by MNCRR9000
I happened to come across this article this morning from the Bay News 9 website located in Tampa. It looks as if the Gov. Rick Scott is rejecting federal high speed rail funds to build a line connecting Tampa to Orlando and then Miami eventually. With Florida rejecting the rail funds this must mean that other states probably have a better chance of getting the money but then again who knows?
TALLAHASSEE --http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/20 ... rail-funds
Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced Wednesday he is rejecting federal funds to build a high-speed rail line in Florida.
About $2.8 billion in federal funds had been pledged for the project. The Republican governor said the proposal is too costly for Florida and could put the state's taxpayers on the hook for the cash.
Scott had repeatedly said he wanted to see all of the studies before signing off on a rail line. Florida's line was expected to connect Tampa to Orlando and eventually connect to Miami.
Scott said he believes that ridership and revenue projections tend to be too optimistic and would likely require ongoing state government subsidies.
Finally, Scott noted, that if the project went belly-up, Florida would be required to refund the federal government's investment in the project.