The Truth about Sun Rail
Matthew Falconer
February 14, 2011
The truth is Orlando´s commuter rail is not about transportation. It is about "concurrency." Without commuter rail downtown Orlando is at or near capacity in terms of how many high rise buildings they can construct because roads are at capacity. Commuter rail will enable powerful special interests in downtown Orlando to build more buildings and make more money. We the people are spending $2.5 billion on a ground based rail system simply because it will check a box in someone´s development application.
I have no problem with these interests making more money, but I refuse to let this project jeopardize what taxpayers value most; public safety, education and our economy. Sun Rail is all about pleasing these very powerful special interests with friends in high places. And it is possible to grant these interests a "concurrency waiver" and make all sides happy (except for the train contractors).
Proponents of Sun Rail say it will reduce traffic, lesson the need to expand I-4, and create jobs. All claims are false.
Sun Rail will have 6000 road crossing a day where the gates will come down and interrupt traffic flow across central Florida. It will dramatically increase traffic congestion. As much as 85% of the users will come off buses and less than 1/10th of 1% of central Florida residents will use the system. Florida already spent $250 million to acquire land to widen I-4 which will happen with or without Sun Rail.
Writing in Transport Reviews, Jonathan Richmond of Harvard University stated, "In no case has new rail service been shown to have a noticeable impact upon highway congestion or air quality."
But the greatest myth of the rail is job creation. A new study in Spain proved that for every job "created" by government 2.2 jobs were lost in the private sector. The study explained before government can spend a dollar they must first take it from the private sector. The private sector uses capital more efficiently therefore taxing money out of the private sector results in a net loss of jobs.
We the people rejected rail with votes in 2003 and 2004. We the people understand Florida does not have the settlement patterns to make rail a viable transportation alternative. And the truth is there is only so many tax dollars to go around. For all of those who are criticizing our Governor for allowing education spending to be reduced, I suggest we terminate the Sun Rail program and use the $534 million the State has available for the project to offset cuts to education.
The truth is it is not too late to terminate the Sun Rail program and prevent cuts to our core public services and our economy. Please contact Rick Scott at 850-488-7146 and ask him to "Say Yes to Education and No to Sun Rail."
I have no problem with these interests making more money, but I refuse to let this project jeopardize what taxpayers value most; public safety, education and our economy. Sun Rail is all about pleasing these very powerful special interests with friends in high places. And it is possible to grant these interests a "concurrency waiver" and make all sides happy (except for the train contractors).
Proponents of Sun Rail say it will reduce traffic, lesson the need to expand I-4, and create jobs. All claims are false.
Sun Rail will have 6000 road crossing a day where the gates will come down and interrupt traffic flow across central Florida. It will dramatically increase traffic congestion. As much as 85% of the users will come off buses and less than 1/10th of 1% of central Florida residents will use the system. Florida already spent $250 million to acquire land to widen I-4 which will happen with or without Sun Rail.
Writing in Transport Reviews, Jonathan Richmond of Harvard University stated, "In no case has new rail service been shown to have a noticeable impact upon highway congestion or air quality."
But the greatest myth of the rail is job creation. A new study in Spain proved that for every job "created" by government 2.2 jobs were lost in the private sector. The study explained before government can spend a dollar they must first take it from the private sector. The private sector uses capital more efficiently therefore taxing money out of the private sector results in a net loss of jobs.
We the people rejected rail with votes in 2003 and 2004. We the people understand Florida does not have the settlement patterns to make rail a viable transportation alternative. And the truth is there is only so many tax dollars to go around. For all of those who are criticizing our Governor for allowing education spending to be reduced, I suggest we terminate the Sun Rail program and use the $534 million the State has available for the project to offset cuts to education.
The truth is it is not too late to terminate the Sun Rail program and prevent cuts to our core public services and our economy. Please contact Rick Scott at 850-488-7146 and ask him to "Say Yes to Education and No to Sun Rail."
Print
Email
