South Florida rail connections need a boost as Brightline steps back
Word that Brightline is squeezing out commuters to make room for Orlando-bound travelers drew howls here in West Palm Beach. After all, we've bent over backwards to accommodate the company's 79 mph trains whooshing by our backyards and blocking busy intersections. All that accommodation, only to learn the average of $34 for short-distance trips in South Florida wasn't worth Brightline's trouble, not when they can now fetch $80 from Orlando passengers.
But rather than blame Brightline for tending to its bottom line, let's view its move as a wake-up call for Palm Beach County and regional transportation leaders. As the company's popularity has proven since regular service began in 2018, there is strong demand for efficient, comfortable and reasonably-priced transportation within South Florida. And our existing public transportation infrastructure can be improved to serve that purpose.
More on Brightline: Brightline ending $10-per-ride South Florida pass program to make room for Orlando riders
Brightline officials are quick to note that long-distance travel was the key to their business plan all along. Between operations and construction they've been posting close to $200 million a year in net losses. The surge in ticket purchases for the Miami-Orlando stretch that opened in September proves they were right about the latent demand and its potential to put them on track to profitability.
They report ridership of 258,000 this past March, compared to 180,000 in March 2023, with ticket revenues up 281%. More than half their trains were 80 percent full, with long-distance trips now accounting for half of their ridership. As a result, they moved to push out commuters by eliminating the popular $10-per-ride monthly pass program and generally jacking up prices to clear out room for more long-distance passengers.
The good news is that the board of directors of Tri-Rail, which runs local service between Miami and Mangonia Park, is scheduled to vote May 31 to authorize express, 90-minute daily service from West Palm Beach to Miami. Instead of 19 stops, there will be five – West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Hialeah and Miami – with a roundtrip fare of roughly $17.50.
Once-a-day service doesn't allow a commuter much flexibility. But it's a start. It would cost the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority $2 million a year, enlarging its $160 million budget by 1.25 percent. It's hardly the luxurious service Brightline affords, but Tri-Rail has been refurbishing its trains, and new cars will be coming down the line in the not-too-distant future.
We urge the board to authorize and expedite that new service, and to add trips to make the schedule more convenient. With an ever-growing corporate presence in addition to tourism and other travel demand, and a population of 1.5 million that grows by 12,000 a year, Palm Beach County needs to take cars off the roads and exhaust fumes out of the air and give people a speedy way to go north and south.
Brightline is still losing money, but Orlando extension has significantly boosted ridership
Other public transit options also need to be explored.
Miami-Dade and Broward are well along in negotiations to establish local train service along the same coast-hugging tracks that Brightline uses. Palm Beach County should consider its options as well and not wait until road congestion reaches crisis levels. Brightline estimates the Miami-Dade project would cost $538 million, and the Broward one, $317 million, with about half the money coming from the state or county or a transportation surtax. It's not cheap, but how many more lanes can be added to I-95 or Florida's Turnpike?
Palm Beach County also should try to negotiate with Brightline to keep the company from writing off local travelers any more than it already has. The line had 120,000 local riders in March, even with its intentional effort to constrain the flow. But we're hearing anecdotal reports of families shocked by having to spend hundreds of dollars in train fares just to attend a Miami Heat game. Come on, Brightline. That's extortionate.
The days of Brightline's $20 roundtrips to Miami are gone, Brian Ruscher, deputy director of multimodal for the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, acknowledges. That doesn't mean we need to despair. As he puts it: "This is a big moment where we need to zoom out and try to get perspective on what people need."
We agree. It's time for workin' on the railroad.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brightline train cutting back requires Palm Beach County investment
