Next stop, wasteful spending
SunRail's logo Credit:
Hey, Washington! If you're serious about cutting federal spending, here's an idea: Don't build a commuter rail line that will cost $1.2 billion and carry just 2,150 people a day.
This Orlando-area boondoggle is going forward thanks to the tireless efforts of Rep. John L. Mica, the Florida Republican who chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure -- and claims to be a fiscal conservative. In a remarkable coincidence, the project would benefit some of his campaign donors.
Although the U.S. Department of Transportation considers Mica's pet venture -- dubbed SunRail -- among the least cost-effective transit projects in the country, groundbreaking is set for this summer. That's bad news for taxpayers, because it shows just how hard it is for Uncle Sam to cut spending, no matter how wasteful.
And this project seems plenty wasteful, given that $1.2 billion invested at 5 percent annually would yield $60 million, enough to buy every daily SunRail commuter a new car -- every year.
A Republican critic, state Sen. Paula Dockery, says the project is really about getting $432 million in public funds for CSX Corp. track upgrades. CSX executives -- it happens -- are Mica donors, as are others who've worked on the project or would gain from it.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the train won't do much for the throngs who fly into Orlando International Airport bound for Disney World. SunRail won't serve either place.
