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TriRail funding key to getting bullet train
I f Florida is serious about attracting federal dollars to help build a bullet train that would generate jobs for South Florida and millions of dollars from tourists, the state has to first commit to the rail system we already have: TriRail.
Since the commuter train's double-tracking project was completed in 2007, TriRail's been running trains from Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties every 20 minutes during morning and evening rush hour. Ridership soared from 7,500 daily riders in 2005 to around 14,000 today. It has greatly improved its on-time performance and, for its size, become the fastest-growing commuter rail in the country.
In other words, TriRail works. And for an Orlando-Miami bullet train to work for South Florida there must be a viable public transit system for passengers to take once they arrive from Orlando. TriRail is that connector.
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Miami-Dade announces projects funded by stimulus money
The U.S. Department of Transportation on Friday outlined specific projects Miami-Dade Transit will finance with federal stimulus money.
The money is part of $18.3 million in federal stimulus funds for transit projects statewide. About $2.8 million will go to Miami-Dade Transit for an overhaul of the Bicentennial Park Metromover station in Miami, a pilot project that would eventually bring free Internet access for passengers riding Metrorail and improvements on the Metrorail track.
MODERNIZE
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Train economics
The Oct. 27 Miami Herald editorial, Fund Tri-Rail, jump start bullet train , observes that it cost $256 million to double track Tri-Rail.
The editorial further states the current ridership of the system is 14,000 boardings for a weekday. Assuming 7,000 people make a daily round trip, then purchasing each person a $20,000 car would only cost $140 million, with the advantage that the car owners would pay operating and maintenance costs for their own vehicles.
Tri-Rail is an alternative transportation system and is not an economically beneficial program because the public subsidy outweighs alleged benefits.
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Family Fest! at Arsht Center
The Adrienne Arsht Center presents Family Fest! , a free series featuring family-friendly out-of-doors activities and performances. With plenty of hands-on demonstrations and mini-workshops, families can make a puppet, learn songs or try out dance moves, all the while learning about the arts and other cultures. Family Fest is free but tickets must be reserved.
The festival is 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday at The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, 1300 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Call 305-949-6722 or visit www.arshtcenter.org.
-- ALENA LOWENTHAL
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Fund Tri-Rail
T rains, buses, subways and all things mass transit will be the hot topics in Orlando this weekend at the American Public Transportation Association's annual conference. These may seem ordinary to the average person, but the quality of infrastructure like mass transit can be the sinew that binds an urban community into a cohesive metropolitan area.
Three of Florida's big urban centers -- Jacksonville, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Orlando -- want to build commuter rail lines like Tri-Rail which serves the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach corridor. Yet Tri-Rail is in peril because the Florida Legislature has yet to approve a dedicated revenue source to match the federal government's $500 million investment in the state's lone commuter rail service.
That funding is an urgent priority because the state needs to prove it's worthy of more federal transportation dollars to build a much vaunted bullet train between Miami, Orlando and Tampa. The Legislature can't afford to dither on Tri-Rail funding any
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