Tenzo wrote >>
Which ones are high speed?
Tampa Orlando is a boondoggle. There just isn't that much traffic between the two spots and it isn't that far. I'm seeing it as an extension of Disney World Monorail service to the Tampa beaches.
I don't see that as a "boondoggle" necessarily. It is almost 100 miles from Orlando to Lakeland to Tampa-St. Pete, and those cities make our urban sprawl problems seem quaint by comparison. Traffic in and around Orlando and Tampa is absolutely insane, and they spend unbelievable amounts of money on road repair every year. The last time I was in Orlando, I was stunned to hear actual Orlandoans saying that they would gladly give up their using their cars so much for a commuter rail and connector lines between Orlando-Tampa-Miami. If this leads to easier, cheaper, less damaging transportation for millions of denizens and tourists in central and south Florida (like I hope it leads to here in Ohio), then every last dime is money well-spent. It would free up hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money that goes there yearly to repair infrastructure, and that helps all of us. (And I would imagine that a lot of the extra cost is justified, due to the unique problems of terrain and environmental impact: sandy soil, wetlands, wildlife, etc.)
Tenzo wrote >>
hmmm.
I just added up the ones that benefit Chicago.
$2.154B
I guess that is not surprising consider who he is beholding to.
Or because Chicago is, you know, kind of a huge city in the center of the country. Look, I know there's a pretty big media industry in this country that thrives on cynical speculation, reflexively declaring that almost every government project is a "boondoggle" of 2% favoritism, 1% nepotism, and 97% graft; but, man, that AM radio impulse is a poison that you have got to purge. There's a big difference between being aware, being skeptical, and being cynical.