Cocoa doesn’t get $47M federal grant to build Brightline station

[@mariusfacktor3597]

You shouldn't build a train station at the intersection of two highways. There is zero pedestrian activity there. Train stations should be in the town centers, like they used to be in every American city before WW2.

[@chrisonthedot]

That is so true

[@edmundanderson657]

Building a passenger train with no stations is like buying a car with no doors.

[@MasonJarGaming]

BrightLine does have stations though???

[@edmundanderson657]

@MasonJarGaming Hardly, three quarters+ of the run has none. It just rolls through the towns as we watch it go by. If it stays like it is I'll never use it. I can drive to either end in 2.5 hours to take a 3 hour train ride to the other...makes no sense.

[@jbudlo2]

No more FRA FTA grants for the next 4 years so Trump can do tax cuts for billionaires.

[@maxpower6658]

biden/harris are the ones saying NO buddy. And the tax cuts are for everyone. If Trump was not coming in the Federal tax cuts from 2017 would end and Your income tax would be going up so grow up finally.

[@viridimontes]

Cruise lines and Cocoa should pay for it.

[@MarvelousBeauchamp]

Walmart superstore

[@truthseeker8310]

It went to Ukraine.

[@k_lxndo]

WHY

[@eirikram]

I really want this train to happen, but I also don't see why brightline shouldn't pay for their own damn train, it's not like the trips are free. They will profit from sales so pay for your own damn investment.

[@CasualScrub]

@eirikram It's because Brightline's role is to maintain and operate the train rides, not necessarily to build out the infrastructure used to support them, kind of like how airlines don't build airports on their own money (although the comparison is not nearly 1 to 1 as airline transportation is far more developed in the US than railway transportation is). The city as a whole will benefit from having this station. Even if on the surface it appears to only benefit the Brightline company, it can in the future turn into a transportation hub for the entire city of Cocoa. To see an example where this type of development is already planned to occur, look up Miami-Dade's northeast corridor project. The infrastructure for that was initially built around Brightline, but now it will be improved to be used by multiple forms of transit, benefitting everyone who lives in and visits the area. Overall, I think the topic of efficient infrastructure spending is far more complex than can be covered in simple youtube comments, but the point is that the people in charge of these decisions view these stations as infrastructure improvements for the state/city rather than just another part of the services provided by Brightline. I believe this is a good way to view it as well.

[@yatta99]

$80 MILLION?? For a train station?? Even the feds aren't dumb enough for that story.

[@Nicholas-f5]

Trump will save us 😂

[@jbudlo2]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@marvelharris9540]

I can think of one reason the grant was rejected by the current fed regime

[@colleenpeck6347]

Trump will give the money to DeSantis. It's only delayed by a few months.

[@JasonPoblete]

We are too red. Stinks of Biden-Harris administration politics

[@DIAC1987]

Rick Scott turned down federal $$$ for high-speed rail when he was governor, and voters TWICE voted to improve better public transportation with high-speed rail and the Florida Republicans STILL refused to actually take the next step. So…why finance something that might get hamstrung by the MAGAs in Tallahassee???

[@mirzaahmed6589]

Brightline is a private, for-profit company, and should be funding and building their own infrastructure projects, not relying on state and federal funding.

[@eyezak_m]

Brightline wouldn't exist without it. Same way private highway projects or private stadiums also get state and federal funding

[@coltonsupergame]

We spend 61 billion dollars of taxpayer money on the interstate every year (Just in the federal level not including states). So I think we can afford to give $30 million dollars to brightline for this.

[@CasualScrub]

That's like asking private airlines to completely fund the construction of the airports they use.

[@michaelkhotoveli8013]

@@eyezak_mGood! If taxpayers are flipping the bill for infrastructure projects, then these things should be owned by the public. Brighline, like many other companies loves to socialize their loses, and privatize their earnings. Riding brightline isn’t cheap.

[@michaelkhotoveli8013]

@@CasualScrubAirlines pay for terminal space at airports