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February 24, 2009
Lawmakers need to approve SunRail, now more than ever

Orlando Sentinel Editorial
February 24, 2009

Florida's on the cusp of getting its second commuter-rail system.

The agreements needed to run trains servicing 17 stations from DeLand to Poinciana are in place -- save one. And the barrier that kept the Legislature last year from signing off on that agreement has been lifted.

Gone is the language restricting the ability of lawyers to sue the operators of the SunRail system in case of accidents. And disappearing with it is opposition to the system from the trial lawyers lobby, strong enough to get the Legislature last year to derail it.

But that doesn't make the bill that primarily addresses liability issues a sure thing when lawmakers consider it in their next legislative session beginning March 3. Lawmakers who couldn't care less about who sues whom but who want the trains iced for other reasons could ambush SunRail by voting against the bill.

The session could end with TriRail, the system serving Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, as the only commuter train in Florida's future.

The reasons floated by SunRail's remaining opponents don't hold water, however:

*The system costs too much. That one's floated chiefly by Lakeland Sen. Paula Dockery.

*SunRail is not a good investment for Florida, especially in these hard times. Ms. Dockery floated that one, too. But the latest lawmaker sounding it is Sen. Al Lawson, representing counties in the Panhandle.

Sen. Dockery earlier claimed SunRail would run far more slowly than, in fact, it would. She claimed much of the money being paid to CSX Corp., which would sell 61 miles of track to the state, could instead go to fund community programs, when it can't. Now she's claiming the system's $1.2 billion cost basically amounts to a lie. The cost really amounts to $2.66 billion once, she says, you factor in things like operating the system for the next 30 years.

A price tag on a project like commuter rail typically doesn't include operating costs, however. What's more, the state, which would operate the system its first seven years, and most of the local governments, which would run it after that, long ago agreed to pay the cost of operating it.

Ms. Dockery adds that SunRail will hurt Lakeland because it could cause 54 freight trains a day to pass through that city someday. State transportation officials say another four trains, on top of the 16 already running through Lakeland, is more likely. Meanwhile, state Sen. Lee Constantine is working with Lakeland officials and lobbyists to give them assurances in the final rail bill before the Legislature that additional rail traffic in Lakeland will be eased.

A lobbyist for Lakeland has said those efforts are addressing the city's concerns.

Mr. Lawson, the Democratic leader in the Senate, says commuter rail "is not going to generate any money." That makes as much sense as Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele bashing President Obama's stimulus package because "government . . . never created one job."

It's pure nonsense. Over 30 years, SunRail's expected to generate 260,000 jobs and an estimated $8.8 billion in earnings, according to estimates from economists, transportation experts and land-use planners who developed similar systems in Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., and elsewhere.

For lawmakers skittish about spending money on a new rail system during the recession, there's no investment they can make that could better jolt the economy in Florida than commuter rail.

SunRail also could help bring commuter rail to other metro areas, including Tampa and Jacksonville. It could because liability and other provisions now being crafted for SunRail could be applied to commuter- or light-rail systems being considered in those cities. That's why civic and business groups in Tampa and Jacksonville also are supporting SunRail.

So must the Legislature. It's the last chance lawmakers get to make the trains run before the agreement for CSX to sell the track to the state expires this summer.

The time for commuter rail, for SunRail, is now.