Now that President Obama has signed a stimulus package that includes about $8 billion in funding for high speed rail, it looks like the dormant Florida High Speed Rail Authority will reconvene for the first time since 2005. They're actually having a meeting on February 26th at the Orlando International Airport. Alas it's during business hours, so I can't attend.
The proposed Orlando to Tampa route has a lot going for it as most of the advanced planning is done including environmental studies and station locations. Plus it could bolster one of the last strong economies the US has going for it right now, tourism.
Even if we don't get a large enough portion to build a bullet train or (real) high speed rail line with this package, It's clear that the President's priorities include finding more mass transit in the future. So it's a good idea to get the ball rolling again now. So let's hope Governor Crist gets down on his high horse and does what's right for Florida.
I wrote about Walt Disney World President Meg Crofton's Orlando Sentinel Editorial on The Disney Blog yesterday. Needless to say, I'm in support of getting SunRail, Central Florida's commuter rail system, chugging along as soon as possible.
Nothing says please don't bring your company to Florida like knowing your employees children will be attending schools that can't even afford to hire substitute teachers and instead just puts the kids whose teachers called in sick in a holding pen in an old gym. That's exactly the kind of place I want to move my company if I'm a CEO.
If that's not a crime, it should be. At the very least it's a failing of all the elected officials from the city and county level right up to the state and federal. Governor Crist has to do something about fixing the state's educational system ASAP or it will continue to drive away businesses from moving here and that will place a ceiling on future tax revenue.
Update: It gets even worse. Because Florida has so screwed up its educational funding, we're likely to miss out on receiving funds from the stimulus package. Awesome job by Governor Crist.
Egg meet Chicken. Good content and social networking have to go hand in hand. There is no point in
doing one without the other.
Come on Florida. Now is your chance to step up to the teller window and get your ticket punched for state wide mass transit. Possibly a bullet train, but certianly a high speed train. We hear that liability is an issue, but even the trial lawyers have gotten out of the way. Still, state legislators can't seem to figure out what every other state in the nation with light rail or subways already has. Hello? Pick up the bloody phone and call them.
