To the Editor:

Governor Rick Scott’s decision to refuse funding for a high speed rail line failed to consider a number of factors which should have been included in his equation. I believe his action was naive and politically motivated .

His reasoning is that the federal money would have to be borrowed, that the estimate of over three million riders annually is not sufficient to be cost effective, future maintenance would be expensive and that inevitable cost overruns would result from its construction. All of these reasons may be true, but let’s look at the other issues.

If the rail system is not constructed, those three million plus riders will travel by car or bus. Over time this will mean that new roads will be constructed and/or existing roads enlarged. Have you ever heard of road construction without huge cost overruns?

Then there is the added cost of police and service personnel and vehicles. And what about death and injury from accidents? Can you imagine the direct and indirect cost of those?

Add in traffic congestion, no one has ever calculated the economic loss of wasted gas, appointments missed and product spoilage. This doesn’t even address road rage, fatigue and stress.

Borrowed money, yes but all of the thousands of people put to work will pay taxes, the entire area will benefit from the economic improvement created by the system and that means additional tax revenue over a very extended period of time.

If he means to take funding for other projects instead of for rail, as he indicated, that money would also be borrowed. You also must factor the environmental savings through the reduction of carbon waste with resulting increase in air quality and the assistance given to the need to become less reliant on fossil fuel.

Of course there will be future maintenance costs, but don’t roads involve future maintenance?

I believe that ridership will begin to increase over current estimates once people experience the comfort and convenience of rail travel. No driving stress, comfortable seats, leg room, the opportunity to move around, eat in the dining car or at your seat without having to find untested facilities on the road with the resulting travel delay while you eat. And think of the wear and tear you will save on your own vehicle.

Nations with increasing economies have found high speed rail to be the answer to much of their traveling. China, Japan, South Korea and India have or are building such systems. Europe has an excellent system of high speed rail with a large ridership. Since trains go from center city to center city they make great sense when traveling medium distances.

Oliver Conover

Lehigh Acres