Legislator Gets on Wrong Line, Confuses High-Speed Rail With SunRail

State Rep. Ken Roberson's recent e-mail response to a concerned constituent didn't inspire much confidence in the lawmaker's grasp of the state's proposed rail projects.

The Port Charlotte Republican's Jan. 28 e-mail attempted to rebut criticism of the multibillion-dollar high-speed rail line that would connect Tampa and Orlando. But conflating that project with the SunRail commuter line in Orlando, Roberson wrote:

"The proposed SunRail project is a partnership between the federal government, Florida Department of Transportation and local governments. We have been able to leverage our state's financial investment into a 3 to 1 match. These matching dollars are not federal stimulus dollars.

"If this state investment leads to an additional expected $2.6 billion for rail in Florida, the state's match increases to 6 to 1. There are very few investments the state can make that can be leveraged to that degree. Regardless of whether or not we receive future federal support, this legislation stands on its own. Moving forward with this proposal is important for Florida's transportation future and is a good investment, especially since taxes are not being raised to make it happen."

Roberson added:

"Building public infrastructure is a core function of government, and rail is an innovative, energy efficient, clean form of transportation. Under this plan, we are able to invest in Florida's transportation future without raising taxes and using only existing revenues. If we were going to try to alleviate congestion through building more roads in Central Florida, building an additional lane on I-4 in each direction over the same 61 miles would cost $7.5 billion dollars."

The numbers may be correct. The fiscal rationales may even be plausible. But none of the foregoing has anything to do with SunRail.

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