Auto Train depends on the oddity that Florida is a major *visitor destination* where people *really like to drive*. I was trying to think of another one in the US, and I can't.
This is probably why the other Auto-Train run was "midwest to Florida". Unfortunately it simply wasn't fast enough.
Auto Train depends on the oddity that Florida is a major *visitor destination* where people *really HAVE to drive*.
Fixed that for you.
Unless you are planning on catching a cab, van, having a friend meet you, or hiring someone to drive you to any florida destination(and it has to be within walking distance of every place you need or want to get to), you must have a car in Florida. Our motto is "you can't get there from here unless you drive" . Tampa Bay is a huge metropolitan center and there is no cohesive, quick transit system anywhere. In Pinellas or Pasco to catch the infrequent and slow buses you have to get to RT. 19. And there are no buses every 10, 20 or 30 minutes.
You cannot even get from Tampa to Orlando for a shopping trip unless you want to drive scenic I4(I say its scenic because no matter the time of day you will have plenty of opportunity to obseve Mickey's ears, or the exit signs for the stretch between Disney world and downtown Orlando), ride the Ambus and have part of the afternoon or spend 2 nights in Orlando. The star gets into Orlando around 7pm if on time, and leaves for Tampa around 10-10:30 in the am. South Florida has more options for car-free living, but not car-free vacations. When we took our train trip down, we still couldn't have done much of anything without renting a car. Had the same experiences in Daytona, and the panhandle.