Federal Stimulus for Jacksonville to St. Augustine Rail?

[Lunican]

Mass transit is not profitable, which is why it is provided by the government.

In Florida, tolls only cover only 14% of FDOT's budget. The rest comes from local, state, and federal taxes.

FDOT's average annual budget is $8.3 Billion.
http://www.dot.state.fl.us/financialplanning/fr/transportationfundingsources.pdf

[tufsu1]

Could someone please name at least three public, mass transit authorities that are profitable? 

The MBTA, for example, is millions of dollars in debt, yet continues to upgrade stations, tracks and purchase trains.
I could be wrong, but is FDOT profitable from road building?  If they collect tolls, have they collected enough revenue to turn a profit?

Mass transit and profit don't seem to mix.  A public service such as mass transit does not appear to be highly profitable.

Can you list me three public road authorities that are profitable?

The fact is we prop up highways (even toll roads) w/ gas tax and other revenue streams that are not purely user fees...and we prop. up airlines by funding most airport upgrades (through departure taxes and rental care fees).

[thelakelander]

The decision to restore train service on the FEC is now in hands of state transportation & Amtrak officials.  The debate is still taking place.  Where are those Resolution of Support letters from Jacksonville, Florida's largest municipality and rail gateway?  Hop on board and perhaps those Amtrak dollars will pay for bringing a station back downtown.

Editorial: Getting the Treasure Coast back on track for rail service?

For four years in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it looked like train service for the Treasure Coast was just around the bend. That was until Amtrak's budget was whacked in late 2002.

Now there's hope a portion of $8 billion in national stimulus funds targeted to rail service can again move people via train between Miami and Jacksonville for the first time in more than 40 years. Amtrak's current service, which runs along the East Coast from Portland, Maine, to Miami, cuts toward Orlando and Okeechobee from Jacksonville, before heading east again in Palm Beach County.

Local governments and the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council have asked Gov. Charlie Crist and the state Department of Transportation to apply for federal funds to help Amtrak re-direct at least one of its trains along Florida East Coast Railway lines through the Space and Treasure coasts.

Local governments and chambers of commerce were excited about the proposal floated from 1998-2002, when Amtrak agreed to lease FEC's railway and even tested the lines. The service would make eastern Florida communities much more accessible and make trips north much easier for millions of people between West Palm Beach and Jacksonville — even with limited service.

Unfortunately, Amtrak spokeswoman Karina Romero could not clarify just how much extra business the company hoped to do if passenger service were added in 2003. The company has since closed its Jacksonville office and cannot find ridership studies, she said. The studies would have to be replicated, perhaps by the state, before an estimated $100 million project for Jacksonville-West Palm Beach could move forward.

The last time around, Stuart, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach were among six or eight cities slated to add rail stations, with Fort Pierce going as far as hiring an architect to design a station. Vero Beach likely would have had a kiosk outside its rail-side, former diesel power plant downtown. It has since been gutted, partly renovated and almost ready for a tenant.

Meantime, regional planners also want separate funds to expand Tri-Rail service into northern Palm Beach County. Ultimately, the hope is that Treasure Coast residents could drive to Palm Beach Gardens, hop on the train and save themselves the agony of a trip down Interstate 95 or Florida's Turnpike. Or, South Florida residents could head to the Treasure Coast for a relaxing weekend.

While all these plans are exciting — it's easy to get onboard with the hype — much work needs to be done to bring the enhancements to fruition. Job One is to convince Crist and the state Transportation Secretary Stephanie C. Kopelousos that the Amtrak and Tri-Rail projects are worth pursuing. That debate is going on at DOT, its spokesman said, and will until the federal government unveils more details about its stimulus funding in June.

These projects definitely are worth a closer look, especially as gasoline prices and the costs of adding lanes to our roads continue to rise dramatically. Florida's population drought won't last forever; it had better plan, using mass transportation, to meet needs down the road.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/may/14/treasure-coast-back-on-02/

[Ocklawaha]

Lake this may be the best news the old Jacksonville Terminal could wish for. It does many things by default to advance Jacksonville's downtown station.

1. Amtrak will be forced to make a decision, add a completely new train from New York to Miami via the FEC.
2. Amtrak will have to consider the economics, when Orlando and Disney stomp their mouse feet at the thought of losing one of the daily trains on todays routing. So diversion of one of the two trains is about as likely as snow in hell.
3. Add one, add two, add--- SOONER OR LATER, these boys will figure out they can split trains in Jacksonville for both coasts or for the Central Florida route to Miami.
4. When they figure out trains can be split, we'll see JTA/FDOT scramble for those 9 tracks in Jacksonville.

OCKLAWAHA

[mtraininjax]

The fact is we prop up highways (even toll roads) w/ gas tax and other revenue streams that are not purely user fees...and we prop. up airlines by funding most airport upgrades (through departure taxes and rental care fees).

Ahem - We (you me, and 300+ million americans) just gave Amtrak another 1 BILLION dollars last year for their subsidy, this on top of subsidies every year since their inception in the early 70s. They have never run on their own money.

All transportation, that I know if, is not self-sustaining, those transportation systems that are supported by the taxpayers, yet airlines have stockholders, and they have at least someone to answer to on a daily basis. Hotels get money from the bedtaxes, so every part of transportation gets some sort of tax to help sustain itself.

All transportation in America is a racket.

[Ocklawaha]

The fact is we prop up highways (even toll roads) w/ gas tax and other revenue streams that are not purely user fees...and we prop. up airlines by funding most airport upgrades (through departure taxes and rental care fees).

Ahem - We (you me, and 300+ million Americans) just gave Amtrak another 1 BILLION dollars last year for their subsidy, this on top of subsidies every year since their inception in the early 70s. They have never run on their own money.

All transportation, that I know if, is not self-sustaining, those transportation systems that are supported by the taxpayers, yet airlines have stockholders, and they have at least someone to answer to on a daily basis. Hotels get money from the bedtaxes, so every part of transportation gets some sort of tax to help sustain itself.

All transportation in America is a racket.

I think a revolution is in order here MTrain, we should scrap Amtrak, the US highway system, Federal Interstates, State roads, railroads, airlines, and airports.

We'll call for an immediate issue of POGO STICKS, 300 Million of them, all built to federal specifications of course (we don't want to get sloppy with our new mobility).

OCKLAWAHA