Changing of the guard at SunRail

SunRail CEO Nicola Liquori was just appointed the new executive director of the Florida Turnpike Enterprise.

That’s a big win for the Florida Turnpike, but a major loss for SunRail.

Ms. Liquori took the helm at SunRail three summers ago. Before becoming the SunRail CEO, Ms. Liquori was the Chief Financial Officer for the Florida Turnpike Enterprise.

You probably read elsewhere that the Florida Turnpike Enterprise has been a disaster zone since last year when the state was supposed to be updating the high-tech SunPass toll system. That changeover collapsed into a financial and accounting calamity that still has not been resolved.

Though we hate to see Ms. Liquori leave, she’s an excellent choice to sort out the mess at the Florida Turnpike.

At SunRail Ms. Liquori – a certified public accountant -- was a decisive problem-solver.

A few of her SunRail accomplishments include:

·        Managing SunRail’s southern expansion into Osceola County, which doubled SunRail’s daily ridership.

·        Launching the text-messaging system to alert riders when there are service interruptions. Before Ms. Liquori came aboard the text-alert system was debated for nearly a year. Riders wanted the system, while some consultants said it wasn’t needed.

·        Introduction of the SunRail app. This is another amenity requested by riders.

·        Despite budget limitations, she found ways to occasionally offer trains to support some events in downtown Orlando. The SunRail schedule – especially the lack of weekend service -- remains a major disappointment for many people. Despite that, Ms. Liquori always demonstrated a willingness to look for ways to improve the schedule.

·        Managed the installation of the federally mandated Positive Train Control safety system. The system, which is designed to help prevent trains from running into each other, or de-railing due to high speeds, is expected to be fully operational on the SunRail tracks that run from DeLand to Poinciana. This system also helps protect the Amtrak and freight trains that use the SunRail tracks.

Since its launch in 2014, SunRail has operated under the leadership of FDOT, with Bombardier Transportation, running the trains. The state has been paying most of the operating costs. But in the summer of 2021, the financial responsibility for SunRail will be passed to the local funding partners that include: Orlando, Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Volusia counties.

Consultants are working on plans for that management transition.

Now that Ms. Liquori has left SunRail, the operation will be led by the Florida Department of Transportation District 5 Secretary Mike Shannon.

Text alerts come to SunRail

Why doesn’t SunRail send text messages when there’s a service interruption?

Great question.

The SunRail Customer Advisory Committee has been fighting for a text alert service for a year.

Their requests fell on deaf ears of SunRail’s former leadership team, which kept making excuses for why the text alert system was unneeded.

The committee members – regular riders charged with speaking up for the consumers – said putting service interruption alerts on Twitter was not adequate.

SunRail staff said a text messaging service would cost too much and would distract staff.

The SunRail marketing team even presented the results of a rigged survey to try to shut down the discussion.

Enter SunRail’s new CEO Nicola Liquori. After hearing the request, she decided that SunRail will offer text message alerts when a train is delayed or canceled. The details are still being worked out.

Ms. Liquori has certainly set a new standard for service at SunRail.

SunRail's last best hope - Nicola Liquori

Nicola Liquori.

Remember that name.

Ms. Liquori is SunRail’s new CEO.

She is the last, best hope for saving SunRail.

Given adequate political support and money Ms. Liquori can transform SunRail from a train wreck to a winner.

Make no mistake. SunRail is a train wreck.

Except for a few of momentary spikes, SunRail ridership has been sinking for almost 2 years.

Currently SunRail has about 3,300 daily “boardings” on its usual Monday to Friday schedule. The “boardings” account for every time someone got on a train. Most people ride the train roundtrip, so the actual number of daily riders is roughly 1,600 for a $1 billion passenger rail system.

Thousands more want to use the train for work and other activities. They can’t because the schedule is awful.

There are 2 ½ hour gaps between trains in the off-peak hours. Other than occasional Saturday service, the train mainly serves those working Monday to Friday bankers’ hours in downtown Orlando.

On the SunRailRiders Facebook page we’ve heard from lots of people who formerly rode SunRail. They stopped because the schedule is too inconvenient.

The SunRail staff and the SunRail Commission – local elected officials who oversee SunRail – know all about the deficiencies. Rather than work with vigor on solutions, they try to explain away the problems.

Enter Ms. Liquori. She joined SunRail as CEO this past June.

At first, we were very skeptical of her because she formerly served as chief financial officer of the Florida Turnpike Enterprise. She’s a number cruncher with no railroad experience.

What she did have though, was the gift of listening, understanding and caring about rider feedback.

During a recent SunRail Technical Advisory Committee meeting Ms. Liquori said:

“The most frequent question, and I would say complaint, is related to the schedule.”

Asked by a committee member to explain, Ms. Liquori elaborated:

The schedule problem “is referring to the infrequency of trains. The time windows. It really runs the gamut.

“You have folks that want to have more midday service.

“We’ve gotten some feedback from folks at Florida Hospital and Orlando Health saying the schedule really doesn’t align with their shifts.

“I had one lady I was talking to who said we really don’t seem to accommodate hourly workers.”

We have attended almost every public SunRail meeting over the last 2 years and that’s the most honest observation we heard from any SunRail/FDOT official.

However, Ms. Liquori can’t personally write a check for the money it will take to improve SunRail’s schedule.

We – the riders and others who wish they could use SunRail – need to stand with Ms. Liquori.

One of the things you can do right now to support Ms. Liquori  is click here to add your name to the petition requesting money from the state for a full-service SunRail.

We need to demand that our local elected officials on the SunRail Commission stand with Ms. Liquori and fight to get the money she needs to improve SunRail service.

If people can’t ride SunRail, the train’s ridership will continue to tumble.

The clock is ticking.

FDOT is subsidizing SunRail until 2021. Then the funding becomes the responsibility of local governments.

Based on SunRail’s poor ridership, there’s no way local governments will continue funding SunRail.

Central Florida needs SunRail. Anyone who drives knows traffic is a nightmare. SunRail provides an alternative to driving. It helps take some traffic off our clogged roads.

We want SunRail to survive and thrive. That is why we stand with Ms. Liquori.

We hope you do, too.

#SaturdaySunRail is a real winner

We’ll let the #SaturdaySunRail numbers speak for themselves.

Nov. 12 at Church Street

Nov. 5^th – the first time out with #SaturdaySunRail -- there were 3,225 boardings.

On Nov. 12^th – this past Saturday – there were 3,452 boardings. (You do the math.)

Both of those totals are on par, or better than, SunRail’s average daily ridership.

And get this, SunRail scored these ridership wins on Saturdays running in a shorter operating window – 10 to 12 hours – with fewer trains than on weekdays.

In addition, many people didn’t know until the last minute the train was running Saturday. This is because no one will commit to a long-term schedule of Saturday operations.

Still we must take a moment to offer special thanks to SunRail’s new CEO Nicola Liquori who personally supervised these Saturday operations. Her leadership is top notch.

Imagine how many more people would ride #SaturdaySunRail if a regular schedule could be agreed on, and if the train ran every Saturday.

Before we start getting too deep into the “what ifs”, please remember that the #SaturdaySunRail operations are being funded through Team SunRail -- a public-private partnership – to support certain large-scale events in downtown Orlando.

There is no guarantee this public-private partnership will last beyond February 2017.

Therefore, we have launched a petition campaign to ask the SunRail Commission to work with the Central Florida Legislative Delegation to get money from Tallahassee.

The funding is needed for a full-time SunRail that would include weekend service, night service, hourly service on weekdays after the morning rush hour and additional Lynx and Votran bus service to support SunRail.

Please click here to add your name to this very important petition.

Open letter to SunRail's new CEO

Dear Ms. Nicola Liquori,

Congratulations on your new role as SunRail CEO. We wish you every success!

Some riders were dismayed that you don’t have a passenger-rail background. We appreciate their concern, but we’re not overly worried because strong leadership can be as important as detailed technical knowledge and experience. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower led Allied forces to victory in World War II even though he never personally commanded soldiers on a battlefield.

The areas of focus that you detailed at the September Technical Advisory Committee meeting make sense. However, we were disappointed that customer satisfaction was not listed among your priorities.

SunRail ridership continues to sag because customer satisfaction is not -- and has not been -- a top priority.

Specifically, we call your attention to the train schedule. SunRail is almost completely useless unless you’re going to a traditional Monday through Friday 9 to 5 job.

What about the caregivers at Orlando Health (ORMC) and Florida Hospital? They don’t work a traditional schedule limited to weekdays.

How about the thousands of people who work at Orlando International Airport and in the hospitality and tourism industry? That’s a pool of thousands of prospective riders who want to use SunRail, but they can’t because of the train’s awful schedule.

We’ve been waiting two years for a real leader. We hope that’s you.

Please pay attention to what current riders -- and would-be riders -- are saying (especially the hospital caregivers). Don’t be misled by SunRail’s high-priced consultants. If they knew what they were talking about SunRail’s problems would have been solved long ago.

No service on weekends and holidays; no late-night service, 2 ½-hour service gaps during off-peak hours just don’t cut it. Those deficiencies are huge customer dis-satisfiers. You don’t need a Madison Avenue marketing guru to figure that out.

The schedule needs to be fixed now, not in five years. Waiting any longer will guarantee SunRail’s failure.

Fix SunRail’s schedule, extend service to DeLand, and your success will be guaranteed.

Sincerely

SunRail riders