Happening Now
Did "petty politics" kill Florida HSR?
November 5, 2013
Written By Ross Capon
The Atlantic Cities has an interesting discussion of how and why Florida Gov. Rick Scott killed the state’s high speed rail project. It is based on a Tampa Tribune report about communications between Scott and Republican State Senator Paula Dockery. There is evidence that the decision was driven by “petty politics” rather than “fiscal prudence.”
Here is a key sentence: “What’s most upsetting about the Tribune report – though in a way also a little encouraging – is that it shows the death of Obama’s high-speed rail plan was not inevitable. Many Republicans involved in the story clearly favored the idea…”
The piece ends by suggesting that “Scott’s decision to halt high-speed rail may soon bring his own time in office to an end.” His predecessor Charlie Crist, now a Democrat, is leading in the polls.
Rendering of a would-have-been Florida High-Speed Rail station.
"The National Association of Railroad Passengers has done yeoman work over the years and in fact if it weren’t for NARP, I'd be surprised if Amtrak were still in possession of as a large a network as they have. So they've done good work, they're very good on the factual case."
Robert Gallamore, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University and former Federal Railroad Administration official, Director of Transportation Center at Northwestern University
November 17, 2005, on The Leonard Lopate Show (with guest host Chris Bannon), WNYC New York.
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