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Brightline Trains

FLheat

By FLheat
in Orlando

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smileguy Burg

smileguy

Posted
Posted
23 hours ago, jrs2 said:

I think at the end of the day, we all want the same things...more or less...but because of the unfortunate circumstance of "labels" we put on things, we all get caught up in arguing needlessly.  I regret that especially because most of my friends vote differently than I do-and we make it work...

Yeah, I think Comcast is key.  And I wonder about that "easement" over Grand National that an Artegon employee told me about before they were evicted...it's an access point to the SE side of I-4, with Universal Blvd. & Kirkman Rd. being the other two, for Universal.  I wonder if they plan of converting non-Universal properties near WetnWild into their properties with time, parcel by parcel, and that a form of transit would naturally evolve that would actually benefit them.

Maybe not, though, because of the example of the Volcano Bay bus system  with BRT lanes they built from the garage to VB's front door.  They work great.  Maybe they'll expand on this model and go by way of a BRT lane(s) down the center of Kirkman to connect the two parks.  Either way, maybe that's the corridor in question they would otherwise use which, if done with rail, could still extend to the OCCC, but this time on the back side of the N/S Bldg.  

Now imagine if Comcast took over the Maglev proposal and route and built that line directly to OCCC, then north to their South Campus, and onward to the Main Campus.  Wow if they did that.  Imagine the marketing they could do to tourists by pushing the "Hey, Universal is the only resort in Orlando with direct connect from OIA to the resort."  I need to get a job there...

The BRT idea is interesting. I don't see it as too far of a stretch to build a BRT line with "virtual" windows like NCL has on interior staterooms and the Harry Potter train ride. This would be far less expensive than rail, but provide a controlled environment to make guests feel like they have a seamless transition from resort to park or park to park.  Universal could brand or theme the journey and not have to worry about what they are passing en route impacting the guest experience, just like the theming of a queue... I need to get a job there too!

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jgardnerucf
jgardnerucf

Thar she blows! Taken now, 11am, 6/20 heading East from MCO.

stevenycer1
stevenycer1

Christmas Eve 2019 / MCO Intermodal Construction:   Facing South Facing east  

dcluley98
dcluley98

Tracks are complete and the first BrightLine test train has made the full trip to the OIA Intermodal Station:   

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

Posted
Posted
On ‎12‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 10:56 AM, smileguy said:

The BRT idea is interesting. I don't see it as too far of a stretch to build a BRT line with "virtual" windows like NCL has on interior staterooms and the Harry Potter train ride. This would be far less expensive than rail, but provide a controlled environment to make guests feel like they have a seamless transition from resort to park or park to park.  Universal could brand or theme the journey and not have to worry about what they are passing en route impacting the guest experience, just like the theming of a queue... I need to get a job there too!

it really makes me wonder if one of Comcast's long term goals is to absorb everything south of there eventually...

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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4 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Two Republican congressmen are trying to prevent an extension of bond sales by Brightline for the WPB-Orlando segment:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-bz-congress-brightline-bonds-20181220-story,amp.html

From the Sentinel 

See that?  Scott leaves Tally; Lord knows what his ties were to FEC...so now, the GOP is doing this especially after FDOT gave like $200M for the Intermodal center.  Makes no sense.

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

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To their credit, I have no doubt the two are reflecting the will of their red congressional districts. Since it also corresponds with the fact that Republicans tend to be hardwired against transit (don’t take my word for it - the dean of establishment conservatism, George Will, has written about it - he also loathes jeans, btw - and the fact Glenda was all but cast into the wilderness by her own party for her apostasy on light rail), it’s a pretty easy stance for them to take.

As we now know, Rick Scott’s interest in Brightline, like seemingly anything the man cares about, is pecuniary.

Ironically, if the only interest of Republicans is to make money off the deal, it could fall to Democrats to try to pull this out of the soup long-term. That, of course, only happens if Democrats continue to pick up seats in the Legislature or if somehow the project is federalized with a champion in Congress. Which is pretty much what some of us forecast all along. Given that until they figured out the value of the urban real estate, FEC had no interest in passenger rail and forbade Amtrak from using their rails, this is going to be fun.

Stay tuned.

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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8 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

To their credit, I have no doubt the two are reflecting the will of their red congressional districts. Since it also corresponds with the fact that Republicans tend to be hardwired against transit (don’t take my word for it - the dean of establishment conservatism, George Will, has written about it - he also loathes jeans, btw - and the fact Glenda was all but cast into the wilderness by her own party for her apostasy on light rail), it’s a pretty easy stance for them to take.

As we now know, Rick Scott’s interest in Brightline, like seemingly anything the man cares about, is pecuniary.

Ironically, if the only interest of Republicans is to make money off the deal, it could fall to Democrats to try to pull this out of the soup long-term. That, of course, only happens if Democrats continue to pick up seats in the Legislature or if somehow the project is federalized with a champion in Congress. Which is pretty much what some of us forecast all along. Given that until they figured out the value of the urban real estate, FEC had no interest in passenger rail and forbade Amtrak from using their rails, this is going to be fun.

Stay tuned.

I don't like "fun" when it comes to an intermodal center just sitting there with nothing to do.  I just want the darn thing built as we all do, of course.  It's probably another power play like we usually see in politics...

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

Posted
Posted (edited)
26 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

I don't like "fun" when it comes to an intermodal center just sitting there with nothing to do.  I just want the darn thing built as we all do, of course.  It's probably another power play like we usually see in politics...

When it was decided pesky things like civics and history were a waste of time in schools, the country began to lose the context of how things work in our democracy. Then people were shocked about how these things occur. They shouldn’t have been  - it has ever been thus.

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jrs2 Metropolis

jrs2

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Posted
50 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

When it was decided pesky things like civics and history were a waste of time in schools, the country began to lose the context of how things work in our democracy. Then people were shocked about how these things occur. They shouldn’t have been  - it has ever been thus.

LOL.  That sounds like a veiled reference to Rodney Dangerfield's character, Mr. Melon, in Back to School, where he has a tift with the business professor about "the real world."  love it

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aent Burg

aent

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

To their credit, I have no doubt the two are reflecting the will of their red congressional districts. Since it also corresponds with the fact that Republicans tend to be hardwired against transit (don’t take my word for it - the dean of establishment conservatism, George Will, has written about it - he also loathes jeans, btw - and the fact Glenda was all but cast into the wilderness by her own party for her apostasy on light rail), it’s a pretty easy stance for them to take.

As we now know, Rick Scott’s interest in Brightline, like seemingly anything the man cares about, is pecuniary.

Ironically, if the only interest of Republicans is to make money off the deal, it could fall to Democrats to try to pull this out of the soup long-term. That, of course, only happens if Democrats continue to pick up seats in the Legislature or if somehow the project is federalized with a champion in Congress. Which is pretty much what some of us forecast all along. Given that until they figured out the value of the urban real estate, FEC had no interest in passenger rail and forbade Amtrak from using their rails, this is going to be fun.

Stay tuned.

Bullcrap. Republicans gave us Sunrail, OBX was making progress until Mica got replaced by a Democrat. Republicans overwhelmingly still support Brightline as the right way to do transit. In that very article, it mentions other Republicans continue to supporting it, from a Republican in that article "the most innovative, exciting infrastructure projects I have seen in quite some time"

2 districts which the train runs through, where there is no stops anywhere close despite them trying to get one, don't like having the train run through the area, potentially causing delays, possibly causing emergency service demand, and adding noise, with no local benefit, its somewhat understandable they don't want the project, and their constituents made that clear. The vast majority of the state supports the project.

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HankStrong Town

HankStrong

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Posted
12 hours ago, Dale said:

But if I respond it will register as a ‘nut-punch.’

"It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it." or so it goes.

However, I think the first paragraph of aent's reply is spot-on.  The second is more along the lines of NIMBY propaganda.  Not doing a train because it has the potential to slow down emergency service demand is insane.  A stray cat has the POTENTIAL to slow down emergency service demand if it stands in the road.  A new stoplight could.  A new anything could.  There was some insane email going around amongst the blue hairs with ridiculous rail "concerns" that had so many FWD: FW: RE: FWD: RE: Fwd: RE: MUST READ! FW: FWD: in front of it that it was making grannies on AOL's hearts explode.  It was full of random fear-mongering hyperbolic statements about this evil train.

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Dale City

Dale

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

"It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it." or so it goes.

However, I think the first paragraph of aent's reply is spot-on.  The second is more along the lines of NIMBY propaganda.  Not doing a train because it has the potential to slow down emergency service demand is insane.  A stray cat has the POTENTIAL to slow down emergency service demand if it stands in the road.  A new stoplight could.  A new anything could.  There was some insane email going around amongst the blue hairs with ridiculous rail "concerns" that had so many FWD: FW: RE: FWD: RE: Fwd: RE: MUST READ! FW: FWD: in front of it that it was making grannies on AOL's hearts explode.  It was full of random fear-mongering hyperbolic statements about this evil train.

I was going to post an eye-rolling emoji. But it didn’t convey how hard my eyes are rolling.

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spenser1058 Gigalopolis

spenser1058

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, gibby said:

Maybe we should rename Sunrail to be "The Republican Sunrail Service" since they alone "gave us Sunrail".

And, of course, did it strictly for their love of transit and not the sweetheart deal made with their patron, CSX. Given that the Republican National Convention platform’s plank on transportation isn’t a big fan of transit, I’m fascinated that establishment presidential candidate Jeb! chose to buck the party line for such altruistic reasons, but then I’m just a good ol’ boy from the orange groves who doesn’t understand high-falutin’ politics after all these years.

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gibby Burg

gibby

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Posted
12 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

And, of course, did it strictly for their love of transit and not the sweetheart deal made with their patron, CSX. Given that the Republican National Convention platform’s plank on transportation isn’t a big fan of transit, I’m fascinated that establishment presidential candidate Jeb! chose to buck the party line for such altruistic reasons, but then I’m just a good ol’ boy from the orange groves who doesn’t understand high-falutin’ politics after all these years.

Who among us can forget when the State's white, retired community took to the streets at rallies in 2009 and 2010 with their snake flags and three-pointed hats, clamoring for increased State and Federal spending for new public transport initiatives.  They yelled "stop the spending" like crazed lunatics but were actually pushing to have their elected officials "give us Sunrail".

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aent Burg

aent

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Posted
8 hours ago, HankStrong said:

"It ain't what you say, it's the way that you say it." or so it goes.

However, I think the first paragraph of aent's reply is spot-on.  The second is more along the lines of NIMBY propaganda.  Not doing a train because it has the potential to slow down emergency service demand is insane.  A stray cat has the POTENTIAL to slow down emergency service demand if it stands in the road.  A new stoplight could.  A new anything could.  There was some insane email going around amongst the blue hairs with ridiculous rail "concerns" that had so many FWD: FW: RE: FWD: RE: Fwd: RE: MUST READ! FW: FWD: in front of it that it was making grannies on AOL's hearts explode.  It was full of random fear-mongering hyperbolic statements about this evil train.

To be clear, those weren't my beliefs, those are the concerns of the people living over there. And to be fair, I do see there point. Realistically, they will get some added noise, probably at some point some emergency call or 2 they have to deal with or that is delayed by a train for a few minutes, and absolutely no benefits to the people in those areas. Just to me, its a property rights issue... I may not want my neighbor to get a dog that potentially bark, make noise, smell, not get picked up after or grass dying from the excessive nutrients in waste, etc, but I obviously don't have the right to order them not to do so. If I so happen to be not friendly with my neighbor, I'll get no benefit at all from them getting a dog, only disadvantages. But thats life.

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