Is Floorda Two Iggernunt Too Pul Thiss Off?

[Ocklawaha]

The way our State has handled rail up until this point speaks volumes about our future and the need to get some fresh faces in Tallahassee. This just in from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel:

Tri-Rail's success is critical to mass transit's future in Florida
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board
March 22, 2009
Tri-Rail may be breaking ridership records, but it's on fiscal life support.

Since its inception, Florida's only commuter rail service has been operating hat-in-hand, relying on the collective charity of annual contributions from the state and the three counties in which it operates. That's a poor substitute for the way all other commuter rail lines across the country are funded, namely with a reliable, dedicated revenue source, and it is a funding recipe for disaster in a state that hopes to expand mass transit to other parts of Florida.

Currently, the Florida Legislature is considering a bill that would establish a new commuter rail line, called SunRail, along a section of CSX tracks in the Orlando area. The proposal, according to its proponents, is critical to revitalizing Central Florida's economy and ultimately create a commuter rail line along the I-4 corridor.

Unfortunately, the SunRail proposal comes with an upfront $1.2 billion price tag, and critics have raised doubts about contractual language that could transfer all liability from the CSX freight line to Florida taxpayers. It's a very sweet deal for CSX, but apparently, such is the price one pays for using existing freight lines for passenger service in this state.



The deal also sets up SunRail enthusiasts for a future conundrum that South Florida has learned too well via its own experience with Tri-Rail. The state of Florida, along with the federal government, will pay for the bulk of SunRail's operations in the first seven years â€" as it did for Tri-Rail. After that, the local communities will be asked to pony up, and that's where the fun begins.

Squeezed by a bad economy, local officials in Broward and Palm Beach counties are now considering deep cuts to their contributions to Tri-Rail. If Tri-Rail is fortunate, it may muddle along with operating 30 trains during the workweek â€" and no trains at all on the weekends. If the two counties decide to forego their contributions altogether, Tri-Rail officials say they will be forced to shut down operations completely within two years.

Shutting down Tri-Rail for lack of operating capital is an option Florida cannot afford.

Some short-sighted lawmakers may chalk up the commuter line's misfortunes as a local problem. But Washington will be hard-pressed to provide significant funding for new commuter rail lines to a state that allowed its only existing one, which carried 16,000 passengers a day, to languish and fail because lawmakers in Tallahassee were reluctant to establish a dedicated funding source to pay for the service.

In other areas of the country, a consistent pot of money beyond a state's general revenue fund is a key fixture that pays for the operations of commuter rail lines. Florida needs such a plan, but a rental car surcharge advocated by South Florida officials and Tri-Rail backers has languished for years in Tallahassee.

Even so, Tri-Rail remains a linchpin in Florida's efforts to expand mass transit.

The success of SunRail, and similar ideas on the drawing boards in Tampa and Jacksonville, must have a viable example to follow if state leaders hope to ease the gridlock and traffic congestion that clogs many roads throughout Florida. A properly funded Tri-Rail, through a dedicated funding source, fits that model best.

Tri-Rail officials, again, are pushing for a new tax on car rentals to generate ample operating money for the South Florida commuter line and the mass transit projects across the state.

If state lawmakers really want mass transit to succeed in Florida, they had better move quickly to make sure that the money is in place to ensure that all regional transportation authorities have the funds they need to operate commuter rail lines, be they already in operation or new ones in the making.

What a Pisser!
OCKLAWAHA

[FayeforCure]

establish a dedicated funding source to pay for the service.

In other areas of the country, a consistent pot of money beyond a state's general revenue fund is a key fixture that pays for the operations of commuter rail lines. Florida needs such a plan, but a rental car surcharge advocated by South Florida officials and Tri-Rail backers has languished for years in Tallahassee.

Even so, Tri-Rail remains a linchpin in Florida's efforts to expand mass transit.

A properly funded Tri-Rail, through a dedicated funding source, fits that model best.

Tri-Rail officials, again, are pushing for a new tax on car rentals to generate ample operating money for the South Florida commuter line and the mass transit projects across the state.

If state lawmakers really want mass transit to succeed in Florida, they had better move quickly to make sure that the money is in place to ensure that all regional transportation authorities have the funds they need to operate commuter rail lines, be they already in operation or new ones in the making.

What is the opposition to a new tax on car rentals?
Aren't the tourists the ones that would be paying?

Or is the party of NO, which rules us from Tallahassee, afraid of the T word?

[thelakelander]

I think the second answer may be the correct one.