[JohnVosilla]

Originally Posted by SadieMirsade

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).

So would quality of life in your community be better without it? Streetcars certainly aren't the answer everywhere..probably works best in density levels similar to much of more urban eastern portions of southern Florida maybe up and down US 1 with feeder buses east/west and connections to tri-rail and amtrack

[MiamiRob]

Well seeing as how Florida elected Rick Scott as Governor we may never see high speed rail in this state! He was already against the proposal to begin with him saying that he didn't want Florida to pay for any of it. The Feds have pledged over $2 billion dollars to our state already and all the state has to pay is about 10% of the total cost.
Scott would be a moron to kill this project which would employ tens of thousands of Floridains and be a boon to central Florida and its economy.
GOP Governor-elects in Ohio & Wisconsin plan to kill their high speed rail plans even though they have recieved Fed money already. They want this money to be applied to the deficit! That won't happen because the Feds have already allocated this money specifically for high speed rail in their yearly future budgets.
I would tell Rick Scott don't be foolish to kill high speed rail in Florida because other states will benefit from the monies already pledged to us!

[Mike1306]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

Well seeing as how Florida elected Rick Scott as Governor we may never see high speed rail in this state! He was already against the proposal to begin with him saying that he didn't want Florida to pay for any of it. The Feds have pledged over $2 billion dollars to our state already and all the state has to pay is about 10% of the total cost.
Scott would be a moron to kill this project which would employ tens of thousands of Floridains and be a boon to central Florida and its economy.
GOP Governor-elects in Ohio & Wisconsin plan to kill their high speed rail plans even though they have recieved Fed money already. They want this money to be applied to the deficit! That won't happen because the Feds have already allocated this money specifically for high speed rail in their yearly future budgets.
I would tell Rick Scott don't be foolish to kill high speed rail in Florida because other states will benefit from the monies already pledged to us!

What Scott said was that the state needs to look at what we would actually have to pay, not just say "OK the fed is giving us all this money, lets start building" only to find out later it is going to cost the state much more than originally thought.




Around the 4:30 mark

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

Well seeing as how Florida elected Rick Scott as Governor we may never see high speed rail in this state! He was already against the proposal to begin with him saying that he didn't want Florida to pay for any of it. The Feds have pledged over $2 billion dollars to our state already and all the state has to pay is about 10% of the total cost.
Scott would be a moron to kill this project which would employ tens of thousands of Floridains and be a boon to central Florida and its economy.
GOP Governor-elects in Ohio & Wisconsin plan to kill their high speed rail plans even though they have recieved Fed money already. They want this money to be applied to the deficit! That won't happen because the Feds have already allocated this money specifically for high speed rail in their yearly future budgets.
I would tell Rick Scott don't be foolish to kill high speed rail in Florida because other states will benefit from the monies already pledged to us!

Do you see a trend with your elected representative?
do nothing,
spend nothing.
While i think a rapid rail link would probably not be a financial asset for now as the areas needing to be served are just too spread out and its easier to take the car i do think the money spent and the jobs created would enhance the whole areas economy as many would be working and spending the money locally.Ultimately the LRT system would be the way to commute as your other option would be gridlock in the car.
Construction for the infrastructure of such a system would be enormous as lines,100's of stations and parking areas would have to be easily accessible to populations of Tampa and St Pete and neighboring communities as far north as Weeki Wachee on 19 and as far north as Dade city on the I-75 corridor and east to lakeland on the I-4 corridor.

[TriMT7]

If Rick Scott nixes the High Speed Rail project it will be a tragedy.

What do we expect from a guy whose only lived here a few short years though?

"Less taxes" is everything to some people. Investments in the future not as important as short term gains and goals.

[NJPhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by TriMT7

If Rick Scott nixes the High Speed Rail project it will be a tragedy.

Nixing the Florida high speed rail project may save similar projects around the country. Having sprawled Florida have to first high speed line is a risky proposition. I predict an extremely low ridership that may doom other projects. I am not saying that the project should not proceed in the future, but being first is a big mistake and a big gamble with taxpayer money.

[MiamiRob]

^ like the Northeast doesn't sprawl? The combined metro population of Tampa/St. Pete & Orlando is well over 5 million now and growing. In addition Florida and California were the only two states that had very advanced planning to satisfy the Feds.

[gypsychic]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

^ like the Northeast doesn't sprawl? The combined metro population of Tampa/St. Pete & Orlando is well over 5 million now and growing. In addition Florida and California were the only two states that had very advanced planning to satisfy the Feds.

Exactly - the reason we got the funds is we were so far along in the planning - ready to break ground, in fact.

[NJPhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

^ like the Northeast doesn't sprawl?

"The Northeast Corridor, which stretches from Boston to Washington, D.C., and carries approximately 250 million passengers per year - far, far more than any other corridor in the country. The Northeast Corridor is the nation’s only profitable intercity rail corridor, effectively subsidizing other rail service nationwide."

Busiest Rail Corridor in the Country Excluded from Largest Grants of Rail Stimulus Money « InfrastructureUSA

[NJPhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by gypsychic

Exactly - the reason we got the funds is we were so far along in the planning - ready to break ground, in fact.

However that does not mean the rail line will be profitable. That is a big gamble with taxpayer money especially when other projects are riding on its success.