The Legislature May Have Stopped Tri-Rail in its Tracks
By Mark LaFontaine
Gas prices average upwards of $4 per gallon. The streets are clogged, and not just during rush hour. Our quality of life is suffering from South Florida’s poor transportation planning, and it’s only going to get worse. And Tri-Rail’s lack of dedicated funding is an annual topic of discussion in Tallahassee.
Let’s face it: Florida has California-sized transportation problems. Building more roads isn’t the answer – that’s part of the problem. More roads leads to more traffic, not less.
In May, the IBM Commuter Pain Index, a survey of 4,000 drivers nationwide, ranked the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area number three when it comes to commuter difficulties. Sixty percent of area drivers said driving here has gotten worse over the past three years, and more than half reported increased driving stress – equaling such notoriously bad driving areas as Dallas and Los Angeles.
Commuters cited start-stop traffic as the worst issue here – at 42 percent, tied with Atlanta and second only to Los Angeles. Thirty-five percent said aggressive driving is a nuisance. And – no surprise – among the worst roads are I-95, Florida’s Turnpike and US 1.
According to South Florida Commuter Services, a program of the Florida Department of Transportation, “The annual cost of traffic congestion in South Florida is between $2 -$3 billion, for an average of $900 - $1,700 per motorist per year. The average South Florida commuter spends 51 hours in traffic per year.”
OK, those are the problems. What are the solutions? In 2003, the Legislature created the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), charged with creating and managing a regional transportation system. The RTA includes Broward County Transit, Tri-Rail, Palm Tran in Palm Beach County, and Miami-Dade Transit.
Tri-Rail is definitely the area’s biggest mass transit success. The three-county rail system’s ridership has been growing steadily over the years, and now has its highest daily ridership ever. That’s no surprise, given the price of gas. But Tri-Rail’s success comes ironically as the Legislature once again failed to pass a dedicated funding source for it.
Two plans were considered and both passed the House but failed in the Senate. Now it’s up to the three counties that fund Tri-Rail to keep funding the system at slightly higher than current levels, but the counties are facing their own budget problems. If the counties bail then the only solution is cutbacks in Tri-Rail service, as much as a 60 percent cutback in weekday trains.
Last year Tri-Rail led the nation in commuter rail growth, and this year the system is doing even better – up 28 percent, according to the Miami Herald. It’s time South Florida got serious about options to single-occupant vehicles and realized the economic, environmental and energy saving benefits of public transportation.
The American Public Transportation Association reports that every $1 invested in public transportation projects generates approximately $6 in local economic activity. That’s significant in a region like South Florida, where our economy is fragile, property values are in a freefall, and we’re always one natural disaster away from a tumbling tourism climate.
The benefits of public transportation – especially a system like Tri-Rail – are obvious. In these stressful economic times, however, stopping Tri-Rail in its tracks is the wrong thing to do. Once again, the Florida Legislature has dropped the ball on dealing with Florida’s real problems.
Gas prices average upwards of $4 per gallon. The streets are clogged, and not just during rush hour. Our quality of life is suffering from South Florida’s poor transportation planning, and it’s only going to get worse. And Tri-Rail’s lack of dedicated funding is an annual topic of discussion in Tallahassee.
Let’s face it: Florida has California-sized transportation problems. Building more roads isn’t the answer – that’s part of the problem. More roads leads to more traffic, not less.
In May, the IBM Commuter Pain Index, a survey of 4,000 drivers nationwide, ranked the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area number three when it comes to commuter difficulties. Sixty percent of area drivers said driving here has gotten worse over the past three years, and more than half reported increased driving stress – equaling such notoriously bad driving areas as Dallas and Los Angeles.
Commuters cited start-stop traffic as the worst issue here – at 42 percent, tied with Atlanta and second only to Los Angeles. Thirty-five percent said aggressive driving is a nuisance. And – no surprise – among the worst roads are I-95, Florida’s Turnpike and US 1.
According to South Florida Commuter Services, a program of the Florida Department of Transportation, “The annual cost of traffic congestion in South Florida is between $2 -$3 billion, for an average of $900 - $1,700 per motorist per year. The average South Florida commuter spends 51 hours in traffic per year.”
OK, those are the problems. What are the solutions? In 2003, the Legislature created the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), charged with creating and managing a regional transportation system. The RTA includes Broward County Transit, Tri-Rail, Palm Tran in Palm Beach County, and Miami-Dade Transit.
Tri-Rail is definitely the area’s biggest mass transit success. The three-county rail system’s ridership has been growing steadily over the years, and now has its highest daily ridership ever. That’s no surprise, given the price of gas. But Tri-Rail’s success comes ironically as the Legislature once again failed to pass a dedicated funding source for it.
Two plans were considered and both passed the House but failed in the Senate. Now it’s up to the three counties that fund Tri-Rail to keep funding the system at slightly higher than current levels, but the counties are facing their own budget problems. If the counties bail then the only solution is cutbacks in Tri-Rail service, as much as a 60 percent cutback in weekday trains.
Last year Tri-Rail led the nation in commuter rail growth, and this year the system is doing even better – up 28 percent, according to the Miami Herald. It’s time South Florida got serious about options to single-occupant vehicles and realized the economic, environmental and energy saving benefits of public transportation.
The American Public Transportation Association reports that every $1 invested in public transportation projects generates approximately $6 in local economic activity. That’s significant in a region like South Florida, where our economy is fragile, property values are in a freefall, and we’re always one natural disaster away from a tumbling tourism climate.
The benefits of public transportation – especially a system like Tri-Rail – are obvious. In these stressful economic times, however, stopping Tri-Rail in its tracks is the wrong thing to do. Once again, the Florida Legislature has dropped the ball on dealing with Florida’s real problems.
