Editorial: Will the Newly Approved Tampa to Orlando High-Speed Rail be a Boon or a Bust?

BRADENTON -- I am cautiously optimistic regarding the $1.5 billion, high-speed rail project that will connect Tampa to Orlando (and eventually Miami). Federal stimulus funds for the venture were authorized this week. I believe that high-speed rail (HSR) will play an important role in our nation’s future transportation plan, and I am excited that this project will bring sorely needed jobs to our state. Nonetheless, the word that popped into my head when I heard was ”fiasco.“

Bullet trains like this have helped Japan reduce traffic.

The first aspect of the project that gives me concern is whether central Florida is a good candidate for such a system in the first place. Neither Tampa nor Orlando have extensive or widely-used public transportation systems, like subways or commuter rails. That means people using the train would have to take a taxi, city bus, or drive their car to the station; then take the train and figure out how they’re going to get to their destination once they arrive in the other city.

If someone isn’t going to Disney World, either airport, or the immediate vicinity of one of the limited stations, it just doesn’t make sense. Because of stops, the train is estimated to save surprisingly little time, all of which would be eaten up by the second trip required once you arrived. Proponents of the project talk about opening Tampa to international tourists that come to Orlando. Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Fla., who represents Tampa, has said that it will bring the Orlando tourists who’d love to enjoy the beach, but I don’t know if that’s realistic. I’ve tried to imagine it, but I keep getting a visual of confused Europeans and Asians disembarking in downtown Tampa, beach chairs in tow, asking which direction to walk toward the sand.

Rail advocates say that once the HSR is in place the other systems will follow, but I’m not so sure. If billions of dollars are spent on the big-ticket item, only to see it passing back and forth empty, leaking money like a sieve, taxpayers or private enterprise may not be eager to spend more money, and federal stimulus funds will be long gone by then. At that point, Florida might be the butt of ”bridge to nowhere“ style jokes, at a time when people are just beginning to stop reminding us of the 2000 election. Such a failure would also likely spell the end of other HSR projects for some time, even for better candidates.

HSR can be a great way to significantly reduce pollution, congestion, and dependency on foreign oil. Unfortunately, if not done correctly, it does none of those things and at tremendous financial cost. At one time, it was a great way to connect the economies of large cities, but in today’s world, high-speed internet does that much more effectively than high-speed rail, and expanding that service to all areas of the United States would probably be a better economic stimulus. For all of those reasons, my fingers are tightly crossed that our state gets this right.