PolitiFact Florida: Fact-Checking Claims On High Speed Rail Line
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Plans for a high speed rail line from Tampa to Orlando were stopped in their tracks in 2011 when Governor Rick Scott turned down $2.4 billion in federal funds.
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Gov. Scott said the plan would have cost Florida too much money and ridership projections were too low. During their final debate, Charlie Crist blasted Scott for turning down the money.
"Rick Scott won't work with the President even to get high speed rail," Crist said. "It would have been $2.4 billion for Central Florida, some say 60,000 jobs."
But would the high speed rail project really have created 60,000 jobs? PolitiFact found the number inflated.
"We checked it out and found only 11-hundred permanent jobs would be created," said Sergio Bustos, of The Miami Herald and PolitiFact Florida.
So how did Crist arrive at the 60,000 job figure?
"The number came from combining direct and indirect jobs with some to build the rail but they would not have been permanent," Bustos said.
Turns out Crist was not on track when he said, "High speed rail would have created 60,000 jobs." PolitiFact found the statement to be FALSE.
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