Hey everybody, let's ride SunRail on Black Friday

Riders always ask us what they can do to convince SunRail to run trains on the weekends and later at night.

For one thing, please sign the petition calling for expanded SunRail service. (Add your name to the petition by clicking here.)

The other thing we can do is: Ride SunRail as much as possible. Ridership numbers make a big impact. Politicians and bureaucrats pay attention to numbers – big numbers.

We know there are many people who want to ride SunRail but it’s not convenient for them during the week because the train doesn’t go near their home or job. However, those people usually have a long list of places they would catch SunRail to visit on the weekends.

Well, their prayers are answered. Next week there’s a weekday when SunRail will be running and that’s almost like a weekend because many people will have the day off. SunRail won’t be running on Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), but it will run the next day – Black Friday (Nov. 28).

Many people are off from work and plan to go shopping on Black Friday. That’s great, so let’s go shopping and avoid the overflowing mall parking lots by riding SunRail.

You can catch SunRail and transfer to a Lynx bus to reach Florida Mall, Altamonte Mall, Mall at Millennia and Seminole Towne Centre mall.

Oh yes we did! We actually suggested riding the Lynx bus. You might enjoy it. Recently we rode Lynx from the downtown Lynx Central Station to the Sand Lake Road SunRail station in south Orange County. It was easy. The Lynx buses are new; the driver was courteous and helpful; the ride was very quick, and the fare was only $2 (exact fare, please.)

Don’t roll your eyes at the thought of riding the Lynx bus. Easing traffic congestion, saving energy and reducing air pollution in Central Florida requires all of us to support a unified mass transit system that fully utilizes SunRail AND Lynx.

Besides the mega malls, SunRail is an excellent way to reach shopping areas in Central Florida’s smaller cities. Everybody knows that SunRail lets passengers off on Park Avenue in Winter Park. But did you know Lake Mary has a wonderful shopping area that’s just a five-minute stroll from the Lake Mary SunRail station?

In Sanford, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., the city provides a free shuttle van to take riders from the SunRail station to downtown Sanford where there are great places to shop and eat.

The timing of this SunRail rider campaign is especially important for businesses in Central Florida’s smaller cities because Saturday, Nov. 29^th is Small Business Saturday – a national observance when people are encouraged to spend money will small, locally owned businesses. However, as we all know, SunRail doesn’t run on Saturdays and Sundays. So let’s ride SunRail on Black Friday and give our small-business friends some love.

OK, so maybe you don’t want to take SunRail to go Black Friday shopping. Well then ride SunRail just to do it. Get off at Loch Haven Park or downtown Orlando to visit some cultural venues. Or take your bike on the train and ride up to DeBary to explore some of the bicycle trails.

Are you in? Pass the word and ask your friends, neighbors and coworkers to ride SunRail on Black Friday.

Instead of complaining about SunRail not running on weekends and nights, let’s show everyone how much we appreciate SunRail. Let’s pack those trains like we did right after the train service started back in May and June.

Mark Nov. 28^th on your calendar. See you on the rail!

Going to the performing arts center? Don't count on SunRail

Have you checked out the new Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts in downtown Orlando?

You can get a sneak peek at the performing art center’s spectacular design in the accompanying photo that was shot during the early-morning hours from the northbound platform of the SunRail station at Church Street.

We regret that you can only see a small corner of the performing arts center in this photograph, but our point is to show you how close the SunRail station is to the performing arts center. An out-of-shape 5-7 guy can walk from the train station to the performing arts center in about 5 minutes.

But walking from the train station to the performing arts center is futile because SunRail doesn’t run during late-night hours or on the weekends. Under the existing SunRail schedule, on weekdays the last northbound train leaves the Church Street SunRail station at 9:25 p.m., and the last southbound train leaves Church Street at 8:51 p.m.

Now think about this. On Saturday, Nov. 8 Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow will perform during a free concert to celebrate the grand opening of our new performing arts center. The street in front of the performing arts center is congested during the best of times. Imagine what it’s going to be like for a free performance in Central Florida’s newest public venue.

The traffic congestion could be greatly alleviated if there was a transportation alternative, such as SunRail, available to bring Central Florida residents to downtown Orlando. But, oops, SunRail doesn’t run on weekends. That reality isn’t just sad, it’s stupid.

Central Florida is a world-class community, and it needs to start acting like one. We deserve much better than a part-time train system. Our new performing arts center deserves more than a part-time train system.

Failure to provide 7-day-a-week and expanded evening service plays right into the hands of the SunRail haters who are overjoyed to cluck about recent declines in train ridership. The naysayers get great pleasure by calling SunRail a white elephant. We know that’s not true. Full-time rail service will make mass transportation a part of this community’s DNA and add tremendous value to the new performing arts center and many other cultural, recreation and entertainment venues in this region.

SunRail officials say they’re studying the idea of expanding hours and they’ll make a report at the end of this year. We’re not optimistic.

Don’t just read this post, help make Central Florida a world-class community by clicking this link and signing the petition to get SunRail service hours expanded.

Stop panicking about federal agents patrolling SunRail

Every week somebody tweets about seeing armed Transportation Security Administration agents wearing body armor riding SunRail trains. Here's the straight scoop. The agents are members of TSA’s Visual Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) team that works with transit systems throughout the country, including Lynx – our public bus system. (Click here for more details on VIPR)

A spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation told us that his agency “has been coordinating safety and security issues with the Department of Homeland Security (TSA is part of Homeland Security) and the VIPR team in particular for more than a year now. They have been a routine presence on trains, platforms and the (SunRail track corridor) since service began May 1 and will continue to do so.”

So like the T-shirt says, “Remain calm and carry on.”

SunRailRiders - Orlando Amtrak station is a mess

At first glance the accompanying photo

 looks like it was taken in a bombed out village at the end of World War II. But no, the photo shows the eyesore SunRailRiders face every day at the Orlando Health/Amtrak station. The photo was taken May 2 and it was not altered in any way. The exterior decay at the Amtrak station is not just ugly, it’s unacceptable!

      Despite its current appearance this building -- constructed in 1926 as an Atlantic Coast Railroad station -- is a historical and architectural gem. For starters, this station needs to be pressure-washed and painted.

       SunRail has done its best and built new covered platforms immediately north of the Amtrak station. You think that would have shamed Amtrak into sprucing up? Well, you thought wrong! The Orlando Amtrak station has been in this condition for more than five years.

        To make matters worse, this is where Amtrak passengers arrive to visit the world’s most popular vacation destination. City Beautiful indeed! Just for the record, every year more than 150,000 Amtrak passengers board or get off trains at this station.

        Amtrak officials should be embarrassed. The exterior of this station needs urgent attention. Spare us the double talk about next fiscal year. The Orlando Amtrak station needs to be fixed next week. SunRail and Amtrak passengers deserve better.

       

SunRailRiders - Do our leaders lack vision?

OK, so here’s what we don’t get.

We don’t understand how our state and local leaders could launch SunRail commuter train without a plan to expand the schedule from 5 to 7 days.

Yet that’s what they apparently did because every time we mention expanding the service they whine about not having the money and needing to renegotiate track usage agreements with CSX. How come they didn’t plan this on the front end?

It’s not like our leaders had to reinvent the wheel. SunRail is almost identical to the Tri-Rail commuter line launched by the Florida Department of Transportation in 1989. Tri-Rail, which transports commuters in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, started with weekday service and expanded to 7 days within a year. Where’s the institutional memory?

We’re tired of watching our leaders drag their feet when we – the people – say SunRail needs to be expanded to weekend and late night service. SunRail was built and is being operated with a combination federal, state and local dollars and rider fares. You know who provided that money? We did! So it seems like what we say should make a big difference.

For the record, of 26 commuter train lines in the United States:

• ·         20 have weekend service
• ·         3 limit weekend service to Saturday

For heaven’s sake the Northstar Line commuter train in Minneapolis has a daily ridership of 2,500 and operates on 7-day schedule. By contrast SunRail has a daily ridership of 4,300 and we only run on weekdays.

In this community we’ve gone through great effort and expense to build a world class international airport, a world-class public university, a world-class convention center, a world-class basketball and events arena, a world-class performing arts center, yet we the people are expected to settle for a half-ass commuter train that runs only on weekdays.

We deserve better.

SunRailRiders - Kissimmee SunRail passengers have a sweet deal

Kissimmee SunRail riders have a really sweet deal.

Even though SunRail doesn’t run to Kissimee yet, Kissimmee residents are already taking advantage of SunRail. They’re riding an express bus from downtown Kissimmee to the Sand Lake Road SunRail station in south Orange County.

Actually, it’s a little more than your average express bus, Lynx 208 is a luxury motor coach and we checked it out recently.

We picked it up at the Kissimmee Intermodal Station – that’s just fancy talk for a mini terminal where most of the buses serving Osceola County come together. And man, is it busy in the morning. This intermodal station is adjacent to the Kissimmee Amtrak station where SunRail is scheduled to begin service in 2016.

Lynx 208 is actually a big orange Mears motor coach – you know the type with the high-back reclining chairs. It even has free Wi-Fi, a feature they need on regular Lynx buses.

The ride on Lynx 208 costs $3.50 -- a little more than the regular Lynx bus, but you also get a free transfer to SunRail.

Though the motor coach we rode only had a handful of riders, everybody enjoyed it. We chatted with a couple of ladies who said this new Lynx service and SunRail has really changed their lives by relieving them of the stress of driving to Orlando every morning. And they’re saving a fortune. They explained that their employer is paying their SunRail fare (employers get a tax incentive for this) and all they have to pay for is the express bus service.

One woman said she used to spend $75 per week for gasoline. But now it’s only costing her $40 per month for the express bus. Cha-ching!

After leaving the intermodal station the express bus makes one more stop at a park and ride lot on  Shady lane in Kissimmee before hopping on Florida’s Turnpike and zipping over to Sand Lake Road.

The ride took about 30 minutes and there was a SunRail train waiting in the station.

The coordination and cooperation between Lynx and SunRail is great to see. Here’s hoping that more people will get onboard so we can keep it running.

SunRailRiders - Transportation boss tells riders to take a chill pill

Noranne Downs is a name you should know if you ride SunRail.

Downs is the Florida Department of Transportation district secretary for Central Florida. In that capacity, SunRail is one of many major projects Downs oversees.

Last week our friends at the Orlando Business Journal interviewed Downs. Some of her comments regarding calls to expand SunRail service to the weekends and late-night hours were very disappointing.

During the interview, Downs called weekend and late-night SunRail service “extras.”

SunRail, Downs explained, “was never set for weekends because it was primarily for the majority, which would be Monday through Friday, and we have tried to have our schedules – 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoons – work around hospitals… we’re (SunRail) going through 2 hospital areas … so we need to kind of work around that schedule.”

Thanks Ms. Downs, you made a compelling case for running SunRail 7 days a week.

Those mega-hospitals operate 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. In addition to hospital staff, hundreds of other SunRail riders don’t work traditional Monday through Friday, 9 to 5 schedules. They depend on mass transit – buses and rail -- to get them to work. For them, night and weekend SunRail service is not an “extra”. It’s essential!

We’ve met Downs. Professionally she is very accomplished and deserves a standing ovation for launching SunRail. Yet we’re disappointed because the attitude Downs projected in the interview (click here to see for yourself) seemed almost condescending to the thousands of people who signed the petition calling for service to be expanded.

Maybe the problem is that Downs works for a road-building agency and doesn’t care about mass transportation. Regardless, Downs is a state employee. She works for us -- the taxpayers and voters. Loudly and clearly we have said SunRail service needs to be expanded – sooner rather than later.

Consider dropping Downs a line to let her know how you feel about expanding SunRail service. Write to her at Noranne.downs@dot.state.fl.us. Please be concise and respectful.

SunRailRiders - Petition drive to expand service to weekends and late night

SunRail is perfect, except for two things: It doesn’t run on the weekends, or late at night.

The most common SunRail question we hear is: Why can’t SunRail service be expanded to weekends and late-night hours?

The Florida Department of Transportation officials who manage SunRail say they don’t have the money to expand the service. That’s a shame. It seems odd to create a public transit system that only runs on weekdays. That’s like buying a new pair of sneakers, but only providing shoe laces for the right sneaker. Sure, you can walk in those sneakers, but it’s not easy.

Many people don’t work a traditional Monday-to-Friday schedule. Two of SunRail’s major stations are at Metro Orlando’s main hospitals – Florida Hospital and Orlando Regional Medical Center. How many people would go to a hospital where doctors, nurses, other health-care professionals and support staff, only work Monday through Friday?

The current weekday-only schedule prevents SunRail from reaching its full potential. Weekend service would encourage more people to keep their cars at home on the weekend while enjoying cultural and recreational events from DeBary to Lake Eola; visiting a sick friend at Florida Hospital, or having dinner with relatives in Altamonte Springs and Longwood.

Let’s also remember that we have many senior citizen residents who really shouldn’t drive long distances. Weekend service on SunRail would be a godsend to seniors.

Late-night trains offer a transportation alternative to people who have been enjoying “adult beverages” at restaurants and clubs on Orange Avenue.

Every car left parked on the weekends saves energy and helps protect the environment.

Expecting SunRail to run 7 days a week doesn’t seem like too much to ask.

Just last month St. Paul, Minn. began service on its Metro Green Line train system. It runs 7 days a week.  Closer to home Tri Rail in South Florida – almost identical to SunRail – operates 7 days a week. Metrorail in Miami runs 7 days a week. The Metromover people-mover rail system in downtown Miami runs 7 days a week. The Jacksonville Skyway people-mover runs 7 days a week. Even the Hogwarts Express at Universal runs 7 days a week!

SunRail fans shouldn’t have to settle for “can’t.” The United States is a can-do nation. We’ve cured dreaded diseases and put men on the moon. Surely we can find a way to run SunRail 7 days a week.

We think expanded service is worth trying. If you agree, please sign the attached Change.Org online petition to expand SunRail service hours to the weekends and later at night.

Click here to sign the SunRail petition

SunRailRiders -- The Party Train

     So one day in early June we were talking to a Seminole County business owner who remarked: “I don’t know about this SunRail thing. I don’t think it’s going to be successful.”

     I wish that naysayer could have been with us on June 25, 2014 when we boarded the Party Train.

      The Party Train is the second passenger coach of northbound SunRail train departing Sand Lake Road at 6:45 a.m.

      While there’s no disco ball hanging from the ceiling, it’s definitely a party. The eclectic group of passengers who ride in that coach every work day are lots of fun and laughs.

    In a little less than 2 months of riding together, the Party Train passengers, have formed their own community. There are about 20 of them. Most board at Sand Lake Road, but a few get on a little further up the line at Church Street and Lynx Central Station.

     They know each other by name, and look out to see who’s missing and who is running to get aboard. But it’s much more than that.

     They laugh and joke with each other and their favorite SunRail conductor. One recent morning the subject was the U.S. victory over Ghana in the World Cup. About half the riders explained the soccer rules and team standings to the other half who were still learning about the game.

       On another morning they discussed ideas for one rider’s upcoming wedding – color of the dress, cake design and music. And they’re even planning an onboard baby shower for another rider.

        Sometimes the discussions are just among seatmates. One rider confided that he is in recovery and sometimes discusses that issue with another rider who is facing similar challenges.

       The folks on the party train are much more than a group of strangers. They’re close friends, almost family. What a way to start the work day!

        It just goes to show you that SunRail is much more than a means of transportation. It’s become a way of life.

Formed any interesting groups during your SunRail ride? Send us a note at info@sunrailriders.com.