Word: floridas
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...Florida, like the national bellwether it's become this decade, could also serve as a gauge for HSR's political viability. While Crist has directed his transportation officials to apply for the funds, he hasn't exactly played the ebullient cheerleader he's famous for being on issues like alternative energy. That's largely because he knows a chorus of voices in Florida and the rest of the nation still fears that bullet trains, despite the federal largesse, will turn out to be a white elephant whose costs have been lavishly underestimated by the Obama Administration. Even the Orlando Sentinel...
Still, despite the questions about Florida's long-term commitment to HSR, Vice President Joe Biden this month assured the state that it's "in play" for the stimulus money. Either way, Florida is a strong reminder that the passenger-rail debate isn't likely to go away. Liberals tend to romanticize trains (because the French use them) and conservatives tend to disparage them (because the French use them). But while the U.S. probably can't re-create the charming ride from Paris to Lyon, it also can't keep treating rail like a loathsome relic. Since World...
...Florida's HSR boosters say its rail project could create as many as 20,000 jobs. In addition to the $1.5 billion in stimulus money to fund the 100-mile Orlando-Tampa line, which will likely use the more eco-friendly electric TGV trains popular in Europe, Florida will look for $1 billion from the private sector, which will operate the line. The Florida High Speed Rail Authority predicts the line would be profitable: even with one-way fares of less than $20, say its studies, HSR would generate up to $42 million a year from an annual ridership...
More important, says Florida Congresswoman Kathy Castor of Tampa, HSR can enhance Florida's old economy, tourism, while helping lay a foundation for a new one. "So many visitors to Disney World would also like to hop on high-speed rail and enjoy our beaches," says Castor. "But the I-4 Corridor is also vital to our economic future, and high-speed rail is a high-tech project. I see it as a linchpin of Florida's reinvention...
...many opponents see it as financial quicksand, certain the Orlando-Tampa high-speed line will end up costing much more than $2.5 billion. Still, free billions from Washington during a crippling recession are hard to pass up. Florida's bullet, as a result, may well be a train that's already left the station...