Why was the Tampa to Orlando route selected for HSR?
Within the last decade, the Tampa-Orlando market made a very competitive bid for the 2012 Olympics. Tampa has prominent sports venues, and Orlando has extensive hotel rooms, so it was natural to combine both and have them connected with a HSR system. While both the Olympic bid and plans for HSR at that time fell short, this new initiative to connect these cities via HSR makes an Olympic bid more viable in the future. Another advantage of connecting Tampa and Orlando is the ability to attend events in each location conveniently. For example, Tampa has a pro football and baseball team, Orlando does not, while Orlando has a professional basketball team and Tampa does not. With under an hour of comfortable, stress-free travel, clearly HSR will be an attractive mode to use for events offering an opportunity for partnering between the operator of the system and the local community.
