When Florida Gov. Rick Scott turned down $2 billion in federal money to build a high speed rail line between Tampa and Orlando, one of his arguments was that it would be a burden on the state. But documents obtained by the Tampa Tribune indicate that independent consultants found the system would be turning a profit of $35 to $41 million a year by its 10th year of operation.
Those same documents were delivered to Scott, who rejected the project anyway. Scott’s decision at the time apparently rested on a Reason Foundation brief arguing that the line would have to be subsidized long term. Of course that wasn’t exactly an unbiased report — the Reason Foundation is a libertarian think tank.
