The Sun Sentinel letters to the editor: All Aboard Florida pre-empts commuter rail

Public Transportation

Where was the consideration for commuter rail?

How come no one has touched on the issue of how, if we use the Dixie Corridor for all these long-distance passenger trains and humongous freight trains, it will be virtually impossible to use the line for inner-city commuter rail?

Once these fast-pass trains and their designer stations are in place, it will no longer be an option to provide a real need: semi-local commuter rail travel to jobs and government centers, linked by bus routes. We won’t be able to take cars off the roads and reduce fuel dependency.

Also, I have been studying intersections that will be affected in Boca Raton and Delray Beach on corridors that are vital for police and emergency vehicles. With trains coming about every 14 minutes, cars will get backed up — and side streets, too — creating dangerous situations for drivers, pedestrians and a nuisance for businesses and all the new downtown housing.

Let’s find a way to address this dangerous precedent now. The proponents already are assuming a win, which will be a loss for many.