California High-Speed Rail Backers Want Funds That Florida Shunned

latimes.com:

California bullet train supporters began angling Wednesday for a sizeable share of $2.4 billion in federal high-speed rail funding that Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected.

Scott, a Republican, told reporters he didn't believe projections for a proposed high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa and feared Florida taxpayers would end up having to subsidize the service.

Read the whole story: latimes.com

Comments

[sculptor]

12:16 AM on 02/21/2011

I hope we get Florida's money because they really don't deserve modern transportation. Note, if you think I'm down on Florida out of ignorance or prejudice then I need to inform you that I lived there for three years back in the eighties and became acutely aware that the "da" at the end of the state's name is pronounced "duh."

[oldgrendel]

12:50 PM on 02/20/2011

I would love to see (and use) a nice rail system in California, especially through the central valley. If Florida's fraudulent governor doesn't want the money, so be it (with credits to Boehner).

[lm945]

03:13 AM on 02/20/2011

California leading the way.

As usual.

[harmonikasavingsbonds]

07:41 PM on 02/18/2011

Take away ALL of Florida's money.

[alohaz]

05:56 PM on 02/18/2011

Way to go Boxer, Feinstein and Brown.

[harmonikasavingsbonds]

09:02 AM on 02/18/2011

Can we please have Florida's welfare money as well?

[Steve1976]

05:32 AM on 02/18/2011

As a Californian I would like to see the money Florida turned down go toward paying down the federal deficit.

[JustLeftOfRight]

01:25 AM on 02/18/2011

With the high speed train taking 2.5 hours from SF to LA in days past the it couldn't compete with air shuttles which take under an hour, but now with security you have to be at the airport at least an hour before and between parking, etc, high speed rail is now a legitimate competitor time wise. If the cost is competitive and in fact, just a little bit less, not having to deal with security, pressurized cabins, and bad air seems like a better choice to me.

[DRaymond]

04:14 PM on 02/19/2011

Bear in mind that:
 
LAX now recommends being at the airport an hour and a half before departure.
With taxiing and air traffic control most LA-SF shuttle flights are now scheduled at an hour and twenty minutes to an hour and a half.
From my home in the east side Prime Time Shuttle recommends at least an hour and fifty minutes to get to LAX in the morning or afternoon.
BART takes 35 minutes to get from the airport to downtown.
 
That's 5 hours and 40 minutes to get from my home to downtown San Francisco by air.
 
Meanwhile I could take a twenty minute cab ride to a metrolink station, a 35 minute train to Union Station,  15 minutes to change trains, 2 hours 40 minutes on the train to take me to the transbay Bus terminal and then a 10 minute cab ride.
 
That's 4 hours and 40 minutes total.
 
Door to door the high speed rail beats the plane by a full hour.

[dansup]

01:16 AM on 02/18/2011

let's do it!

[dbrett480]

10:54 PM on 02/17/2011

I wonder how the state will pay for the operating costs of the train? The feds will only pay for construction and there is so much airline traffic on the route that I don't think the state will have money to pay for the operating costs.

[CJCalgirl]

02:14 AM on 02/18/2011

dbrett, There are other things to consider.  planes are getting just plain dangerous.  Huge neglect in maintenance, not-so-well-trained pilots and other staff, and certainly more time, trouble while suffering less comfort.  Plus, there is the issue of jetstreams, adding TONS more pollution.  Plus the higher fuel expenses, which will only go up.  High-speed rail is absolutely safe, as seen in Japan, France, etc.  And, just like BART in the Bay Area, will become the preferred mode of travel for commuters.  This provides greater freedom in where you live, promotes local electric streetcar travel, and bio-diesel buses.  We must think long-term for a change.  The economic boost will come as a result of job expansion, and be just as successful as BART has been, or before that, the L.A. system of the 30s', which Big Oil (Standard), Goodyear, and Detroit bribed L.A. gov't to remove.  The answer is to do as much as possible to get off fossil fuels.  We have to save it for things like road maintenance, (asphalt, you know), not to mention the thousands of other products made from it.  If we continue to use it mostly for fuel, we are DOOMED.  Every other developing country that is currently growing, will pass us emphatically in the economic arenas.  Since when have we become a nation of stick-in-the-muds?  We have always been pioneers, innovators, inventors, and dreamers.  Since when have we become the servants of industry, instead of the leaders?  Not everything is achievable right away, but is that a reason NOT to start?

[dbrett480]

02:20 AM on 02/18/2011

You probably should have looked at some information before you posted. Train travel has a lot more accidents than aircraft. And a jetstream (or contrail) has nothing to do with pollution. I have nothing against high speed rail, I just don't think we have a market for it in CA due to high competition between the airlines. Also with CA having a huge budget crisis I don't see how we can pay for the incredibly high operating costs.

[NamithaSF]

01:11 PM on 02/19/2011

You are right. There should be a business plan. Obama spends billions on posturing to win votes and this is another example. I would approve if there was a thorough, unbiased review of a biz plan.

[SimianNation]

10:52 PM on 02/17/2011

Sad!

[1849]

08:55 PM on 02/17/2011

I personally sent Sec. LaHood a request for these funds.

[DanSc]

08:10 PM on 02/17/2011

Sounds good to me. The California plan makes more sense anyway. It's long enough to be better than driving and still short enough to complete with the airlines.

[StJames]

10:04 PM on 02/17/2011

Florida is 447 miles long.  I've lived in Palm Beach County FL since 1987.  In all that time, there has never been a period during which some section of I-95 through the county hasn't been under construction...

[DanSc]

10:30 PM on 02/17/2011

The two sections are only 84 and 240 miles long. Unless the train is very very very fast, \ it cannot compete with cars at that distance.

[Baileygk]

07:23 PM on 02/17/2011

A some what unfortunate article. What about the MagLev train to Vegas? That is another project that could get this funding.;

[CJCalgirl]

02:16 AM on 02/18/2011

Bailey, Maglev is fantastic!  Needs more publicity, and promotion.

[Baileygk]

12:22 PM on 02/18/2011

agreed. They have already started preliminary work from the Vegas airport to Primm. California needs to get going on their line as well.

Also, Las Vegas, if you are listening. Can you PLEASE connect the airport and the Old Strip with the monorail, or build another elevated monorail straight down the Strip.

[MMJones]

07:17 PM on 02/17/2011

YES! Please send to California!!! It would do a great deal of good in a state way overcrowded with autos.