Tri-Rail tweaks schedules for new downtown Miami service

As Tri-Rail use continues to rebound from its pandemic plunge, the long-awaited plan to send trains to downtown Miami has rolled a few feet closer to its end-of-the-year launch target.

“Starting Monday,” explains Victor Garcia, public information officer for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), “we will operate as if downtown service were in place, without the actual connecting service. “

The authority will begin operating a modified version of the current Tri-Rail schedule. The updated “ghost train” schedule keeps Tri-Rail’s 50-weekday and 30-weekend train service, with the times slightly adjusted to account for the system’s schedule to operate downtown.

The announcement comes as the authority reports ridership continues to increase in 2023 compared to where the system was just a year ago.

Tri-Rail has averaged over 300,000 monthly riders between January and November of 2023, an overall 18% increase from the same time in 2022, and is on pace to reach 4 million riders by the end of the year, Mr. Garcia reported. Tri-Rail trains have averaged over 13,000 weekday and 6,500 weekend riders between September and November.

“We are happy to see that riders continue to entrust Tri-Rail as a viable means to get them to work, school, the airport, important appointments and wherever life takes them in South Florida,” said Miami-Dade Commissioner Raquel Regalado, who is the authority’s governing board chair. “We thank our passengers for helping bring positive results for the system this year, as we continue to aspire towards providing a safe, clean and consistently reliable service.”

Tri-Rail’s overall ridership has recovered 85% from its 2019 pre-covid days, when it had its highest ridership year with 4,495,039 passengers. The system has maintained its upward trend, continuing to show more signs of growth. Twice in November, for the first time since 2020, the service topped 14,000 weekday passengers.

“We continue to see hundreds of bicycles and scooters onboard, plus our luggage racks are constantly full even on weekends” said David Dech, the authority’s executive director. “Travel season is a 365-day operation in South Florida and we proudly serve passengers with connections to all three major South Florida airports all year round.”

The authority focused its efforts on increasing airport ridership this past year, updating the Fort Lauderdale Airport shuttle service to 15- to 20-minute frequencies and providing an Uber/taxi voucher for Palm Beach International Airport.

The long-awaited $70 million tax-funded project to bring Tri-Rail service to downtown Miami was to be finished by 2017. While not derailing the project, blockages from exposed rebar to platform issues to negotiations with Brightline and the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) have throttled its completion.

The authority governing board recently approved an expansion of services for first mile/last mile – the distance a commuter covers to get to a station and the distance from the station to the ultimate destination. Those improvements include a $5 ride subsidy from station to destination and a $15 subsidy to Palm Beach International Airport. The authority provides transportation to all three international airports in the tri-county area.

As for personnel – conductors, controllers, engineers – Mr. Dech recently told Miami Today, “We’re staffed up to the levels we need to be” for the 26 additional trains that will be headed to Miami Central Station daily.

A proposed Miami Central schedule has been reviewed and found compatible by Brightline analysts, Mr. Dech said, as well the FEC. Two safety systems, including Automatic Train Control, have been installed, he said.

Mr. Dech has continued to work on bicycle and scooter facilities at Miami-Dade County locations. “We are pulling every lever we can to make that happen,” he said, “and we are open to partnerships.”

Nationwide, debates have arisen about the wisdom of bike and scooter rental stations in metropolitan areas. “There are mixed opinions about bikes and scooters,” Mr. Dech said, “and there are very few people in the middle.”

The new schedule can be viewed and downloaded at www.tri-rail.com. Copies will be available at all Tri-Rail stations before the changes are realized.

Details: www.tri-rail.com or 1-800-TRI-RAIL (874-7245).