self-supported train
JohnJim Sebesta just might be mass transit proponents’ best friend.
Over the years, the Florida state Senator and Senate Transportation Committee chairman has been a vocal backer of rail – both local and statewide. But now his efforts have taken a new direction: Bay News 9 reports that Sebesta is negotiating with private companies to build and operate the Florida High Speed Rail system originally added to the constitution, then repealed by voters in the 2000 and 2004 elections respectively.
Sebesta’s plan is to have a private company (or companies) foot the bill for the system, not taxpayers. Or, at least that is what Sebesta is gunning for thru negotiations.
Tags: Florida, state, tampa, transportation
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November 21st, 2005 at 8:17 pm
I wish that the Tampa Bay area had a subway system. I recently visited Washington DC and not having to drive was a blessing.
November 21st, 2005 at 9:08 pm
I was in L.A. last month and was in heaven being able to travel everywhere without a ccar. I’ve been to LA a few times and was Automobile trapped every time… This time I was on my own with no car — And got around fine with thanks to the Red Line…
Unfortunately we’ve never hada forward thinking county commission on either side of the bay. Pinellas county is built out and Tampa is stuck in hillsborough with a commission that would sooner go back to the 19th century than admit they are in the 21st…
Rail is a long ways off unless someone gets some nerve on either side of the bay.
November 22nd, 2005 at 7:26 am
Echoing my post over at Tampa Rail:
Until the cities in this state have viable local mass transit, any thing that links the cities isn’t worth a damn.
If I was King… all road money (aside from maintenance) would be instead spent developing *local* mass transit. In whatever form best suits the local conditions. Be it BRT, light rail, improved bus system, etc. Then and only then would any type of city-to-city transit system be developed.
November 23rd, 2005 at 9:58 am
I second the comments about the need to improve intra-city transit before we develop inter-city transit. We face the same challenges in Orlando. We need expanded and more frequent bus service, as well as a rail system (which we might have by 2009). Only then should we look to a rail connection between Tampa and Orlando.