Trump Day meant big ridership for SunRail

President Trump’s campaign event at the Amway Center on Tuesday (6/18) was HUGE for SunRail. SunRail more than doubled its daily ridership for a Tuesday.

Before you jump all over us for being partisan, keep in mind that both people supporting Trump, as well as those opposed to him, used the train to avoid traffic jams and expensive parking in downtown Orlando.

To accommodate the crowds, SunRail added extra trains to carry people back to their home stations after the event.

Overall SunRail provided 14,026 rides on Tuesday (a couple of trains with 3 passenger-coaches carried more than 900 people).

The average ridership for a Tuesday in May 2019 was 6,078.

These totals are amazing when you consider that last year – before SunRail launched its Southern Expansion down to Poinciana – the train was providing about 3,300 rides daily.

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SunRail ridership jumps on the 1st day of Southern Expansion

The numbers are in for SunRail’s first day of service with the four new stations and it looks very good!

Overall there were 6,326 boardings on the first day of expanded service.

To put that number into perspective during FY 2018 -- which ended June 30, 2018 -- SunRail's daily average was roughly 3,500

During the week of July 23, when expanded from 36 train trips to 40 train trips, SunRail had a few days when the boardings reached 3,800.

Based on what we saw at the Kissimmee SunRail station most of the riders were headed to work – not just joyriders checking out the new stations or folks just interested in a free ride.

In fact, many people boarding at the new stations were willing to pay for their rides even though SunRail was offering free boardings to the first 50 people at each of the new stations.

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Wanna free ride from SunRail's newest stations?

SunRail will be offering some free rides on the commuter train system to celebrate the launch of service on the railroad’s new southern leg at the end of this month.

The operative word is SOME.

Opening day crowds in 2014

When SunRail launched service on its first leg in 2014 the railroad offered free rides to all comers for the first couple of weeks.

Nice idea, but the situation nearly spun out of control. Trains were packed with joyriders who treated SunRail as though it was a new attraction at Universal or Disney.

It was difficult to keep the trains on schedule. You couldn’t find a seat unless you boarded at the beginning or the end of the line -- in DeBary or Sand Lake Road. SunRail had to add trains to ease the strain on the system.

Clearly, SunRail management wants to avoid repeating those headaches with the plan they have introduced to offer some free rides to people boarding at the new stations – Meadow Woods, Tupperware/Osceola Parkway, downtown Kissimmee, and Poinciana.

According to a press release from the Florida Department of Transportation that runs SunRail: “SunRail is offering a “First 50 Free” promotion to riders whose trip originates at any of the four new southern stations starting Monday, July 30, and running through Friday, August 17.

“The promotion is easy. Simply check-in at the designated ‘First 50 Free’ promotional gate at either the Poinciana, Kissimmee, Tupperware or Meadow Woods stations, and if you’re one of the first 50 riders for each train, your roundtrip is free. Tickets may still be purchased for any train, but if you want to secure your free SunRail roundtrip offer, make sure you arrive early.”

No doubt some will complain that FDOT is being stingy because it isn’t offering free rides to everyone who boards at the new stations.

Realistically, though, it would be irresponsible to offer unlimited free rides from the new stations. Folks riding the train for free could make it impossible for fare-paying riders at existing stations to board the train.

Given that the “First 50 Free” promotion will be held for three weeks there’s a reasonable opportunity for thousands to get a chance to ride for free.

Service on the new southern leg begins July 30. The southern extension required SunRail to introduce a new schedule that you can review by clicking here.

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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

SunRail is a disaster

We’ve declared SunRail a disaster.

The only way to save SunRail is to admit how badly things are going. They say the first step to sobriety begins with an admission you’re an alcoholic.

We base our disaster declaration on academic analysis presented on www.thetransportpolitic.com. 

Yonah Freemark, a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, publishes that website.

Freemark noted that SunRail has the second worst operating effectiveness costs among commuter rail systems in the U.S., according to 2015 figures.

Data shows SunRail’s operating expense per trip is $35.11 compared to $8.47 for the Salt Lake FrontRunner – similar to SunRail in many ways. Click here for more details.

Responding to an email from us, Freemark wrote: “The ‘operating effectiveness’ figure ($35.11 for SunRail) means that it costs SunRail $35.11 to transport each rider.

“Because SunRail collects $2.21 per passenger in fares per trip this means that other sources (public subsidies) must provide $32.90 per trip to support the operations of the train,” Freemark continued, “You'll note that SunRail is also the worst-performing commuter rail agency in terms of expense per passenger mile ($2.39), which requires the largest subsidy per passenger-mile ($2.24). These figures would be improved substantially with additional ridership.”

Feeble attempts by SunRail and its high-priced consultants haven’t been able to improve SunRail because it’s operating with a half-assed schedule.

Lots of people want to use SunRail. Just check our Facebook page to see the intense demand for SunRail service. But SunRail doesn’t run when many people need it.

• No weekend service.
• No holiday service.
• No late-night service.
• No DeLand service.
• Service gaps of up to 2 ½ hours during the day.

It’s no surprise SunRail’s ridership is in a death spiral.

Please end the disaster. SunRail’s management and operations need a major shakeup to provide the service riders demand.

We’re tired of excuses and SunRail’s ‘can’t do’ attitude.

Save SunRail because it’s critical to provide transportation options Central Florida needs to thrive.

SunRail hospital schedule needs surgery - STAT

Back when SunRail was being planned most people expected that the train stations at Orlando’s biggest hospitals would be among the busiest stops. That’s a reasonable assumption considering that Florida Hospital and Orlando Health are two of the region’s largest employers.

Reality proved to be vastly different from the assumptions. The stations at Florida Hospital and Orlando Health rank among the bottom three for ridership. It’s not that caregivers and other workers at the hospitals don’t like SunRail. The problem is that the train schedule doesn’t work for many of them.

SunRail at Florida Hospital

Hospital caregivers tell us that the biggest problem is in the evening for the northbound SunRail train. The shift ends for many of the caregivers at 7 p.m., but the northbound SunRail train arrives and departs too early from the train stations at both hospitals.

It’s not as though the minute the shift ends the nurses and other caregivers instantly drop everything and walk out the door. They have to finish what they’re doing; update patients’ charts and brief the next shift.

The handover process is time consuming but necessary to ensure safe medical care for patients. In addition, caregivers at Orlando Health have to walk at least two blocks to the train station.

To be fair, back in August SunRail tried to address this situation by adjusting the schedule so the 7:22 p.m. train at Orlando Health now arrives at 7:37 p.m. Instead of 7:34 p.m. that train now arrives at the Florida Hospital station at 7:49 p.m.

Good try, but this situation demands more attention. If caregivers coming off shift at 7 miss the northbound train they have to wait at least 2 hours for the next train. Would you do that? Most people wouldn’t, so caregivers drive to work because they can’t count on SunRail to get home.

SunRail at Orlando Health

Caregivers say it would be better if SunRail changed the schedule so the northbound train arrived at Orlando Health at 8 p.m. That train would also serve caregivers at Florida Hospital.

No doubt changing the SunRail train schedule is more complicated than just writing numbers on paper. Changing the northbound train schedule affects the southbound train schedule. In addition, every time the schedule is changed, it can affect the hours that train crews are on duty. Federal rules limit how long crew members can work. Despite those concerns, the ultimate goal is to increase ridership by making SunRail a convenient alternative to driving.

We love hospital caregivers – nurses, orderlies and techs. We love doctors, too. But anybody who has ever been in the hospital knows that the caregivers are the ones who get the job done. Let’s make it easier for them to get home.