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Broad Support For Rail Transit Will Follow Smart, Statewide Plan
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Published: May 11, 2008
In a just world, the defeat in the Legislature of a questionable proposal to buy a CSX track for a commuter train in the Orlando area would not hurt independent efforts in the Tampa Bay area to build its own rail project.
Politics, however, can be unfair. Congressman John Mica of Winter Park warns that unless Orlando's plan gets rolling again, Florida can kiss goodbye any hope of winning federal money for rail anywhere else. We heard similar warnings from state transportation officials and from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who said, "Tampa and Lakeland will never in our lifetimes see commuter rail if this goes down..."
Yet leaders in the Tampa area shouldn't be rattled or discouraged. They should continue working toward a sensible plan - with or without CSX as a partner - that merits majority support locally and in Tallahassee.
When the childish threats are forgotten, some important realities will remain.
•One urban area's transportation solutions should not negatively affect its neighbors. Yet to close the deal in Orlando, the state agreed to allow CSX to significantly increase the number of freight trains it runs through Polk County. Residents were never involved in the decision-making, a big mistake. Openness brings controversies to light early and provides ample time for compromise.
•All major urban areas need the same thing: a practical alternative to the automobile, especially for commuters.
•The Central Florida deal, which frees CSX from liability even if its trains cause a wreck, is a poor model on which to build future public-private partnerships. Tri-Rail, the commuter line between Miami and West Palm Beach, shares tracks with CSX freight trains and has given the private railroad similar liability protections. State Sen. Paula Dockery says the earlier concession was approved after being slipped into an unrelated bill, and was passed without debate. Florida need not assume this is the best deal it can get.
• The entire state needs a coherent plan to better move people safer, faster and more efficiently than on overcrowded highways. The Tampa Bay Regional Transportation Authority is working on a transit plan for this seven-county region, but it has no ability to link to Lakeland, much less points beyond. State leadership is needed, and it should begin with the governor. The process should be inclusive and transparent.
• More roads alone are not the answer, whether Mica remains a player or takes his ball and goes home. New expressways, such as the proposed east-west road in New Tampa, are proving too expensive to build, even with tolls.
• Building support for the right plan is more important than getting the plan done quickly. The Tampa Bay authority is hurrying preparation of a regional transportation plan so it can meet its own artificial deadline of getting into the next big transportation bill. It's quite possible for projects to be added long after bills are written. The Central Florida Commuter Rail Transit Project was recently added to the old transportation bill in an amendment making "technical corrections." Where there's a will, there's a way.
The important question is not which city goes first, but how all of Florida's urban areas can muster the political resolve to begin demanding - and getting - a fair share of federal transit grants.
Any elected representative who says that Florida, by refusing to overlook major flaws with Orlando's project, has disqualified itself from future competition for transit dollars, should find another line of work.
Of course, Tampa, Orlando and many other Florida cities will get federal funds if they send up well-planned projects backed by solid community support.
Mayor Pam Iorio and other local leaders have been talking about a light-rail project that would link Tampa International Airport to downtown and the University of South Florida area. TBARTA could use that line as a starting point for a regional system. Another idea is to contract with the federal passenger railroad, Amtrak, to provide wider service on freight tracks, as is being done in some other states.
Meanwhile, the TBARTA board is on the right track. It's planning a trip in June to look at rail systems in Charlotte, Dallas and Denver and learn from their success.
Such projects won support because they serve commuters and are good for the regional economy. And they did it without angering their neighbors and threatening their friends.
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Reader Comments
Posted by ( peak ) on May 11, 2008 at 11:40 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
The press in Central Florida still acts as though we have a choice regarding mass transit...we DON'T have a choice! The mass transit plan is something that shoudl have been started years ago and every day we go without a good plan is one more nail in the coffin of the Bay area as a regional "quality of life" player. More and more, we are NOT a player.
It is not IF, but WHEN!
ps Whether Developer-backed TBARTA is the agency to get us there is a another question, I question it's leadership.
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Posted by ( Wizardry82 ) on May 11, 2008 at 12:59 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
When Congress looks to reauthorize SAFETEA-LU in 2009, they will be pressured to avoid the controversial "earmarks" that plague public perception of federal transportation funding.
They will instead look at "projects of regional and national significance" when doling out the federal funds.
Is not the I-4 corridor of regional and naitonal signficiance? Does the region not have the Congresisonal clout (Putnam, Young, Castor, Mica, Brown) to make an east-west rail project possible?
Is east-west not the more important starting point?
It's VERY telling when the ranking GOP on House Transportaiton (Mica) and the Chair of House Rail (Brown), BOTH of whose districts would beenfit from the CSX deal - could get $0 in federal funding.
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Posted by ( gatordem ) on May 11, 2008 at 6:48 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Congresswoman Brown has just been re-elected (as no one qualified to run against her) and Congressman Mica's seat is rated safe Republican by CQ Politics. Of course they are going to remain powerful players, and this is not a just world. You can't possibly really be that naive.
Also, CSX can already run as many trains as it wants through Polk County. They need no one's regulatory permission to do so. You might want to get your facts straight on that.
And if you really want to talk about the best deal we can get, consider the costs of the alternatives to using existing rail corridors for commuter rail, both in hard dollars and the opportunity cost of the delay inevitable in starting from scratch. Compared to those costs, the Central Florida transaction was a very good deal indeed. If assuming the liability for the commuters the state is introducing into the rail corridor is part of that price, it is still a very good deal. Particularly since the commuter rail line would be owned, operated and maintained by the state.
We could talk about the reason why TBARTA can't link to Lakeland - because Polk County specifically asked not to be included in the TBARTA enabling legislation - but that's a story for another day.
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Posted by ( djjohnny ) on May 11, 2008 at 9:56 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
How poignant of you to identify John Mica as the corrupt bully that he is. This person is the most hypocritical member of your state's congressional delegation, and the most short-sighted. By obfuscating any improvements for Amtrak service to FL and the rest of the US for years and then trying to force backroom deals down the public's throat, he demonstrates the urgent need for FL to come out of the Stone Age and get some decent honest representatives who will do the people's work and not the lobbyits's.
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Posted by ( WinterHaven ) on May 12, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Congresswoman Brown in a position of power? She is a walking joke. She takes signals from Mica who allows her to speak, she's had many questions raised about her business practices and her daughter currently makes rail money. She should step away from the issue.
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Posted by ( Wizardry82 ) on May 12, 2008 at 11 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
gatordem - again, if they were so powerful, why were neither able to secure federal dollars for a major project in their own districts?
Because FRA knows the deal was a boondoggle, and Congressional leadership is cracking down on transportation earmarks.
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Posted by ( mousemenz ) on June 7, 2008 at 11:09 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Thank you Djjohny for urging FL voters to "term limit" John Mica.
A better alternative is on the ballot.
Clyde Malloy is a retired public safety officer. When the Mica (and Faye Armitage, for that matter) we're busy taking money from hard working people, Clyde was pulling children from burning building and busting drug dealers on the street corner.
You want demonstrated a commitment for honest representation, just look at what the candidates have done in the past.
I support Mr. Malloy and urge everyone to consider his values and qualifications by visiting his website www.malloyforcongress.com and meeting with him at their nearest opportunity.
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