High Speed Rail - Rick Scott

As you may know last Wednesday, I informed U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood of the state’s decision to reject President Obama’s costly Tampa to Orlando high-speed rail project. Here are the facts about the project, and I ask you take action today to support this decision by sharing the facts on Facebook.

My decision to reject the project comes down to three main economic realities:

1. Capital cost overruns from the project could put Florida taxpayers on the hook for an additional $3 billion.

2. Ridership and revenue projections are historically overly-optimistic and would likely result in ongoing subsidies that state taxpayers would have to incur, which could cost from $300 million – $575 million over 10 years.

3. If the project becomes too costly for taxpayers and is shut down, the state would have to return the $2.4 billion in federal funds to D.C.

The truth is that this project would be far too costly to taxpayers and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits. It is my duty to make sound investments in areas where we will experience a positive return for the shareholders – Florida’s taxpayers.

Let's get to work,

Governor Rick Scott