How should we pay for weekend SunRail service?

Click here to see a video shot at a SunRail meeting showing an official explaining that it will cost $5.5 million to run the train on weekends.

Keep in mind that almost no public transit system anywhere in the world pays all of its operating expenses through rider fares. Some subsidy is almost always needed to pay for buses and trains.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott has already refused to pick up the extra expenses for weekend operations. Lobbying Scott is a waste of time. If we’re going to get SunRail running on weekends we have to come up with the money locally. How would you raise the money needed to run SunRail on Saturdays and Sundays?

We need you tonight on the SunRail #NightTrain

Tonight the stakes will be very high.

Both the news media and the SunRail and mass transportation haters will be paying very close attention to the SunRail night train service that begins tonight.

Even though tonight will be the first day for the new schedule the critics are licking their lips ready to declare the night train a failure because no one is riding. You can believe that future expansion of SunRail service (weekend service and more trains during the day) hinges on the success of the night train.

Other communities, such as our neighbors in Tampa Bay who desperately want to expand their mass transit offerings, will be paying close attention too. Let’s show them what SunRail riders can do!

We need to show the haters that our community fully embraces this new SunRail schedule, and mass transit in general (including Lynx and Votran).

There are lots of places to go and things to do tonight, including the multiplex movie theater in downtown Orlando, dining and fun in downtown Orlando, downtown Winter Park, downtown Lake Mary and downtown Sanford. And so to quote Lisa Minnelli: “What good is sitting alone in your room? Come hear the music play…”

Remember the way we all rode during the #RideBlkFri campaign? Let’s ride like that again tonight and every night this train is running. Let’s get your coworkers and neighbors out there on SunRail tonight. And when you ride, please post photos under the hashtag #NightTrain

The last southbound SunRail train will leave DeBary at 9:05 p.m. and the last northbound SunRail train will leave Sand lake Road at 10:20 p.m. For a detailed schedule visit www.SunRail.com

See you on The Rail.

Let's make a SunRail statement on Black Friday #RideBlkFri

What a difference a day makes.

One of the accompanying photos shows what the Sand Lake Road SunRail station looks like on a busy weekday during normal train operations. The other photo shows what the same station looks like on a weekend when the SunRail train isn’t running.

The SunRail bosses are currently conducting a rider survey and preparing a “white paper” report to determine if weekend service makes sense. They want to figure out how great the demand is for weekend and late-night service.

We know anyone reading this article can tell SunRail bosses the demand is huge. Instead of telling them, we (the riders) have a unique opportunity to demonstrate the gigantic demand for weekend service.

This coming Friday – the day after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28) – is almost like a weekend day because many people have Black Friday off from work. SunRail will be running its normal schedule on Black Friday.

So make believe Black Friday is a Saturday, and let’s ride the train to the places we would visit if SunRail ran on Saturdays. We need everyone’s help to make a big impression on the SunRail bosses.

Everyone who usually rides needs to ride on Black Friday. You need to get all your friends, coworkers and neighbors who haven’t had a chance to check out SunRail to ride the train on Black Friday too.

We’re calling this campaign Ride Black Friday and when you ride we’re asking you to Tweet selfies and other photos with the #RideBlkFri hashtag. Post to your Facebook Page. Post to our Facebook page Sunrailriders-Florida.

Together we can make a big impression and have some fun.

Allow us to suggest a few destinations you might consider exploring when you ride SunRail on Black Friday.

·        Historic Downtown Sanford

·        Downtown Lake Mary

·        Park Avenue in Winter Park

·        Loch Haven Park cultural venues

·        Downtown Orlando

·        Beth’s Burger Bar

·        Orlando Brewing

·        Lucy Bleuz café

·        Bauern-Stube German restaurant

·        Oak Ridge Gun Range

·        Florida Mall

·        Artegon Marketplace (This just opened. It’s not your typical mall, check it out)

See you on the Rail.

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