The Dire Need for Light Rail in the Tampa Bay Area: A Special Commentary

From Ybor City to historic downtown St. Petersburg, from the pristine tourist haven of Clearwater Beach to the Unique Greek heritage of Tarpon Springs, our own Tampa Bay area is home to 4 million, 228 thousand, and eight hundred and fifty five people (according to the 2010 U.S. Census). This makes us the second largest metropolitan area in the state of Florida, and fourth in the southeastern United States.

Yet, for all of our diverse and populous metropolitan expanse, Tampa does not possess a single daily train. There is no train to unite our bay area, with the world famous attractions of Orlando, nor to unite our large and growing state, economically and socially. Through a broader lens, trains uniting our states from sea to sea seem to be generally a relic of the past. Americans generally depend on cars and planes, while the rest of the industrialized world is throwing its weight behind the development of high-speed railways. Many European countries have introduced these affordable and effective vehicles, as have the Japanese. With our economic competitiveness and future prosperity at heart, President Obama and the 2009 Congress devoted 8 billion dollars of stimulus money to develop a high-speed rail.

Whatever one’s position may be on the merit of stimulus spending, or on Keynesian economic philosophy in general, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative alike have found agreement on the importance of infrastructure development and spending, at least as far back as President Eisenhower developed the U.S. highway system. Indeed, it was former Republican Governor Charlie Crist who first lobbied for a high-speed rail for Florida. Writing to former State Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, Crist asserted, “Florida is the state that can turn imagination into reality for world-class high-speed rail in the United States faster than anywhere else in the nation.” (2/16/11 the New York Times.) President Obama evidently agreed. With most of the land for the tracks already owned by the State, the environmental approval is already in place, as well as a sure fire revenue collecting stop between Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World already donated, it seemed as though there could be no better place to begin laying foundations for a future horizon of American infastructure.

Simultaneously, this would cut carbon emissions, reduce our crippling dependency on foreign oil, and take cars off of the nation’s most dangerous highways (I-95, and I-4 have been consistently ranked in the top three most dangerous highways in the nation). With the 8 billion dollars already placed aside for creating 13 U.S. rail corridors, the President announced with great fanfare that 2.4 billion dollars of stimulus money would be devoted to the 2.6 billion dollar project of building the first American high speed rail in Tampa. Further, in a state where we suffer from nearly an 11 percent unemployment rate, this project would create an estimated 20,000 construction jobs and 1,100 permanent operation and maintenance jobs.

In light of such economic woes, the announcement of such a project is nothing short of an economic reviving shot in the arm. Despite the project’s 2.4 billion dollar wrapping paper, already paid for by the Federal Government and the slew of enthusiastic private companies willing to pay for any additional costs or losses, Gov. Rick Scott refused the President’s stimulus offer and scrapped the plan altogether, saying instead, “The truth is that this project would be far too costly to taxpayers and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits” (according to Tampa Bay Online).  Perhaps the only apparent risk might be the political gain made by a President of an opposing party in our highly desired swing-state, but even the Republican establishment in Tallahassee is entirely outraged by Scott’s unilateral slashing of potential funds that would benefit people all over the state and in the long term, our country as a whole, while also giving back to Florida tax revenues from the Federal Government. “The Constitution doesn’t allow the governor to not spend appropriated funds,” he said. “We would certainly hope that in the future he would follow the appropriate policy with regard to his expenditures.” said State Sen. J.D. Alexander (R) of Lake Wales.

Meanwhile, according to China Investor Online, the financial holding company BlackRock increased its holding in Guangshen Railway Company to 7 percent, this past January. In fact, the NYSE saw an increase of 12 percent in the company’s stock, as many investment firms like BlackRock are eager to build high speed rails across the Chinese countryside. So much so, that it has also been estimated by China Investor Online that by 2012 China will be operating more High-Speed rails than the rest of the world combined. For a Governor whose campaign seemingly obsessed itself with its perceived relevance in the world of investment and business, it seems that Mr. Scott is rather ignorant of current investment trends. While the very investors that Scott claims to respect all see the incredible potential of the high speed rail as a means to building a prosperous future, the Governor slams the door in its face. Perhaps he is content with a competitive China, while his own state continues to flounder in obsoletism. It is becoming clear that this ill equipped governor would rather allow corporate profiteers an opportunity for returns, than to stand responsible for the common good of his state. Governor Scott bets on China, while Florida is denied a seat at the table.