Newly inaugurated Gov. Rick Scott has not yet signaled whether he will get on board with a high-speed rail connecting Tampa and Orlando, but the Senate president says he wont go along for the ride.
Supporters have argued that the long-sought train would be mostly paid for with federal money. But speaking with reporters late Tuesday night during Scotts inaugural ball, Senate President Mike Haridopolos said that even if the state only has to pay $300 million instead of the full $2.6 billion, the price tag is still too high.
My take on high-speed rail is if weve got to (pay) $300 million, Im not going to go for it, Haridopolos told the News Service of Florida. We cant afford $300 million. It might be 90 percent off, but its still $300 million we dont have ... Im not going to borrow from the Chinese to build a railroad that a lot of people dont want.
Federal officials say the project is the most shovel-ready in the nationwide network that President Barack Obama envisions will eventually rival the federal interstate highway system.
Haridopolos insistence now that the state should not pay for rail appears at odds with his voting record. Haridopolos was among 27 senators to vote in favor of a bill that cleared the way for the state to purchase existing freight rail tracks for the proposed SunRail commuter train in Orlando. The sweeping late 2009 rail package, which supporters argued then was necessary to win federal money for the high-speed train, also provided about $15 million annually to cash-strapped Tri-Rail in South Florida.
A month later, U.S. transportation officials announced they were awarding $1.25 billion to Florida for the Tampa-to-Orlando train from the federal economic stimulus, half of the money the project was expected to cost. Since then, the feds have put another $1 billion on the table, bringing Floridas total higher than any other state but California.
A spokesman for Haridopolos told the News Service of Florida on Wednesday that the Senate president did not have any further comments on rail, declining to explain the difference between the current discussions about paying for rail and the ones that took place in 2009.
As for Scott, the new governor in his first official remarks made no mention of the rail project. But he used his high-profile inaugural address to make the case for not spending state money for new projects, which could resurface when he announces his decision on the bullet train.
Floridians have entrusted us with their tax dollars, Scott said in his speech. They worked very hard for those dollars. They badly need their money for their needs. We must treat those resources with the respect they deserve -- and keep our demands to a minimum.
Scott also took several swipes in his inaugural address at the administration in Washington, D.C., that is dangling the money for the train, which could be another indicator of his leanings on the project.
Faced with a deep recession, some say the answer is to expand the role of government, Scott said. That's the approach the administration has chosen to take in Washington. That is absolutely the wrong approach. Government has no resources of its own. Government can only give to us what it has previously taken from us.
The discussion comes as transportation advocates released a new study this week aimed at reversing public perceptions that trains require higher subsidization than other methods of getting around, particularly roads. The Florida Public Interest Research Group study, titled Do Roads Pay for Themselves? said that the state has spent $600 billion more on roads than it has taken in from gasoline taxes over the last 63 years.
"The myth is that public transportation is somehow subsidized by taxpayers while roads are magically not, Florida Public Transportation Association director Wes Watson said in a statement. Roads and bridges are a vital part of our nations infrastructure and must be maintained. However, it is important not to forget that public transportation provides at least equal, or better, overall return on taxpayer investment than road building.
And if predictions of $5 per gallon gasoline by the end of 2012 come true, our nations transit systems will be called on to bear an even greater load of our transportation needs, Watson concluded.
So far, however, Scott has only promised to review the plans for the train. During his 2010 campaign, he echoed Haridopolos contention that the train should pay for itself.
Upon receiving the latest $300 million for the bullet train last month, Department of Transportation officials said they would continue to develop the project documents and continue our coordination with all appropriate parties," perhaps a nod to the tough sales job facing them.
Detailed context on Florida transportation issues is available on the NSF Transportation Backgrounder here.
