The Rant
Well, the past 24 hours have presented some interesting tidbits for the avid urban rail advocate of Hillsborough ilk. First, just as we're collecting ourselves and merely speculating on the tactic of a regional push, word is out that an "Orlando-based conservative group" is prepared to pony up a quarter million bucks to frustrate and stop it.
I mean, wow. This sort of lends a bit of credence to a theory I've had that one reason rail foes spent so little money against the local push for transit, is that they somewhat calculated that a measure on such scale was not likely to pass. Their big fear is a regional effort with an even bigger arsenal of politicians, money, a bigger free market consortium, and possibly a more sympathetic voting populace no longer restricted to the energized boondocks. They were probably just waiting for this.
And if that's not interesting enough, check out the quote by this anti-transit raving lunatic:
"There wasn’t a lot of intellectual honesty in this whole thing. Why are we picking light rail at 2 1/2 times the cost of BRT (bus rapid transit) that can move the same amount of people?" ... the whole idea of light rail for the region will simply never work.
Who was the $tatus-Quoer who uttered such sacrilege?
None other than Ed Turanchik.
(sigh) It's a different universe somehow. I suppose next Brian Blair will be cutting the ribbon at the Teco Line's Whiting Street grand opening.
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