“On the other hand, he’s very much in favor of a Florida coast passenger rail from Jacksonville to Miami, which would do a lot for the towns along the route and also for the traffic problems in and around Miami.”
Ok, HAVE AT IT. Since the train would be entirely built within Florida, and since it’s such a great idea, how about you get your legislature in Tallahassee to fund it. Maybe an income tax, perhaps? You know, to help the state advance into the future.
In any case, we in Texas sure as hell are not interested in paying for your Florida-only train.
So, go for it - start making some phone calls.
For pete’s sake, you never bothered to read the part of the post where I said he wanted private investment in this (because it could be profitable).
In addition, it would be part of the NE coastal passenger rail. And much of the Florida section would in fact be paid for by Florida; even right now we are working on getting county/local money to reopen and rehabilitate the old train station and also get some businesses there.
You may not like it, but there is a need for interconnectivity outside of Texas. Some people actually do need to travel outside of your state and (gasp!) may even need to travel somewhere on the East Coast. The reason that both the railroad barons and the US government invested in the original railroads that opened the West was to make economic interconnectivity possible, and I think this is still true today.
Our airports (which also receive federal monies) are massively overcrowded and for some relatively short distances, it is actually faster to take the train because the train usually starts and leaves from downtown and not an hour away from town, the way flights do. And the same is true of driving if you’re going someplace where you wont need to drive once you get there. Just get off the train and take a taxi to your meeting and there you are.
In short, this is simply one of the things that should be added to our ability to get around our country. It doesn’t have to be a government boondoggle, and I don’t see why there’s so much opposition to it (except, as I have mentioned, for the cases that are pure pork, and which should be vigorously opposed, as Mica is doing).