Governor Rick Scott has an unrealistic view of the transportation trends in the present moment and those that will shape the future. First, it shows a total lack of foresight to kill high speed rail in Florida, because a large portion of the population supports rail-based travel and other public transportation options that free them from having to drive a car.
Secondly, gas prices are on the rise again, and ultimately gas will become too costly for frugal and reasonable commuters. Third, the majority of people oppose investing in more interstate and highway widening projects which only serve to increase sprawl and damage natural ecosystems. Fourth, worldwide trends show that public transportation is the fastest growing transportation market.
Fifth, over the long term, high speed rail and other mass transit options will pay for their selves while the cost of an automobile transportation economy will only wreck the economy. President Obama just bailed out the auto industry, the tax payers shoulder all the cost of road projects, and the big oil companies take tax breaks while they raise gas prices.
I don’t know where Governor Scott gets his math figures. It does not add up, because the auto-oil-road system is in decline, heavily subsidized, and still its failing to solve the transportation woes of the average commuter. Metro Orlando spends almost a billion dollars a year on transportation infrastructure and most of it goes to support road projects. None of that money accounts for the other indirect costs to average commuters, developers, and tax payers that support all the indirect expenses of a flawed system that is already overbuilt.
Governor Scott should also factor in the cost of parking lots to consumers, traffic police to monitor cars, fuel costs, automobile insurance, and car payments. And lastly, perhaps the Governor ought to consider that many people do not like to drive, don’t like all the ugly highways and parking lots invading our natural space of Florida, and the stench of car exhaust as well as the unending noise from millions of cars.
Secondly, gas prices are on the rise again, and ultimately gas will become too costly for frugal and reasonable commuters. Third, the majority of people oppose investing in more interstate and highway widening projects which only serve to increase sprawl and damage natural ecosystems. Fourth, worldwide trends show that public transportation is the fastest growing transportation market.
Fifth, over the long term, high speed rail and other mass transit options will pay for their selves while the cost of an automobile transportation economy will only wreck the economy. President Obama just bailed out the auto industry, the tax payers shoulder all the cost of road projects, and the big oil companies take tax breaks while they raise gas prices.
I don’t know where Governor Scott gets his math figures. It does not add up, because the auto-oil-road system is in decline, heavily subsidized, and still its failing to solve the transportation woes of the average commuter. Metro Orlando spends almost a billion dollars a year on transportation infrastructure and most of it goes to support road projects. None of that money accounts for the other indirect costs to average commuters, developers, and tax payers that support all the indirect expenses of a flawed system that is already overbuilt.
Governor Scott should also factor in the cost of parking lots to consumers, traffic police to monitor cars, fuel costs, automobile insurance, and car payments. And lastly, perhaps the Governor ought to consider that many people do not like to drive, don’t like all the ugly highways and parking lots invading our natural space of Florida, and the stench of car exhaust as well as the unending noise from millions of cars.
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