In the wake of Rick Scott’s Gubernatorial election victory, it didn’t take long for the supporters of High-Speed Rail (HSR) in Florida to start feeling a bit apprehensive about the prospects for the implementation of an HSR system here in Florida.  After all, there are some pretty big transnational companies with a vested interest in the project–Germany’s Siemens, Canada’s Bombardier Inc., and China’s government-run High Speed Rail.

Trying to create a sense of inevitability that any resistance to HSR is futile, these supporters of High Speed rail–with billions of “Stimulus” dollars waiting in the wings–are intent on pushing their end-game strategy even though there’s still time left on the clock to preempt a very bad idea for Florida and its fiscal outlook. One of the major HSR passenger line corridors that has been awarded Stimulus funds is the one for Florida’s Tampa-Orlando corridor, which has been allocated $800 million dollars.

Florida Senator Bill Nelson is prominent among those who are trying to “keep hope alive” for HSR’s prospects here in Florida.  At a recent meeting in Orlando hosted by the Florida Department of Transportation, many interested parties in High-Speed Rail convened to discuss bidding, contract award timetables, and construction schedules for HSR.  At the meeting, Senator Nelson made the highly dubious assertion that HSR, “could be one of the biggest boosts to the Florida economy since Disney located here.”

“High Speed Rail could be one of the biggest boosts to the Florida economy since Disney located here.” – U.S. Senator Bill Nelson

Mickey Mouse could not not be reached for comment regarding Sen. Nelson’s dubious claim, but we’ll speak on Mickey’s behalf- Senator Nelson’s claim is exponentially ridiculous.  In all seriousness, the time is now for Governor-Elect Scott to put a complete end to the development of High-Speed Rail in Florida- no ifs, ands, or buts.

Expansions of public transportation systems are the types of questions that politicos always cop out on– for them, they’re always “jobs projects” that are “win-win’s” for the economy– pay no attention to the fine print.  And truth be told, making the case that bullet trains zipping across Florida is a bad idea isn’t exactly the easiest argument to sell to the public, but this is what Governor-Elect Scott must accomplish.  As attractive as the idea of bullet-trains may sound, even the rosiest forecasts show that no appreciable relief from automobile congestion will result here in Florida, and the environmental benefits and energy savings are also minimal at best- check the fine print.

What’s more, most of the these HSR projects that have been approved aren’t really “high speed rail”.  In Western Europe, high-speed rail lines travel 160 miles per hour, and China currently has trains that can reach speeds in excess of 260 miles per hour, but only three of these newly approved eight high-speed rail corridors will have trains capable of reaching speeds in excess of 110 miles per hour- check the fine print.

So why is HSR even under consideration when our national economy hangs off the edge of a cliff?

This attempt to bring high-speed rail to Florida– just like the Florida Constitutional Amendment which mandated high-speed rail from one end of the state to the other (which was subsequently repealed) are misguided initiatives, as well as indefensible expenditures in the era of unsustainable deficits and debt, and as our national day of reckoning looms.  Our state and our country cannot afford these expenditures in our present fiscal circumstances, end of story.  Not only do these projects rely on borrowed money, this is yet another instance of the federal government being hell bent on entering a business with absolutely no track record of success- anyone remember Amtrack?

What you will never hear from Senator Nelson or HSR’s supporters is that after the ribbon cutting ceremonies are over, HSR systems, like other publicly funded transportation systems, are enormous fiscal losers for taxpayers.  Publicly-funded transportation systems do not even come close to sustaining themselves by the fares they charge their users alone, and the ongoing operational and maintenance costs these systems will continue to far outpace the revenues generated from fares.   And we can only imagine the inevitable cost overruns that are certain to accumulate as construction unfolds.

The people who ultimately will keep HSR from going into the fiscal abyss on the balance sheets will be those amongst us who won’t utilize the HSR system at all.  Rest assured, some day in the not too distant future, politicos will be “forced” to charge drivers higher fees for SunPass, driver’s/auto registrations, and traffic tickets to prop up the HSR system’s books.  Those same masses of people who prefer driving to trains will subsidize a system they will rarely if ever utilize, leaving them with less discretionary income to fill up their tanks or take that vacation. Isn’t it ironic that bullet trains will end up limiting, not enhancing, the bulk of our own citizenry’s mobility?  Put that one in your locomotive engine stack and smoke it.