Sunrail's Fate Soon to Be Known
Central Florida Commuter Rail Up for Vote in Florida Senate
The needs of the powerful urban eastern region are being felt at the state and federal level, while the rural western part of Central Florida is feeling left out, trampled upon, or disrespected. Rather than working together in a partnership (you get this, I get that) the two regions have chosen to fight over Commuter Rail, a metaphor for the region in so many ways. If the history of Commuter Rail is true to the history of Florida, politics could prevail over common sense, and such an outcome could doom Central Florida to a future of dwindling prospects. However, Florida's colorful political history proves that anything can happen, and Commuter Rail could actually come to be, transforming both parts of Central Florida.
Florida's History of Rejecting Rail Money
In Orlando, sometime around 2000, the federal government handed the Orlando area a check of some $30 million to start developing a commuter rail system. Federal money like that doesn't just drop out of the sky every day, and this boon to the region could have gotten commuters on trains by now. Politicians, however, handed the money back. The reasons for this bizarre action are still not totally clear, but it was clear at the time that the politicians preferred the current systems over a new system of transportation.
The argument of West Central Florida is that their own region, which has not aggregated 2.5 million people, will suffer from the shifted freight pattern that currently travels through Orlando. Based on the Orlando Sentinel April 16, West Central Florida also claims empathy for about eight CSX workers in the East Central Florida region that would not be needed anymore due to the loss of these trains. So, it comes down to eight layoffs.
Florida Legislature's Decision-making Process
The Florida House passed the bill for Commuter Rail, while the Senate hears more and more debate. The Senate is finishing their session soon, so the bill may not be heard until a long time from now.
Many forces work against Commuter Rail. For one, the state and region are solidly built on tourism, and the less a bill affects tourism, the less likely the money will be spent on the initiative. For another, the Orlando area leaders seem, at least by press accounts, to be strangely naive about the politics involved; rather than find common ground with West Central Florida, or even find a way to open a second front by allying with Tampa Bay on a wedge issue, the leaders seem boosteristic and optomistic rather than realistic.
Linking Up Communities
Systems like this can be great levelers, they can link and bind and bring together, they group people and converge and reinforce. Commuter Rail commutes, it also communicates, and it also brings together folks in a common environment. If one can tolerate the close presence of strangers on a subway, one's respect and sense of community increases. Sure, big cities are home to a special kind of alienation; they are also home to great acts of kindness and sharing. Density always magnifies extremes.
On Central Florida's own puny scale of 9 cities linked by Commuter Rail, a choice will be given to the people. Imagine sharing more than just a few spots downtown with others. Imagine, for the brief time of one's commute, connectedness with people, even if one's ipod is turned up full blast. For that duration, Orlando's cultural diversity would be revealed, the great rich Central Florida population and heritage would be visible for anyone to see, and people's own sense of selves might have to compress just a wee tiny bit to allow others some space.
For the average sense of self in Central Florida has enlarged to the size of an SUV or so. People are busy running their own commuter rail systems to and from their jobs, soccer practice, and birthday parties, and are not too interested in losing this, no matter how much it is costing them. For this current system is built upon de-linking, unbinding, coming apart, splitting, and diverging, and people seem to like this a lot. Commuter rail's approval by the State Senate might signal the end of this entropic lifestyle.
Offering a Choice to Commuters
Riding a train to work won't make society better or worse. The ritual of driving, parking, waiting, and finding a seat might just be more irritating to some than the current ritual of inching along the interstate in an air-conditioned surround-sound bubble. A few people will trade one form of inconvenience for another, and both systems will coexist. The region will change, either way. Money spent on commuter rail means less money spent on roads; one adapts either way to changing circumstances.
Commuter Rail can unite in a way that more roads cannot. If the region can unify and strengthen its will enough to defeat the forces working against it, then Commuter Rail represents a choice that was not there before. A choice given to the people, who before had none. This choice, by extension, implies freedom of choice, and the region, given this opportunity, will use it to its best advantage. The future of Central Florida's urban condition with Commuter Rail can have a richer, more connected aspect than it would have without it, for freedom of choice strengthens and empowers, as has been proven by history in general and the history of America in particular.
There are a thousand tiny reasons not to have Commuter Rail. There is only one big reason to have it: Because enough people want it. People will have the choice to ride it, and to see others ride it too. If Orlando's leaders want it badly enough, they will find a way to make it happen, and the people will know whether this is the case very soon.
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