Posted on 03/10/2011 7:48:47 AM PST by Iron Munro
That route is already well serviced by buses, I wonder how many of them are full?
Now if they added a high speed line including one that took people from the Orlando circuit out to Cocoa Beach and dropped them off for the day they may see a big jump in riders.
Re: #1; It the same with Rat’s and vote recounts. Recount and recount until you get the result you want then stop. See the movie “Key Largo”.
Its like this, the poll asks something similar to, “would you like to ride a bullet train if this state had one?”
Very few mightl answer “no”, and therefore we have this crap reported as news.
There is a similar debate going on in the Cincy, OH area (I live close by) about streetcars for the downtown area. It is interesting to watch.
If these DOT individuals, this hack newspaper, this hack writer, Obama, etc., really believe this boondoggle could make money then they need to privately fund it themselves. They need to put their money where their mouth is or shut up.
Meanwhile, the Florida taxpayers shouldn't have this loser hung around their neck.
The Gov. is right. Here in Tampa, we have a trolley system that for the last 5 years, is costing residents millions a year.... It doesn't make any money... But the elites had to have it. There isn't a mass transit system in the U.S. that isn't running in the red.... Look at Amtrack.
I read this yesterday on another news source, and could only shake my head in disbelief.
Our new governor did the right thing by turning down the money.
Back when I was still reporting in North Carolina, I did a fair number of stories on various rail projects, mostly metro light rail. Absolute boondoggles, every one of them.
Now, I realize this is not exactly the same thing Gov. Scott is opposing.
But big intercity rail and urban light rail have one thing in common: Both are surely among the biggest money pits ever devised in the Leftward Land of Delusion.
With the HSR, everybody has to continue to "pay" for the unused seats...
Yup... in the real world, passenger rail needs on going subsidies. The consultants’ argument is self-serving. Let’s hope high speed rail never gets built in FL.
Good point. The pols would be getting campaign contributions for
bidders trying to buy, er, sway the pols.
Instead, they've come up with this scheme to get the taxpayer to fun
union dem contributions, not to mention providing jobs for their
ne'er-do-well offspring and in-laws.
Do the math. Even at $5 a gallon, its cheaper to drive to Orlando and back than its to sit in a train which will never really be high speed due to the number of stops it would be required to make. When you factor in the time savings going by car, high speed rail really can’t compete.
Liars figure, their figures lie!
I just watched a TV special on the railroad to Miami then to Key West. The entire thing was built by Flagler, using his own money (he was the brains behind John D Rockefeller and Standard Oil).
He created Maimi (they wanted to name the town Flagler but he insisted on using an Indian name.
If Florida really needs this high speed rail and it will make money, why don’t these Democratic politicians get Warren Buffet, Bill Gates or George Soros to invest their OWN money in the project?
At $4.00 a gallon and 23 mpg, costs about $15 to get there.
Compare that to the time to drive to the train station, park, get to the terminal, buy your $30 ticket, wait for your train. At 200mph, you get there in about 25 minutes. Then, go rent a car at $50 a day.
Bottom line is nobody will save time or money taking the train. Makes no economic sense whatsoever.
Rail advocates said Scott is focusing on an anti-rail ideology rather than business and “fact-based” decisions.
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What people *might* or *might not* do in the future are not “facts”, they are projections. They are based on predicting behavior, and, as such, they are probably wrong.
...Which is EXACTLY why Disney wants to build a high-speed train from the airport to their parks and couldn't care less about a route between Tampa and Orlando - even if it were to stop by Disney.
The dishonest reports leave out three things: inflation, cost overruns and route changes/upgrades. Bottom line is it will ALWAYS cost more than the initial projections. See the Big Dig. The taxpayers ARE going to be on the hook once they start building it and they will have shell out more after its starts running.
ALWAYS!
Then Disney should have no problem funding it.
If the rail advocates are right, they should invite a private consortium to build it. If its really going to be profitable, private investors will be willing to put up the money for it.
Why don’t they do it?
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