[Nfbf-l] Fw: Article from Orlando Sentinel A Section 2010 01 31

Mon Feb 8 05:46:00 UTC 2010

Yes and that's because the Sentinel staff has been reduced and the Saturday 
and Sunday papers do not get downloaded until Monday. It is going on with 
other papers on Newsline as well.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kirk" <kvharmon54 at gmail.com>
To: "NFB of Florida Internet Mailing List" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 6:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Nfbf-l] Fw: Article from Orlando Sentinel A Section 2010 01 31

Sherri, I was listening to the  Newsline last night for quite some time. Did
you know that Orlando sentinel only had ttwo sections available on it as
well?  By the way, I love the new voices tremendously! KH
Kirk Harmon
1031 Lenmore CT.
Orlando, FL. 32812
Office: 407-380-3371
Cell: 407-473-2176

Founder
Florida Citizens for Progress
President-CEO
FDCP Association
911 cell Phone Bank
Manager

Mayor's Veterans Advisory Counsel

State of Florida Veterans Counsel
Member
NFB
ACB
TRIAD
DAV
BVA
Disabled
Advocate

for Florida

" F.D.C.P. Turning HOPE into REALITY"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherri" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
To: "nfbf-l" <nfbf-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 6:08 PM
Subject: [Nfbf-l] Fw: Article from Orlando Sentinel A Section 2010 01 31

I am hoping the train will get use! Please see the article below and while
you're at it, check out Newsline and try the new voices. Just press 8 when
you are in an article until you get to the two new voices. Also, as I just
did, press pound 9 to have an article e-mailed to you. If you don't have
your e-mail noted, send it to me and I will be sure to include it in your
Newsline info.
Sherri
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "NFB-NEWSLINE Online" <nfbnewsline at nfb.org>
To: "Sherri Brun" <flmom2006 at gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 5:55 PM
Subject: Article from Orlando Sentinel A Section 2010 01 31

Will Central Floridians really take the train?. Dan Tracy, Orlando Sentinel.
Central Florida is in for a culture shock. Dependent for generations on the
automobile for virtually all means of transit, the region relatively soon
will have not one, but two, new passenger trains running through it. But
will people ride them when, as President Barack Obama pointed out in Tampa
last week, "we don't love gas prices, but we love our cars"? That could well
become the $4.4billion question. Critics maintain the two trains will be a
massive waste of money, rolling along the tracks with largely empty seats.
After all, they say, the only time most people notice any trains now --
whether it is the occasional Amtrak or the more frequent freight traffic --
is when they have to impatiently wait for them to pass through an
intersection. People want the convenience of cars, especially when needing
to get to far-flung destinations in our urbanely sprawled Central Florida,"
said William Shallcross, 54, a Winter Park developer. Winter Park will have
a station for the first new train slated for the area. Called SunRail, the
$1.2billion system would operate on a 61-mile set of tracks running from
DeLand in Volusia County through Winter Park and downtown Orlando to
Poinciana in Osceola County. The first 30miles of the route should be ready
in late 2012, with the entire setup coming on line in 2014. The second
train, a high-speed system that will cost $3.2billion when the cost of land
is included, will link Orlando International Airport with Lakeland and Tampa
by late 2014 or early 2015. Right now, no connection between the two trains
is set, although officials have started discussing ways to join them,
perhaps at the SunRail Sand Lake Road station in south Orange County. That
gap bothers John Gilbert, an 81-year-old retired aerospace engineer who
lives near Lake Conway. Tampa gets a high-speed train, but we have to go out
to the airport," Gilbert said. We have all these politicians, all kinds of
things that get in the way . \ Key: Be on time, safe  The key to winning
ridership is being on time and operating safely, said Bonnie Arnold,
marketing director for Tri-Rail, the commuter train that has run along
Interstate95 in South Florida for 20years. If people don't think you are
reliable and don't think you are safe, they aren't going to ride," she said.
Tri-Rail, which also hooks into a light-rail system that circulates in
downtown Miami, was the first commuter train launched in South Florida,
which like Metro Orlando had no real experience with rail transit. The train
started during an expansion of I-95, which clogged traffic in the state's
most densely populated area. Arnold said some of the best advertising the
train had was breezing by motorists stopped in traffic jams. Now carrying
about 13,000 passengers a day,  Tri-Rail constantly promotes itself at
festivals and co-promotes with fast-food restaurants, Arnold said. It also
offers a 25percent fare discount to people who sign up at work. Perhaps the
biggest incentive for ridership will come with time and the increased road
traffic it brings, said Dave Grovdahl, chief transportation planner for
MetroPlan, which sets transit policy in Orange, Osceola and Seminole
counties. What do you do when you can no longer make your trips because of
congestion on the roads? he asked. Grovdahl said many of the major roads in
Central Florida -- I-4, Colonial Drive, State Road 436 -- are hemmed in by
development or the environment and cannot be widened. That means the
congestion of today will only worsen. You can't dynamite the high rises in
downtown Orlando," he said, referring to often-jammed Orange Avenue. You're
stuck with it. It's at the max. Buses, he said, provide short-term relief
because they can get drivers out of their cars, but they are prone to get
stuck in the same traffic jams as every other vehicle. Grovdahl also
predicted that gasoline prices will rise again, possibly hitting the
$4-a-gallon mark, as they did during summer 2008. Ridership broke records on
mass-transit systems across the nation that year. But Shallcross contends
the expense of tickets -- it could cost $29 one way to ride from OIA to
Tampa and at least $2.50 to ride  SunRail -- is likely too much for many
people. He also questions whether either train will be able to get anyone
close enough to destinations to avoid having to also ride a bus or call a
cab. Winter Park City Commissioner Beth Dillaha is especially adamant about
her opposition to SunRail. I don't believe that many commuters will be
willing to invest that much time and money," she said. People care about how
to get from point A to point B as efficiently, in terms of time and money,
as possible and most do not want to be held 'hostage' without their cars and
the ability to come and go as needed . \ Lynx weighs options  Lynx, the
regional bus service in Metro Orlando, is in the early stages of figuring
out what it will take to work with the trains, including coming up with new
routes and how the fares will be split. Jack Couture, a 66-year-old retired
banker and frequent Lynx rider, said the only way people will consider the
trains is if they offer "accessibility and availability -- let's face it.
Ultimately, though, a train can bypass buses, cars and trucks stuck in
traffic, freeing passengers to read or work during the trip, Grovdahl said.
They take the stress out," he said. Publishers Notes: Dan Tracy can be
reached at dtracy at orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5444..

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