In a shortsighted and cheap politically motivated move, Governor Rick Scott decided Wednesday that he would reject the $2.4 Billion in funding the state had already received from the US DOT, and in so doing set the state back by over 20,000 jobs. The initial Tampa to Orlando link, an 84 mile spur, would have required a $300M contribution from the state, created an estimated 23,000 jobs, and would have set the foundation for an expanded statewide network of HSR.
While not perfect, we here at Transit Miami have been strong advocates of the Tampa/Orlando HSR route, viewing it as the first step toward creating a viable, sustainable, and long-term alternative to the congested roadways and airports throughout the state. Coupled with smart growth oriented land-use policies and an investment in public transportation, HSR had the potential to reshape the Florida landscape from one of unchecked suburban sprawl and congestion, to livable, multi-modal, communities ready for future population growth and able to co
mpete on a global scale.
Apparently when the Governor said that he wanted to, “Make Florida the Job Creation Model for the Nation” he was just kidding.
The truth is Scott has zero intention of providing any solutions that could serve as a model for the nation- and he is going to need those 20,000 jobs he just sent to California to dig him out of the hole he is burying himself in. Just look at his latest rhetoric and policies; they imitate those of his Republican colleagues who pledge fiscal responsibility by reducing municipal programs while remaining oblivious to the true ailments of our government or the role it should play in supporting both businesses and the citizenry of the state. How can he honestly claim that he favors job creation while making decisions that send tens of thousands of high paying construction and engineering jobs to other parts of the country?
Falling in step with his Republican counterparts in Wisconsin, New Jersey, and Ohio, Governor Scott’s latest decision has shown Floridians that his policies add nothing of value to our state and perpetuate the ideological thinking of the GOP on transportation infrastructure. The traditional GOP economic lens, likely employed by Gov Scott when analyzing the cost-benefit of transit is apparent in this report by the South Florida Business Journal which notes that “…that the state subsidizes Tri-Rail $34.6 million a year, while passenger revenue covers only $10.4 million of the $64 million annual operating budget.” Comparatively, we spend tens of billions of dollars on highway construction and maintenance of which only a fraction of that amount come from user fees and tax. The economic boogeyman conservatives use against transit projects ignore the facts – we spend more than 4 times what we bring in from car user fees and taxes on highway projects, with diminishing returns on those investments on the land-use and development side.
Despite Scott’s self proclaimed “keen business sense,” his myopic focus on the economics of the initial HSR phase illustrates a clear lack of vision. HSR is intended to be built out over multiple phases, with a second phase connecting Orlando with Miami. The economic vitality of the system is hinged on the completion of the network as a whole and not just the 84 mile segment linking Tampa and Orlando. Duh.
If a cornerstone of the Governor’s agenda is truly job creation then transit should be high on his list of priorities. Public transportation systems are not only more efficient, and cost effective than highways, their construction creates more jobs than highway construction projects -to say nothing of the increased tax base and investment that occurs because of the land-use patterns that accompany transit. Here are some other important facts for our Tea Party inspired governor (and republican legislature) to ponder regarding investment in HSR:
- A recent report from the Smart Growth Alliance (SGA), a national coalition of state and local organizations working for smart growth across the country, analyzed the effect of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) on job creation. The SGA report concludes that for every ARRA dollar spent on public transportation (e.g. HSR), it yielded 70% more job hours than ARRA dollar spent on highways.
- In analyzing the effect of HSR on the local economy, the Florida Department of Transportation noted that in addition to the 10,000 direct construction related jobs to be created between 2012 and 2014, the project would have created 23,000 job-years of direct construction jobs and more than 48,000 job-years of work through both direct and spin-off employment during the four-year construction period. FDOT further estimates the system would employ approximately 600 people once operation starts and another 500 indirectly on an on-going basis.
- The Economic Development Research Group, in a report to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), notes that the national rate “…can vary from of 24,000 to 41,000 jobs per billion dollars of spending…” The report attributes the broad range to the disparity of jobs created as a result of capital investments in vehicles and facilities vs. spending on transit system operations.
- The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) even touts the benefits of HSR, noting that $87.2B is lost annually due to congestion in the United States, equating to 4.2B hours of lost productivity, and an additional $41B is lost annually due to air traffic congestion.
The economic impact of this decision reaches beyond the current economic climate. Consider the upcoming oil crisis and how defunt our transportation network will be without alternatives. If we thought that the housing bubble and banking crisis was bad for our economy, what do you think is going to happen to our society when gas prices hit $5 , $6, $7 / gallon? Forget about the near ‘depression’ we just avoided – the bedlam that will result will be unlike anything any of us have ever experienced.
The inverse relationship between gas prices and consumer confidence shouldn’t come as surprise given how dependent the average Floridian has become on oil (and by extension a vehicle) for transportation. Given this relationship, where consumers have few alternatives, oil becomes a further inelastic commodity – further restricting our ability to compete in the global economy. It is not a question of if – but when the shit hits the proverbial fan we will have shortsighted and lackluster leaders like Governor Rick Scott to thank. We leave you with this food for thought from Shell Energy (not traditionally a bastion of tree-hugging liberals) from their 2011 report ”Shell Energy Scenarios to 2050: An Era of Volatile Transitions”
In broad-brush terms, natural innovation and competition could spur improvements in energy efficiency to moderate underlying demand by about 20% over this time. Ordinary rates of supply growth — taking into account technological, geological, competitive, financial and political realities — could naturally boost energy production by about 50%. But this still leaves a gap between business as- usual supply and business-as-usual demand of around 400 exajoules/year – the size of the whole industry in 2000. This gap – this Zone of Uncertainty – will have to be bridged by some combination of extraordinary demand moderation and extraordinary production acceleration.
Supply will struggle to keep pace with demand. By the end of the coming decade, growth in the production of easily accessible oil and gas will not match the projected rate of demand growth. While abundant coal exists in many parts of the world, transportation difficulties and environmental degradation ultimately pose limits to its growth. Meanwhile, alternative energy sources such as biofuels may become a much more significant part of the energy mix — but there is no “silver bullet” that will completely resolve supply-demand tensions.
20 Responses to Governor Rick Scott Kills Florida High Speed Rail and Sends 20,000 Jobs Out of State
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Shortsighted . . . to say the least.
Yeah, well, there’s still that l’il ole deficit of 14 TRILLION DOLLARS AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL that will insure that this debate is academic…….20,000 Jobs to California? They ain’t goin’ there, or anywhere else….Lets get real…….
Building a train, or any other public works project in order to create jobs is an ass-backwards, buy your vote with taxpayer money approach, the same philospophy that politicians used to run up the 14 Tril in the first place…..
And, I don’t see how this train is going to save us from $7 dollar a gallon gas, either, but more Metrorail in Miami and a light rail down the FEC corridor might. But, if the state of Fla gets stuck with the bill for HSR cost overruns and operating expenses, where would South Florida be then?
Unless you think we can just print more money……..
TransitDave, the money is designated, and Scott sending it back doesn’t mean it won’t be spent. It will just go to a more willing state.
I agree we need more intracity transit, but do you think people don’t travel between cities? The only fast intercity transit option we have now, airplanes, is heavily dependent on fuel and ticket prices will be impacted by rising fuel prices.
Also, the 14 trillion you speak of is debt, not budget deficit. The Transport Politic had some good points that some private companies were willing to pick up the cost overruns. http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2011/02/16/florida-governor-rick-scott-rejects-funding-for-tampa-orlando-intercity-rail-project/
[...] way of getting around other than a damnable car? How much do you live inside your head, Rick Scott? How many jobs would this provide? How many folks would bolster ridership? How much prosperity would it bring? That the return you [...]
Dave,
1. Re: 14 trillion debt – how about cutting entitlements and military funding. Dont throw the budget as an excuse because that argument does not hold water – $8 billion out of $14 trillion is 0.057% of the budget. Give me a break. Not going to argue its not significant -but its not HSR that will break the bank.
2.Not sure what the argument is against attaching a job creation number to infrastructure projects. Ever heard of the New Deal? Infrastructure projects create jobs.
3.People have to travel between cities – intercity commerce is a big part of our economy. Without an alternative to airplane travel (which relies entirely on gas) our regional and global econonomy is going to have a hard time sustaining itself.
As I’ve said before – HSR is only one piece of the transit puzzle that includes local and regional rail.
But, but HSR (Highly Socialist Rail) would cost each of us HUNDREDS of dollars! Don’t believe me? Just calculate the “staggering” cost to you over at Fox:
http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2011/02/17/taxpayer-calculator-high-speed-rail
Compare this cost to highways, which are free, apparently. Also, now that HSR is evil, we must begin referring to it derisively as ObamaRail.
Tony, I hate to see TM misdirecting it’s energy and talent advocating for a project that, at the end of the day, will not get built. Federal Transit Dollars are a precious and limited quantity, and even in the best of times, the nature of the game is feast or famine. These times can hardly be mistaken for the best of times, so we have to be very careful about the projects we advocate for, if for no other reason than that we want to be taken seriously by the people in power.
I Drive I-4 regularly between Lakeland and Tampa (spending 2 days a week in Lakeland) and take it from me, there aren’t enough commuters or tourists to keep that train from being a boondoggle of immense proportions. The only train most of these people have ridden is the Monorail at Disney; it’s just not an urban environment up there, and isn’t likely to resemble one any time soon, HSR or no.
Highways are Free, LauderdaleTom?
Please explain…
[...] friends at Network blog Transit Miami wrote yesterday that Gov. Scott’s decision will jeopardize the state’s viability as [...]
What annoys me is that so far the discussion has been either HSR or highway improvements. Between these two, I would argue that in Florida–and probably generally in the US–most commerce depends on highways, while HSR only benefits tourists and perhaps a few commuters living in the exurbs. Let’s not ignore the fact that Florida has long since outgrown it’s 1970-80′s highway system, and this growth has not been the kind of dense development that makes HSR sucessful in Japan.
That said, I have to criticize the Obama administration for apparently ignoring local mass transit…which in Florida is in an even more dismal state than the highways. We’ve NEVER HAD adequate local transit, while highways were adequate when they were first built. Just look at the traffic cameras of I-95, the Dolphin, and US1 at rush hour. Hell, even I-4 in Orlando. Then, compare these to I-4 in Lakeland, if you need convincing that our local transit needs far overshadow our regional inter-city transit needs. Think of how many miles of light rail could be built using the money allocated to HSR!
Why does the Administration seem to place no emphasis on improving local, urban transit, nationwide???? Why is it always either HSR or roads?
[...] Tony Garcia and Gabe Lopez-Bernal lambaste Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to reject $2.4 billion in funding for high-speed rail: “If a cornerstone of the Governor’s agenda is truly job creation then transit should be high on his list of priorities. Public transportation systems are not only more efficient, and cost effective than highways, their construction creates more jobs than highway construction projects -to say nothing of the increased tax base and investment that occurs because of the land-use patterns that accompany transit” [...]
Sorry, Gabriel. I should have made it more apparent that I was being sarcastic. My point was that “conservative” ideologues like Scott feign indignation at spending on public transit projects, but raise no objection to the funding of expensive road projects. We have limitless money to spend on transportation projects they favor, but those they do not are labeled as socialist, liberal, Marxist, and so on, and are dismissed as too expensive. It defies explanation.
No worries. Thanks for the clarification. Good use of satire.
I have a hard time understanding why HSR would be turned down while other states will get the money and the jobs much needed in our own state will go to other states. When this project could lower our unemployment for the near future and allow Floridians to once again relay on Floridians and not the snow birds. After all they will soon be gone for this year making matters worse. I am a small business owner very thankfull for the increase in business when they are here. Rick Scott I voted for you but never again. You don’t need the money and we are suffering.One thing for sure you will never be elected again.
Ok I’m late on this but here goes my $.02:
I gotta agree with TransitDave on this one. As much as it pains this HSR enthusiast to say it Gov. Scott made the right call on this one. What many of you don’t know is that while the U.S. Govt would be footing most of the bill for building it, the state of Florida would be saddled with the operating costs of it every year there after. All economic studies done (at least those I saw) pointed to a lackluster amount of return on investment. And would be nowhere near the amount necessary to pay for the operating costs alone for this boondoggle. This is also the real reason why both Ohio and Wisconsin also turned down the money offered for HSR in their states as I understand it. In other words, it would probably be the most expensive 20,000 jobs the state of Florida would ever have to pay for. It would have been like each of you paying a $100 a year in taxes to have a train that you would use once a year (maybe more if you happen to get up to Orlando or Tampa often). In fact, residents of the state of Massachusetts have the highest debt burden per capita of any state because the state was forced to pay the final 25% of the “big dig” after cost over runs of the boondoggle caused it’s pricetag to be $22 billion (the original pricetag was suppose to be $2.8 billion).
Also I can hear some of you saying “well something is at least better than nothing!” But unfortunately that’s not even true necessarily. Doing the wrong thing IS WORSE than doing nothing because it gives more ammo to the tea party and republicans and further proves how right they were. This makes it far less likely for projects like this to be funded in the future when the opportunity arises. Like Dave said… we gotta do this right.
The right way to do HSR in America is to provide extensive INTRA-city mass transit (Subway/Metrorail/El/Bart/Marta/whatever) and only once thats done in both source and destination city build the INTER-city infrastructure like HSR. This is why HSR works so well in Europe. Because you truly can “leave your car” in just about any city in Europe knowing that when you arrive at your destination city by HSR, you won’t need to get a taxi or rent a car to reliable get around, you can use their subway. This is true for neither Tampa or Orlando. If HSR would be built, people would very quickly realize that it would be cheaper just to drive from one city to the other without having to worry about getting a taxi to their ultimated destination in the spraled mass-transitless suburbias known as Tampa and Orlando once they step off the train. Heck even Miami has a very poor mass transit that isn’t nearly extensive enough to be useful for most Miamians. We need to attack that problem first.
Thoughts?
To make this work we would need HSR ridership that is at least 2X higher per capita than in NE corridor where Acela lives– and that’s including all the NE train passengers, not just Acela.
Also, the projected fare–$60RT–would exceed the cost of gas @$6/gal if you get 30mpg(that’s below the 2016 EPA 36mpg reqmt.) 180 miles RT; 6 gal.s; cost of gas=$36. Savings vs. HSR: 1pass.=$24; 2pass.=$84; 4pass.=$144.
Based on that cost reality, I can’t see any we meet annual passenger projections. If we fall short, we lose big bucks.
Btw, I’m a huge EV fan and plan to get 90 mpg on my Chevy Volt next year.
EV, Where are you getting your ridership numbers? The logic falls apart when comparing HSR to flying – which is the real competition. Short, intercity travel beteen citites (like between Miami and Orlando) runs easily beyond $60 a ticket.
Not to mention – most people will not get 30mpg any time soon (20 years). Most cars out in the world today will still be there in 2016 when the EPA mandate comes due. So, that means that a family of four driving your typical gas guzzling new car (that gets 22 mpg) to disney will have this math to puzzle over (I’ve done this plenty of times):
GAS – 15 gallon tank @ $6/gallon = $90 (plus gas during the stay)
TOLLS – = $30 ($15/each way)
PARKING – at hotel and at theme park = $15/day at hotel, $15/ day at theme park. (assume a 3 day weekend) = $75
total = $195
Tony,
Even, though I think it’s awfully high, let’s use your total cost for the family of 4–$195.
The RT train would cost $240–$60 x 4, not to mention parking or cab fare at one end and taxi, rental car or bus at the other end.
Tony,
I realized I didn’t respond on ridership #s.
If you take all NE corridor train travel, it’s about 10 million riders annually. Their population is 8X ours. So, if we had the same % of riders to population that they do, that we give us about 1.5 million annual riders–not the 3 million currently being bandied about.
When you add in the fact that the HSR would go from the Orlando airport–never getting to downtown–and from downtown Tampa–never going to the Tampa airport, riding the train would make a lot less sense than in NYC-DC corridor. In both cities the trains goes right to city center where great public transit systems await.