While the White House remained mum on details of the Florida itinerary of President Obama's and Vice President Biden's visit to Tampa or St. Petersburg on Thursday, high speed rail advocates remain optimistic that the reason is to announce federal funding for a Tampa-Orlando route.
"It is likely our efforts to create thousands of new jobs for Floridians have paid off," U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, said.
"Our state is hurting and in great need of a significant boost from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. I had an encouraging conversation with David Axelrod on Tuesday, and I look forward to joining the President and Vice President in the Tampa Bay area on Thursday."
The White House has not provided any indication yet the President and Vice President might visit Orlando, the eastern terminus of the high speed rail line for which Florida is seeing $2.56 billion in federal stimulus funds for capital costs.
"All indications I've gotten are we are in a very good position on the high speed rail front," Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said today.
Bob Clifford, who heads the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority, which is preparing regional transit plans, and David Armijo, who heads the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority, which is planning new transit that could include the area's first light rail lines, agreed high speed rail would have an impact on local transit and vice versa.
A high speed rail would create a need for connections between a Tampa station and the rest of the region for passengers headed to and from Orlando, they said.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement
Advertisement