Mayor Dyer's Saturday SunRail letter

Dear Friend,

The number one question we hear about SunRail is, “When is our train going to run on the weekends?” This illustrates both the enthusiasm people have for our young mass transit system, as well as their desire to see SunRail’s operating hours expand beyond those that primarily serve daily commuters. 

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer

As you may know, SunRail was designed to be a commuter rail system that would immediately give residents an alternative to I-‐4 and their vehicles during daily commuting hours – while also serving as the backbone of a future multi-modal transit system that connects with and enhances other forms of transit. That future includes the weekend service so many of our Central Florida residents desire.

At this moment, SunRail is not in a position to expand service to weekends. We knew this was going to be the case for the first several years of SunRail’s existence. That said, accepting the status quo and letting challenges stand in our way is not what we do in Orlando. When we see opportunities to make our community stronger and increase the quality of life for our residents, we work together to craft creative, partnership-‐driven solutions to turn good ideas into reality. That’s precisely what some of our major businesses and community organizations are doing… through a pilot project that will fund SATURDAY SERVICE ON SUNRAIL FROM OCTOBER THROUGH JANUARY.

Through a unique nonprofit partnership, the Downtown Orlando Partnership, The Downtown Orlando Foundation, The Downtown Development Board, some of Orlando’s major businesses and key community stakeholders are working together to fund and lead this exciting effort.

This project is important for a number of reasons. First, by offering leisure service, we create opportunities for residents to “try out” SunRail. This will, in turn, lead to more people adopting the train as their commuting method of choice and building long‐term ridership on the system. Second, this community-‐driven project puts us in a position to showcase the demand for expanded service and, thus, helps permanent weekend service become a reality more rapidly. Third, this project represents an important shared commitment by our businesses and civic community to the success of mass transit options throughout our region.

Additionally, the October ‐ January window features major events occurring virtually every Saturday in Downtown Orlando, as well as near station stops up and down the SunRail line. SunRail service on Saturdays will drive attendance to these events and give attendees a new transportation option. The SunRail On Saturdays project is an important endeavor for our community and I strongly encourage you to get involved and become a funding partner. We cannot do this without you. Accompanying this letter is a document that outlines the various levels for nonprofit contributions.

If you would like to learn more about the project or have questions, please contact Bridget Keefe at the Downtown Orlando Partnership at (407) 595-0897.

Sincerely,

Buddy Dyer

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

How much does SunRail's CEO get paid?

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION:

How much does SunRail’s new CEO Nicola Liquori get paid?

We checked with the Florida Department of Transportation – the agency that runs SunRail.

An FDOT spokesman told us that Ms. Liquori, an FDOT employee who formerly served as the Chief Financial Officer for The Florida Turnpike, gets $137,586.28 a year.

That’s really not bad considering that at the time he left the top job at LYNX, John Lewis was paid   $192,00 annually.

As reminder, Ms. Liquori, who hold a masters in management from Troy University, “has 14 years of experience in user-financed transportation with FDOT at Florida’s Turnpike. This experience includes managing the financial aspects of a program with a $5 billion – 5-year capital plan, but also the daily operations of a 483-mile toll system with over 2.5 million transactions per day, management of eight service plazas along the Turnpike mainline and management of business development programs,” according to an FDOT spokesman.

SunRail is currently building 4 more stations to extend service south into Osceola County. Ms. Liquori also had pledged to find federal dollars to expand service north to DeLand in Volusia County.

SunRail service on "some" Saturdays doesn't thrill everyone

The response to the news that the local business community is working on a plan to provide SunRail service on “some” Saturdays may not have been what was expected.

Empty SunRail station on the weekend

Immediately after we posted a video of a SunRail consultant disclosing the tentative plan some riders demanded to know why the plan would only cover “some” Saturdays.

While we’re grateful for any progress on getting SunRail weekend service, we also understand the frustration.

Everybody calling for weekend SunRail service isn’t trying to get to the Winter Park Farmers’ Market. Many riders need SunRail on Saturday AND Sunday to get to work.

Let’s not forget SunRail connects Central Florida to our two largest hospitals – Florida Hospital and Orlando Health.

How many people have been in a hospital that is open “some” Saturdays?

Caregivers need to be able to take the train to the hospital 7-days a week, on holidays and late at night. Those hospitals are 2 of Central Florida’s largest employers – a ready source of riders for a train that runs all the time.

SunRail also connects Central Florida to Orlando International Airport – another huge employer. Get off at Sand Lake Road and the bus ride (free with a transfer) to the airport takes less than 10 minutes.

Some airport employees are currently using SunRail, despite its painfully limited schedule. A lot more airport employees would be jumping aboard if the train had a more sensible schedule. Lots more airline passengers would be using the train too, if they could count on it.

SunRail leisure riders – going to the farmers’ markets, museums and events at Amway Center – are icing on the ridership cake.

We’re delighted that the Central Florida’s business community has taken an active role in trying to get weekend SunRail service rolling. But please don’t let the people who need the train to get to work on the weekend become an afterthought. They are our community’s backbone.

SunRail doesn't care about making things convenient for riders

Making things convenient for riders is NOT a priority at SunRail.

Misplaced cash machine at Sand Lake

SunRail has four ticket-vending machines for every station, but only one of the machines accepts cash. There are two machines serving the southbound platform and two on the northbound platform. 

We were told they placed the cash machine where it would be most convenient to riders. But that’s not true. We've previously reported on a similar problem at the Church Street station.

At the Sand Lake Road SunRail station the cash machine was put on the northbound platform, which is closest to the parking lot. That’s convenient for the courier who removes cash from the machine. Not so much for riders.

The cash machine placement at Sand Lake doesn’t make sense because 90 percent of the SunRail trains use the southbound platform for arrivals and departures. That’s because Sand Lake is the end of the line. The only time SunRail uses the northbound platform is when they switch tracks to clear the way for an Amtrak train to pass through.

So here’s what happens. A lady is running late and the SunRail train is already in the station at the southbound platform. She quickly crosses to the southbound side, rushes to the vending machines. Her credit card doesn’t work -- or like some people she doesn’t have a credit or debit card. She whips out some good ole American greenbacks but the train conductor and station Ambassador tell her the cash machine is on the other platform.

Wave goodbye to the train. We’ve seen this happen.

Fixing this requires only a hand truck, two people with strong backs and a technician to swap the vending machines. Or better yet, how about two cash machines – one for each platform?

SunRail ignores this because they don’t care about making things convenient for riders. If they did, they wouldn’t have ridiculous schedules with 2 ½-hour gaps between some trains.

See you on The Rail, or trying to find a cash machine.

SunRail committee learns an inconvenient lesson

There was a wonderful teachable moment at Thursday’s meeting of SunRail’s Technical Advisory Committee.

TAC members

The committee members – officials representing cities along the SunRail corridor – had a big problem planning their next meeting. Thursday’s meeting was held in the LYNX offices in the downtown Orlando bus terminal that also serves as a SunRail station. Many committee members ride SunRail to the meeting.

One committee member suggested changing the time for the next meeting. But one of his colleagues said if they changed the time they would end up waiting 1 ½ hours for the next train. The discussion went back and forth as they tried to agree on a meeting time that would work with SunRail’s inconvenient schedule.

The discussion amused us. Here was a key SunRail committee wrestling with the same problem many average riders endure -- huge gaps of up to 2 ½ hours between some trains. This is why SunRail should be running hourly during off-peak periods.

Uber might be cheaper than SunRail

SunRail’s operating costs are so high it might be cheaper to order Uber for every SunRail rider.

While that seems absurd, we admit that we were quite shocked by the academic analysis showing the SunRail commuter train spends $35.11 per rider – the second highest for any commuter-rail system in the U.S.

The cool thing about Uber is, you can get them when you need them, instead of waiting up to 2 ½ hours for a SunRail train. Unlike SunRail, Uber runs weekends, on holidays, late at night and you don’t have to worry about tapping on and tapping off.

For more on SunRail’s expensive operations, please click www.SunRailRiders.com