

A majority of I-4 corridor voters did not like Florida Gov. Rick Scott's decision to cancel plans for a high-speed rail line that would have linked Tampa and Orlando, according to a new Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9/Central Florida 13 poll.





Fifty-one percent said Scott should not have rejected $2.4 billion in federal money to construct the rail line, compared to 39 percent who supported Scott's decision and 10 percent who were unsure.





Scott said the project would cost state taxpayers too much over the long term.





Meanwhile, Scott himself remains relatively unpopular, with 48 percent of I-4 voters disapproving of his job performance, compared to 42 percent who approve of his work.





There is a glimmer of hope for the governor: Central Florida voters narrowly approved of Scott's job performance, 45 percent to 43 percent.





In Tampa Bay, Scott fares much worse. More than half of voters, 54 percent, disapprove of Scott's job performance compared to just 38 percent who approve.





The telephone survey of 625 registered Florida voters in the I-4 corridor — all likely to vote in the November election — was conducted Oct. 22-24 for the Tampa Bay Times, Bay News 9 and Central Florida News 13. The poll, which included respondents using land lines and cell phones, was conducted by Mason-Dixon, a nonpartisan, Jacksonville company. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

