4, will include a stop somewhere in Lakeland.

Florida Department of Transportation officials are scheduled to announce the location of the Lakeland stop in early December.

Three sites are still under consideration:

A site near the planned USF Polytechnic campus near the eastern leg of the Polk Parkway.

A site east of Kathleen Road south of Mall Hill Road.

A site near the intersection of Clark Road and the western leg of the Polk Parkway.

However, the first two sites have been the center of recent discussion because of disagreements over which is the most promising site for attracting ridership and economic development.

The USF Poly site was endorsed by the Polk TPO board and by a number of other local government economic development organizations because of its central location and the large amount of nearby undeveloped land that could allow more flexibility.

Although the Lakeland City Commission has not taken an official position on a preferred stop location, Fields said the selection of the USF Poly site was done without a full cost-benefit analysis.

He said he expected updated numbers will be presented at a public workshop sometime in November to reveal the latest projected ridership and economic figures.

The date and location of that workshop have not been set.

The Tampa-Orlando line is the first phase of at least two phases.

The next phase would run from Orlando to Miami along a route still to be determined.

Federal transportation officials notified Congress on Monday of the department's intent to award an $8 million planning grant for the Orlando-Miami route.

In the meantime, Florida Rail Enterprise will advertise in November for requests for qualifications for potential contractors to design, build and operate the system.

The list of applicants will be reduced to four and those companies will be invited in March to respond to a formal request for proposal to do the work.

The contract is expected to be awarded in late 2011.

Each image below corresponds to a numbered section on the map above. Images 5 and 10 are temporarily unavailable. All segments can be viewed here in pdf format.

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[JohnVosilla]

Street cars were very popular a long time ago and are what is really needed. Probably would do a lot of good in any decent sized city. San Francisco might be about the only city to not abandon them the past 60-70 years..

[SadieMirsade]

Originally Posted by JohnVosilla

Street cars were very popular a long time ago and are what is really needed. Probably would do a lot of good in any decent sized city. San Francisco might be about the only city to not abandon them the past 60-70 years..

My latest experience with a street car has been mixed. I currently live in front of a street car line, and as the population has increased, traffic has gotten worse, the streetcar gets stuck in traffic, and the route that would normally take 5-10 minutes can take up to 30 minutes.
I rely on that streetcar, 'cause at my destination, parking is almost impossible and traffic jams are so bad...I may as well walk or bike to get there.

A few days ago I got off the streetcar with motion sickness. I almost threw up. The driver had been starting and stopping so much, the wagon was jerking constantly.
In higher density areas, some form of elevated train would probably be the best solution (in case a subway line is not possible...as in Miami because of undeground water..etc).