Postmortem of Florida High-Speed Rail

choi

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Michael Cooper, How Flaws Undid Obama’s Hope for High-Speed Rail in Florida. New York Times, Mar 12, 2011.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/us/12rail.html?scp=1&sq=florida%20crist&st=cse

Quote:

Florida Governor Rick Scott "joined several other Republican governors in spurning federally financed train projects over fears that their states could be on the hook for future costs.

"The Tampa-to-Orlando route had obvious drawbacks: It would have linked two cities that are virtually unnavigable without cars, and that are so close that the new train would have been little faster than driving.

"Tampa and Orlando are only 84 miles apart, generally considered too close for high-speed rail to make sense. The train trip, with many stops along the way, would have shaved only around a half-hour off the drive. Since there are no commercial flights between the two cities, the new line would not have lured away fliers or freed up landing slots at the busy airports. And neither Tampa nor Orlando has many public transportation options. So the question arose: Could riders be persuaded to leave their cars behind and buy tickets to places where they would still probably need cars?

Note:
(a) Tampa, Florida
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampa,_Florida
(section 1 History)
(b) Orlando, Florida
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlando,_Florida
(section 2 Namesakes)

Orlando is the Italian form of Roland (as given name)/Rowland (as last name).


--------------------------------Separately
James Glanz and Norimitsu Onishi, Japan's Strict Codes and Drills Are Seen as Lifesavers; the best-prepared country for the twin threats of earthquakes and tsunamis. New York Times, Mar 12, 2011 (title in the print).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/12/world/asia/12codes.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=onishi&st=cse

My comment: Please read only the first three paragraphs and multimedia (graphic).
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