Thursday, January 28, 2010

Obama in Tampa to promote the TGV/AVE Florida style

After the State of The Union speech, President Obama went to promote funding for high speed rail in Florida and to be at a groundbreaking for this. It is about time that Florida considers building high speed rail. Florida is arguably the world's most popular tourist destination behind Europe (regionally, not as a city). One of the draws of Europe is that all the cities are connected by a broad train system and tourists visit multiple cities on one trip. Why not Florida? How many people go to see Grandma and Grandpa on the coast and then go hang out with Mickey Mouse in Orlando. It would be easier to take the train from their respective city to Orlando/Lake Buena Vista/Kissimee.

Additionally, not all of the local airports have as many flights as the larger ones. For example my grandparents live in Sarasota on the west coast. I can get a flight from Regan National (next to my apartment) to Tampa nonstop but still have to take a shuttle which does not run that frequently to Sarasota. Why not have the option of boarding a high speed train for less money and more comfort and convenience that will take me right to Sarasota? We cannot overlook the environmental cost as well, less rental cars on the road and more fuel efficient trains would have better environmental consequences.

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