(The following editorial appeared on the Orlando Sentinel website on April 12, 2009.)
Saboteurs used deception last year to block commuter rail. Remember how Lakeland Sen. Paula Dockery claimed it would take riders almost two and a half hours to travel the 61-mile route? (It’s an hour less than that, Ms. Dockery.)
Well, fool you once …
This year, the subterfuge offered up by rail’s opponents again has rail backers on their heels. But it shouldn’t. Most of it is so preposterous that only the most pliable or hapless legislator would fall for it. And only the most inept and ineffective legislators and lobbyists championing SunRail would let them fall for it. Here’s a sampling:
“The state’s giving CSX Corp, a Fortune 500 company, far more than the track is worth. Florida would pay way too much to operate and maintain the SunRail system. And Floridians could be on the hook if Washington doesn’t pony up.”
Ms. Dockery should, and likely does, know better. The state’s buying the 61-mile line for $432 million — a price that falls between two independent appraisals of $430 million and $439 million.
And what Ms. Dockery maintains is the system’s real price tag — $2.66 billion — is bunk. She’s including $947 million in what she says would be the cost of operating and maintaining the system over 30 years.
The thing is, such expenses don’t accompany transportation projects like commuter rail. It’s like adding to the sticker price of a Honda Accord the amount you’ll pay for gas and oil changes while you own the car. Or putting your water and phone bills on your mortgage.
Ms. Dockery also says Floridians alone may have to pay for SunRail. But a Senate committee just passed an amendment requiring that the state receive $178 million promised it by Washington lawmakers before sealing the CSX deal.
“The money for SunRail could and should go elsewhere, especially in this economy. Besides, SunRail wouldn’t do much for the economy.”
Ms. Dockery and Sens. Gary Siplin and Al Lawson are pitching that curveball, but their collective weight (Mr. Lawson’s the Senate’s Democratic leader, for goodness sakes) can’t make it a strike.
Mr. Siplin and Mr. Lawson tried last week to raid a state transportation fund of $491 million for their pet projects. What they didn’t understand is that actually closing the deal will involve a future bond sale and $44 million of cash currently on hand. “Obviously, there’s some confusion,” admitted Mr. Siplin.
And plenty more if Mr. Siplin and Mr. Lawson, egged on by Ms. Dockery, persist in maintaining that SunRail won’t do much for Florida’s economy. Are they kidding? Surely Mr. Siplin knows better. He represents Orange and Osceola counties — two of the four counties SunRail will serve.
Charlotte, N.C., opened a mere 9-mile rail system in 2007. Since then, according to its mayor, it has produced $1.8 billion in growth and development. SunRail isn’t yet running, but already it has spawned new development (a bank in Maitland, for example) and plans for development (a medical village for Florida Hospital). And it will offer potentially thousands of Mr. Siplin’s constituents a cheap and convenient way to get to jobs in Orlando, and as far away as Poinciana and DeLand.
No-fault liability unfairly benefits CSX.
Ms. Dockery’s got some South Florida lawmakers buying that, even though the liability provisions reflect those for South Florida’s Tri-Rail system, and even though Ms. Dockery voted for Tri-Rail’s coverage.
Neither that trap — nor any of the others along SunRail’s path — should be enough to stop it. Unless its champions aren’t up to the challenge.