Dockery: Scott’s Journey to the Dark Side is Complete

[thelakelander]

Regarding Scott's decision on both rail projects:

His dramatically different response prompted a harsh reaction from a wide spectrum of critics, ranging from Democrats to staunch Tea Party supporters, who accused him of being hypocritical and caving in to big business.

Scott contended that, while he still had reservations about the 61-mile SunRail commuter line's long-term viability and potential ridership, his hands were tied by how far the project had progressed.

It had been approved by the Legislature and signed into law by former Gov. Charlie Crist.

His lawyers told him that if he blocked the project there was a good chance he would not prevail in court like he did when he turned down high-speed rail.

"In this case they said there was a significant risk that I would lose," Scott said to newspaper editors and reporters attending a conference in St. Petersburg.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20110701/NEWS/110709988?tc=cr

[Ocklawaha]

Good to know that MJ is on the dark side again. 

I found Mica's comments very interesting as he refered to HENRY FLAGLER, which I take was a thinly veiled push for the FEC RY-AMTRAK deal. 

OCKLAWAHA

[Duuuvalboy]

1. One will benefit 2,000 commuters per day (Sunrail), whereas the other primarily relies on tourist ridership of 3 million per year which translates roughly to almost 30,000 riders per day

What 3 Million tourists would be riding HSR between Tampa and Orlando?  I don't see that.  If you're in Orlando for vacation why would you want to go to Tampa?  What is there really to do there? Not much.  I could see people riding it to Cocoa Beach, but they train would have to go right out to the beach.

I thought HSR was for supposedly people commuting from Tampa to Orlando anyway?

Personally I think the first HSR line in FL needs to service the east coast I-95 corridor from Miami to points north out of Florida to bring the tourists in.  If you drive your car on vacation to Florida why would you want to get on a train and ride to Tampa or wherever leaving your car behind?  You wouldn't.

Actually there is things to do in Tampa

[acme54321]

What things is there to do in Tampa that you can't do multiple times in Orlando?  Maybe go to the aquarium?

[thelakelander]

See an actual urban historic city, lol. Orlando is a Lakeland on steroids because of the rat down the street. Btw, i'm sitting in the middle of the parking lot also known as I-4 now.  Sunrail, HSR and any other option to get cars off the streets of this sprawl bug is overdue, imo.

[jerry cornwell]

I think that, as the 4th largest state in the U.S., we should be figuring to a larger degree actual commuter traffic within the state. HSR btwn Tampa and Orlando would have been an incredible asset for continued growth in all of Florida. The state is no longer exclusive towards tourism.

[acme54321]

See an actual urban historic city, lol. Orlando is a Lakeland on steroids because of the rat down the street. Btw, i'm sitting in the middle of the parking lot also known as I-4 now.  Sunrail, HSR and any other option to get cars off the streets of this sprawl bug is overdue, imo.

I hear you lake, Orlando is horrible if you want my opinion.  I just don't see your average out of state disney world tourist wanting to ride a train to Tampa for anything.  They are more interested in Harry Potter and Mickey Mouse.

[thelakelander]

Tampa would be popular for water or adult-based entertainment. Grown ups want to have fun too. But I agree that the HSR plan had some major flaws by ignoring the needs of the every coummter.

[FayeforCure]

I think that, as the 4th largest state in the U.S., we should be figuring to a larger degree actual commuter traffic within the state. HSR btwn Tampa and Orlando would have been an incredible asset for continued growth in all of Florida. The state is no longer exclusive towards tourism.

So true! HSR would have been a flagship for Florida at no cost to FL tax-payers.

Rick Scott called it Obama Rail and that is why he rejected it!!!!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: MICHELLE DeMARCO
JULY 1, 2011 850.487.5833

SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER PRO TEM ARTHENIA JOYNER DENOUNCES GOVERNOR SCOTT'S APPROVAL OF SUNRAIL

TALLAHASSEE - Senate Democratic Leader Pro Tem Arthenia Joyner (D-Tampa) on Friday sharply denounced Republican Governor Rick Scott's approval of the $1.2 billion SunRail project, calling it "rank partisan politics at taxpayers' expense."

"Governor Scott used all the right arguments to green light the wrong rail project," Joyner said. "His support had nothing to do with good policy, good logic, or the good of Floridians. But it had everything to do with hypocrisy and allegiance to his Republican brethren."

Earlier this year, Senator Joyner was one of two senators to sue the governor in the state Supreme Court after he rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money to build a state-of-the-art high speed rail system in Florida, part of a nationwide economic recovery package backed by the Obama Administration. The first leg would have linked Tampa to Orlando, creating tens of thousands of desperately needed jobs and alleviating congestion along the heavily traveled I-4 corridor. No state tax dollars would have been required for the project, nor were tax payers liable for future costs.

At that time, Scott claimed he would not support "trying to push our counties into taking an irresponsible act of taking the risk of a high speed rail project."

Which is exactly what the CSX SunRail project Scott approved Friday will do, noted Senator Joyner. "This boondoggle commits millions in state taxpayer dollars for a train that will carry primarily freight, few passengers, and bypasses any service to both Orlando International Airport and Disney World - two prime destinations for tourists and commuters.

"He torpedoed a much needed $2.4 billion high speed rail project, supported by President Obama, that would have benefited taxpayers without costing them a dime, and brought in real ridership dollars and real construction jobs," said Sen. Joyner. "Yet he justifies a train to nowhere, pushed by Republican Congressman John Mica who has received tens of thousands of campaign dollars from interests vested in the CSX project. He committed taxpayers and local communities to hundreds of millions of state dollars in construction costs, overruns, operating losses and potential liability.

"For someone who touts his status as an 'outsider' this decision reeks of an inside political deal. Gov. Scott allowed the questionable interests of a Republican Congressman to trump the best interests of Florida's taxpayers."

###

Michelle DeMarco
Press Secretary
Florida Senate Democratic Office
850-487-5833

[Ocklawaha]

Rant all you want Faye, Sunrail is needed far more then the 'flying fantasy Mickey Mouse train' ever was. The ridership numbers are going to prove me right, and if not, then you can laugh and tell the world how I was wrong.

In the first place, you'd have to have Sunrail AND Hart Rail AND Amtrak all physically connecting with HSR in order for it to even have a chance of working between Tampa and Orlando.

You'd have to abandon the dumb end point stations (one at an airport in the edge of civilization and the other in Tampa's version of a parking garage and transit stop) and move them into the heart of the city's or at least the nearest downtown rail terminals.

HSR isn't going to work as a transportation island, so EVERY stop would have to have not just provisions for bus transit, but actual bus transit itself.  Something Florida is woefully lacking. As a Tampa Bay area newspaper found out, going from the parking garage-HSR station in Tampa, to Clearwater took a couple of transfers and half of a day, we'd have to double, then triple, most every bus route that comes close to the train. We'd have to have added hundreds more transit connections. Even then it would fail if those streetcars and buses did not cluster around the station each time a train was due.

Scott might have been determined to kill HSR when he came into office, but in the process he probably guaranteed its survival in many states by not letting Florida commit Seppuku 切腹 on the alter of world class transportation failures.

Faye, I can still get you a deal on those Green Cove Springs to Chiefland HSR tickets.

OCKLAWAHA

[FayeforCure]

Hmmm Ock..........and Sunrail sounds good to you?

It's the CSX sweetheart deal of a lifetime.

And the lies that were told along the way are incredible:

The federal government, wary of financing boondoggle projects, has strict rules on how ridership projections are calculated. Florida’s Department of Transportation, mindful of Mr. Mica’s keen interest, looked for ways to push up the number of projected riders, efforts that federal regulators found dubious.

Florida officials, for example, assumed that large numbers of commuters heading from one point in the suburbs to another would be willing to undertake a bus-to-rail-to-bus trip, a travel pattern that federal officials told them “cannot be found on any existing commuter rail service in the United States.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/28/us/politics/28mica.html