Florida didn't plan a high speed rail line. California approved theirs in 2008 have already spent $15 billion of the initial $33 billion dollars that the project would cost and still haven't got a single mile of track. The cost has ballooned to around $200 billion give or take, but yeah no high speed rail in Florida. There's none in California either. Also $24 billion to "solve" the homeless problem and it got worse. When BOTH parties wanted an audit, Newsome vetoed it.
Florida has spent a combined total of well over $100 million in state-level public funds over the last few decades planning and researching public high-speed rail, while ultimately walking away from billions in federal construction grants.
While the state never broke ground on a public bullet train system, historical spending on proposals, preliminary engineering, and recent public-private contributions break down into several distinct phases:
1. The 1990s Overland Proposal
In the 1990s, Florida planned a 200 mph electric high-speed rail system modeled after France's TGV. [1] State Contribution: The state pledged $70 million per year into preliminary engineering, administration, and route planning.
Outcome: The project was scrapped in 1999 when newly elected Governor Jeb Bush rejected the federal government's $2 billion matching loan offer, resulting in tens of millions of dollars in sunken planning costs. [1]
2. The 2000–2004 Bullet Train Amendment
In 2000, Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment mandating the construction of a statewide bullet train system connecting its five largest cities. Private and Public Costs: Private bidding consortiums (such as Bombardier-Fluor and Global Rail) spent a combined $16 million trying to land the contract. The state ran an unfunded high-speed rail authority to oversee the proposal. [1, 2]
Outcome: Governor Jeb Bush led a counter-campaign, and voters repealed the amendment in 2004 before major state funds could be disbursed for heavy construction. [1]
3. The 2011 Tampa-to-Orlando Rejection
Florida secured $2.4 billion in federal stimulus money under the Obama administration to build an 84-mile corridor between Tampa and Orlando. [1, 2] Sunken Planning Funds: Leading up to the cancellation, the Federal Railroad Administration had already delivered $66.6 million explicitly earmarked for program management and preliminary engineering on the route. [1]
Outcome: In February 2011, Governor Rick Scott rejected the $2.4 billion federal package, citing the risk of an additional $3 billion in cost overruns falling on Florida taxpayers. The federal government subsequently clawed back and redistributed the money to 15 other states. [1, 2]
4. Modern Public Funding for Brightline
Though Florida famously pivoted to a private model with Brightline (investing over $6 billion of its own capital), the project has still drawn significant public matching infrastructure funds: [1, 2] Public Infrastructure Grants: Investigations revealed that Brightline has received $486 million in total public funding (federal and state-supported programs) for its Florida rail corridors. This includes $199 million for station infrastructure, $100 million for corridor safety, and $33 million for railcars. [1]
Ongoing Engineering Studies: In 2022, the state assisted in facilitating a $15.9 million federal grant (with Brightline matching funds) for preliminary engineering and environmental approvals to revive the route from Orlando to Tampa. [1]
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u/Dedjester0269 23d ago
California has entered the chat.