Tri-Rail head cites last-mile subsidy vouchers for passengers

“I would have loved to have gotten a lot more done,” is how David Dech appraises his first year as executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA).

Still, the fourth-generation railroader told Miami Today he feels good “about the direction and momentum we’re taking.”

Intensely focused on extending publicly owned Tri-Rail service to downtown Miami by the end of 2023 or early next year, the 51-year-old director, who started his career as a switchman almost three decades ago, points to what he has accomplished in his first year at the SFRTA throttle.

“We’ve made a lot of improvements on the trains” and tracks Mr. Dech said. “We’ve changed over 1,000 windows and removed more than 500 tons of debris and garbage from the right of way.

“We’ve streamlined our internal procurement processes,” he added, “and gone through three or four audits in which we came out well.”

The executive director said he expects to present a strategic plan to the SFRTA board soon, looking several years into the future – well beyond Tri-Rail’s arrival in downtown Miami.

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

As Tri-Rail approaches the Miami Central Station that it will share with privately owned Brightline, Mr. Dech is busy getting the system ready.

“Our trains are cleaner than they used to be,” he told Miami Today, “but they’re still not where I think they need to be.

“We’re still having issues keeping the air conditioning where it needs to be in these hottest of days … and we’ve some reliability issues as we work through our re-build process.”

These issues haven’t stopped all progress, Mr. Dech adds.

“We’re putting out a contract right now for an improved data network and for wi-fi on the trains.”

Mr. Dech also points to work being done on transit-oriented development (TOD), a type of urban development that maximizes residential, business and leisure space within walking distance of public transport, according to the Federal Transit Administration. It promotes a symbiotic relationship between dense, compact urban areas and public transport use.

In addition, “the SFRTA governing board recently approved an expansion of first mile/last mile (FLM) services, which I’m really interested in,” Mr. Dech said.

FLM, according to commuterbenefits.com, is the distance a commuter covers to get to a station and the distance from the station to the passenger’s office or destination.

FLM improvements include a $5 ride subsidy from station to destination and a $15 subsidy to Palm Beach International Airport. Tri-Rail provides transportation to all three international airports in the tri-county area.

When Mr. Dech arrived at his new job from his position in Austin, TX, not all Tri-Rail locomotives complied with federal guidelines. “They do now,” Mr. Dech told Miami Today. “Our locomotives are 100% compliant.”

While there were turnover issues at the Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway, which owns all of the 351-mile mainline track from Miami to Jacksonville, that’s no longer the case either.

“We’ve got solid contacts and we’re in constant communication,” Mr. Dech said.

As for personnel – conductors, controllers, engineers – the former switchman asserted, “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, he said, and is currently being reviewed by the FEC.

Two safety systems, including Automatic Train Control (ATC), have been installed, he said.

Investment and development around the stations is critical, Mr. Dech believes. His philosophy to achieving that?

“It has to start with us being a good neighbor and us making sure that our right-of-way is clean,” Mr. Dech explained. “When our stations are presentable … people want to live next to us and want to invest next to us.

“We’ve done a lot of work on our stations and we’re going to continue … “not only to provide a better experience for our passengers, but also to encourage” transit oriented development investments.

His operation continues to work on bicycle and scooter facilities at its Miami-Dade County stations. “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.” But his mindset is to provide convenience to commuters riding Tri-Rail.

Last January Miami Today reported 30% more riders than the previous January.

Mr. Dech said he expects a ridership increase with the start of the new school year, but notes that ridership has remained strong, at 85% to 90% of pre-covid levels. “We still see quite a few people using us to get to the airports,” he added.

Looking back on his 12 months leading Tri-Rail, Mr. Dech said “It’s been a busy year, but a very, very fulfilling year. I’m very much looking forward to what the next two, three or four years bring.”