While Florida Gov. Rick Scott unilaterally rejected of $2.4 billion in federal funds to build a high-speed rail between Tampa and Orlando, U.S. Sen. John Kerry and other northeastern senators are hoping to cash in on that short-sighted decision to abandon the project.
Kerry and nine other senators wrote a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last Friday urging the Obama administration to divert the funding earmarked for Florida to the Northeast corridor.
“Our states are ready to put these funds to good use to improve our existing high speed rail service, reduce congestion and create jobs,” they wrote. Kerry and the other senators noted that more than 250 million passengers ride the rails along the northeast corridor annually, a number that is expected to increase 60 percent by 2030. Ridership on the Acela Express high-speed train has grown by 600 percent since its inception nine years ago, according to the letter.
Scott rejected the federal high-speed rail funding on Feb. 16, calling the proposed project a “boondoggle” that would wind up costing Florida taxpayers millions more than expected.
Kerry hopes the Northeast can once again benefit from other states rejecting federal high-speed rail funding – the Obama administration steered $2.9 million to Massachusetts last December after governors in Ohio and Wisconsin rejected $1.2 billion in federal support.
Kerry said that the Northeast corridor, despite operating the country’s only high-speed train, has received less than 2 percent of the $10.5 billion provided by Congress for the High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program.
“We believe this is an insufficient investment in the Northeast Corridor, given our region’s position as a population and economic mega-region,” the senators wrote.
Scott and LaHood met on Friday and LaHood gave the Florida governor a week to reconsider his decision after Scott asked for more information about a revised plan.
The News Service of Florida
