(The following story by Al Everson appeared on the West Volusia Beacon website on December 21.)
WEST VOLUSIA, Fla. — “A big vision takes big leaders,” Florida Department of Transportation District 5 Secretary Noranne Downs said, as she called on Volusia County to reaffirm its commitment to regional rail.
Despite economic uncertainty, financial straits at all levels of government, and lingering questions about who will be responsible for mishaps on the tracks, the Volusia County Council did so Dec. 18.
“Volusia County has been on board with commuter rail for many years,” County Chair Frank Bruno said.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and state transportation officials sat directly in front of him.
Unlike the County Council’s earlier actions on the rail proposal, the support was not unanimous. Mindful of the rising price tag and the decline of state and local tax collections, Council Member Jack Hayman bolted from his colleagues.
“I think commuter rail is a great thing, but I just can’t grasp how my grandchildren are gong to pay for it,” Hayman said.
The long-planned commuter-rail system now has an estimated total cost of approximately $1 billion. The federal government is supposed to pay 50 percent, and the state is supposed to pay 25 percent.
“The state’s in bad shape,” Council Member Carl Persis said, alluding to the estimated $2 billion imbalance in Florida’s current budget.
Pressed on the state’s ability to meet its funding commitment, Downs said “the Legislature could go into the trust fund, anyway,” and shift monies from some accounts to others to balance spending and cash on hand.
The remaining 25 percent of the cost is to be apportioned among the local jurisdictions to be served by the rail system.
Besides the capital outlays for such things as double tracking, new depots, trains, signals and other equipment, there will be ongoing expenses.
“Operations is going to be the devil in the details,” Hayman said. “It’s an entirely different economy than we had before.”
County Manager Jim Dinneen acknowledged leaders are still unclear about how the county will pay its share, which is supposed to come out of the general fund.
The state is supposed to pay the local partners’ bonded capital debts and rail operating expenses for the first seven years, “to give us time to work out a dedicated funding source,” Bruno said.
One possible source is a local-option sales tax.
Fares alone will not be enough; government subsidies will be required to build and operate the rail line.
Also, the liability of the different parties is still unresolved. The Florida Legislature last spring failed to agree on how liability would be shared among CSX, the state and other parties. The liability comes into play “if there is a train wreck,” Dyer said.
Volusia County is one of five local governments — along with Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties and the City of Orlando — working with the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration to establish a 61-mile commuter-rail system linking DeLand with Orlando and even Poinciana.
A new agency, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, includes elected officials from the four counties and Orlando, and it will become the operating entity of the system.
Commuter rail uses advanced diesel trains to move people to and from work in outlying areas to workplaces in Greater Orlando, and to relieve congestion on an already overburdened Interstate 4.
U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, has been a leading proponent of the commuter rail since the Orange County Commission voted down a plan for light rail connecting Downtown Orlando and the Orlando International Airport in late 1999.
The commuter-rail project is planned in two phases. Phase I is to extend from DeBary to Sand Lake Road on the south side of Orlando. The first trains on this portion are scheduled to begin operating in 2011, after a new depot is built along Fort Florida Road in DeBary.
Phase II, which may become operational in 2013, will extend to the DeLand Amtrak station on the north and to Poinciana on the south. The commuter rail will use 61 miles of the CSX rail right of way, which the state purchased in 2005.
“In my opinion, the DeLand station is what will open it up to the east side and the west side,” County Council Member Andy Kelly said.
As state and local leaders currently envision it, the four-county commuter rail will be the first part of a new mass-transit network that will branch out to other parts of Central Florida and link up with other metropolitan areas.
Once the short-haul system is in place, advocates have suggested, it could be enlarged to include rail service to Orlando International Airport, the University of Central Florida, and Daytona Beach.
“Jacksonville and Tampa want to connect,” Dyer said.
Even though its cost is going up, commuter rail will be a less expensive form of transportation in the years ahead, supporters claim, as the costs of building new highways rise and if the nation moves toward more energy-efficient transportation.
“It is our future,” Council Vice Chair Joie Alexander said. “When we’re looking 20 or 30 years down the road, we have to do this.”
The County Council joined other partners in supporting a proposed name and logo for the rail system: Sunrail.
MyRegion, an inter-county think tank, received more than 300 suggested names and ideas for designating the system and recommended Sunrail as its top pick.