URGENT ACTION NEEDED ASAP!
The Florida Senate is debating the SunRail legislation. LINK to a PDF version of the bill as of 12/4/09.
In a nutshell, this is a proposal to relieve traffic congestion in Central Florida. We do not believe it is a wise investment of our tax dollars for the following reasons:
1) The track history of public rail transit projects is not good. Amtrak has lost money consistently, and this is for a purpose better-suited to rail transportation (i.e. long distance vs. local transportation).
2) This makes use of $2.8 billion of the federal "stimulus" money, which is in fact our tax money. We are of the position this money would be better used by not using it (and lowering the spending and resulting debt). The federal government has allocated $8 billion for high-speed rail programs across the country. One estimate from the CATO Institute puts the projected cost at $90 billion (this piece contrasts interstate highways with rail lines). The shortfall will be made up with our tax money.
3) The Florida State budget has a gap of over $1 billion as of this year. As with the federal government, it is not a wise financial move to spend this amount of money when we are already short on funds. There is an allegation that after the initial government outlay of money, the private sector will bear the costs. Using history as a reference, this is unlikely.
4) We think that if this is a good (i.e. profitable) idea, a private firm would have undertaken the project. The fact they have not is indicative that it will be yet another money drain on the state.
5) The plan will fail to achieve it's stated objective. The proposed route and plan of operation does not alleviate the congestion, as commuters will still need to make use of ground transportation to get to and from the train stations. It will serve only a narrow section of the area on a north-south axis.
6) According to this local news article from July 2008, the existing public transit system in the Central Florida area (LYNX) is also losing money. This was after $1 million in federal funding announced in January of 2008 by former Republican Senator Mel Martinez.
PLEASE contact your Senator today and express your opposition to this expensive legislation. You can find your state Senator here by inputting your ZIP+4 (found on any mail you get, i.e. 32301-1234)
Senator Al Lawson (most of our area) is (850) 487-5004 or you can email him at: lawson.alfred.web@flsenate.gov.
Please tell him you want him to vote “no” on the high speed rail bill.