The Going Green Tampa Bay Expo created a lot of buzz on the USF campus last Friday. Cars fueled by compressed natural gas were parked in front of the Marshall Student Center, while other sustainable energy exhibits and workshops were set up inside. Energy experts from all over the state came to share their green wisdom with the public.

One of the topics up for panel discussion was High-Speed Rail. Nazih Haddad, Manager of the High-Speed Rail Program at the Florida Department of Transportation, said that demographics, geography, and growth management needs create a perfect niche for high speed rail technology.

Florida attracts millions of visitors each year, and its major population centers are relatively spread out. The state also has flat terrain, an aging populace, as well as an economy in need of a boost. All of these factors would encourage utilization of HSR, and frequent usage would provide fringe benefits for the economy and the environment. Haddad noted that high-speed rail would mainly rely on electric power, thereby reducing fossil fuel consumption.

Haddad explained why high-speed rail has yet to take hold in Florida, saying that the “Bigger reason for not being able to do this….was the lack of a federal program for funding a high-speed rail program in the U.S.” That obstacle disappeared, however, with the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of October 2008. Even more federal money was made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of February 2009.

At the beginning of this month, the Florida Department of Transportation submitted a high-speed rail funding application to the federal government with the hope of tapping into the stimulus money. 23 other states had the same idea, and so far $50 billion in HSR applications have been received. That amount constitutes more than six times the money designated by the stimulus package.

Florida’s high-speed rail proposal involves two separate tracks, one from Orlando to Miami and one from Tampa to Orlando. Haddad is confident that the bid will be approved, saying that the Tampa-Orlando project is “ready to go, ready to begin production within the next year.” Many notable figures have added statements of support to the HSR application, including Governor Charlie Crist. The decision will be announced in late December or early January.

Steve Polzin of the USF Center for Urban Transportation Research pointed out that Florida’s high-speed rail system would “interface with other public transit systems” such as light rail and commuter rail, helping to maximize utilization and reduce the state’s overall environmental footprint. Polzin went on to say that Florida may tax drivers in order to supplement the cost of building a high-speed rail system.

The final panelist, Ed Crawford of ConnectUs, said that a detailed analysis of high-speed rail is less important than the realization that society is moving forward. He believes that “Innovations…represent a leap to a different kind of mindset, a different kind of technology” and that “there’s going to have to be an adjustment in society.” Crawford also emphasized that Florida is very close to achieving high-speed rail. The website for ConnectUs is www.lifeat128mph.com.

USF’s 4^th Annual Campus and Community Sustainability Conference and Expo was free and open to the public.

This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2009.