Competition for just $8 billion in federal stimulus funding slated for major transportation projects is expected to be intense, but Gov. Charlie Crist officially put Florida in the hunt Friday.

Crist submitted an application to U.S. Department of Transportation secretary Ray LaHood as well as Federal Railroad Administration chief Joseph Szabo highlighting plans for a high-speed rail program that would link Tampa, Orlando and eventually Miami.

“Florida is the state that can turn imagination into reality for world-class high speed rail in the United States faster than anywhere else in the nation,” Crist said in a letter to LaHood and Szabo. “We are confident that based on Florida’s long history of planning for high-speed rail in our state, and the diligent work done to prepare this application, we offer the best opportunity to deliver results as quickly as possible.”

Crist is seeking as much as $2.5 billion through the Florida Department of Transportation, which would allow for contracting of the system’s Tampa-Orlando segment as early as next year. Miami could be added by 2017 if all goes as planned.

President Obama is expected to announce in December his selections to receive stimulus funding out of 10 corridors eligible.

The time saved commuting between Tampa and Orlando would be minimal because of the number of stops, but it’s the Miami-Orlando route that could be a big draw down the road because of the time it would save traveling there, Edward Mierzejewski, director of the Center for Urban Transportation at the University of South Florida told the Tampa Bay Business Journal in August.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to provide a transportation alternative that is widely available in other developed countries around the world,” Crist said in his letter. “There has never been a better time than now, and there is no better place to invest in high-speed rail than in Florida.”

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