Riders deserve clean SunRail stations

SunRail will celebrate its 5^th anniversary in a few days. Before that happens, can somebody please clean the SunRail stations at Lynx Central Station and in Sanford?

The accompanying photo was taken at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday (4/24) on the northbound platform at Lynx Central Station. There was trash on the platform and the fenced area between the platform and the neighboring apartment complex.

It’s clear the platform area had not been cleared in a long time. Some trash has blown onto the railroad tracks.

One problem complicating the situation is that homeless people camp at the station overnight. Many sleep in the station on flattened cardboard boxes. Some sleeping pads were still on the platform Wednesday morning.

There are mystery substances smeared on the platform. The platform needs daily power washing.

Every morning hundreds of people get off SunRail trains and walk through this mess on the way to the sprawling Orange County Courthouse. In a few months, this station also will be used by people headed Creative Village and the downtown campus of the University of Central Florida and Valencia College.

The maintenance issue in Sanford is not as egregious as Lynx, but it is still very serious. A few weeks ago, we wrote about litter at that station. The biggest pieces of litter have been picked up, but the bus loop next to the station is strewn with thousands – no exaggeration – of cigarette butts. (See the accompanying photo.) Many of these cigarette butts have been faded by the weather, so it’s clear they have been there for a long time.

A Sanford official told us that one reason for the problem is that the federal Department of Homeland Security won’t let the city deploy cigarette butt receptacles because terrorists can use them to hide bombs. He pointed out that’s why they have see-though trash receptacles with transparent bags.

Good point!

That rule applies to all the SunRail stations, such as the one at Sand Lake Road where you would be hard-pressed to find two dozen cigarette butts or any trash.

How does Sand Lake Road stay so clean?

“I just stay on top of it,” said the Sand Lake Road maintenance man that everybody knows as Dan.

Cigarette butts are not just unsightly, they are an environmental hazard. Though cigarette butts and filters look like cotton, they aren’t. They’re plastic. We were surprised to learn that cigarette butts make up more than one-third of the litter that is collected annually worldwide.

The discarded cigarette butts leach toxic chemicals, including arsenic and lead into the soil and water. There are huge stormwater pipes at the train station. 

Waste from the station ends up in nearby Lake Monroe. It’s ironic that beautiful mosaics of alligators and manatees decorate the sidewalk at the Sanford SunRail bus loop.

SunRail it’s addressing the maintenance issues at Lynx with contractors who are supposed to do the work. SunRail officials also said they’re discussing the issues at Sanford SunRail with the City of Sanford and Seminole County.

The maintenance at the Sand Lake Road station is the gold standard that should be applied throughout the system.

Please get ‘er done and keep those stations clean. The riders and the community deserve it.

Why Osceola residents need to vote "for" SunRail

If you’re an Osceola County resident who rides SunRail, please read this article.

Osceola County is holding a special election on May 21^st to ask residents to support a referendum that can help pay for and improve public transportation – SunRail and Lynx.

Please vote “for” this referendum that will increase the county sales tax by one penny.

If approved, this tax would raise $67 million per year.

This money will go for transportation – including SunRail and Lynx service in Osceola County. 

In case you didn’t know it, the Florida Department of Transportation is subsidizing SunRail until 2021, when it will be the responsibility of Osceola and the other SunRail partners – Orlando, Orange, Seminole, and Volusia counties – to pick up the tab.

No public transit system in the world can pay for operations solely from the fare box. Typically, a transit system can pay about 30 percent of the costs from fares. Beyond that, they need government support.

Without a dedicated funding source, SunRail would have to go from county to county every year begging commissioners for enough money to keep running. That’s what Lynx has been doing for years, which is why our public bus system is barely scraping by.

Remember, public transit is a service. The police and fire are also very expensive services paid for by the government. Unlike police and fire, transit raises some of the money needed to pay for its operating costs. Keep in mind that all transportation – from the street outside your house to the airlines – receive government subsidies.

No doubt you can see every day how many Osceola residents ride SunRail.

The SunRail train has been a huge hit since last summer when it started serving stations at Tupperware, Kissimmee, and Poinciana. Folks boarding at those stations and Meadow Woods in Orange County have nearly doubled SunRail’s daily ridership.

Granted adding a penny to the sales tax will put a squeeze on some residents. But the sacrifice is worth it because communities with a strong transportation system – both roads and public transit – are attractive to investors and that means more employers; more and better employment opportunities, and a better standard of living for everyone.

We strongly encourage Osceola riders you and your neighbors to vote “for” this referendum on May 21^st.

Hopefully, Orlando, Orange, Seminole and Volusia counties will soon follow Osceola’s leadership to create dedicated funding sources for public transportation.

Weekend SunRail requires fixing the devil in the details

Riders and would-be riders ask us why SunRail doesn’t run on Saturdays and Sundays.

Typically, we respond that SunRail doesn’t have money in its budget for weekend operations.

There is another reason that’s a little more complicated.

The devil is in the details of the joint-operating agreement signed by the state and Central Florida’s local governments – known as the local funding partners (Orlando, Orange, Seminole, Volusia, and Osceola counties).

You can read that agreement by clicking here.

On page 20, under Base Service Standards, subsection B., it reads: “The Commuter Rail System will not provide any train service between midnight and 5 a.m., legal holidays, and Saturdays and Sundays.”

This clause helps to explain why there is no money to help pay for weekend or late-night service.

The SunRail Commission – the local elected officials who represent the funding partners – is expected to update the operating agreement this year.

Hopefully, they will remember to update this clause to create an opportunity for weekend service.

See you on The Rail Monday to Friday.

Saddle up on SunRail for a "daycation" cattle drive

Mark Monday, March 18^th in your datebook.

Get the day off from work, play hooky from school, and take SunRail to a “daycation” in Kissimmee to enjoy a rare event – a real deal cattle drive. (Cue “Rawhide”)

Our friends at Florida Daycations and Events have packaged an experience for visitors that will immerse them in the frontier spirit and culture that created Kissimmee. To sign up, click here.

We’re excited because until now, the Kissimmee cattle drive has been mainly a local event for Osceola residents.

Thanks to SunRail -- which started running into Osceola County last summer -- it’s easy for people throughout Central Florida to ride down to Kissimmee and saddle up. (Well maybe not saddle up, but you know what we mean.)

Many people may not realize that Florida is one of the biggest cattle states in the country, and Kissimmee is the heart of Florida cattle country.

Cowboys still live in Osceola County. Usually, you need to drive down to southern Osceola near Kenansville to see working cowboys. But on March 18^th there will be real cowboys and cowgirls and cattle lumbering down Broadway in the heart of Historic Downtown Kissimmee.

The experience Florida Daycations and Events packaged involves much more than witnessing the cattle drive but also soaking up Kissimmee’s frontier spirit and history.

Florida Daycations and Events guests will get to eat like a cowboy; go to a cowboy hoedown street party. There is a herd of extras, including a VIP area for Florida Daycations and Events guests. Most of all, it’s going to be fun!

For more details, and to sign up, click here.

See you in Kissimmee on March 18.

SunRail ridership stats - WOW!

SunRail managers deserve to take a bow.

In a little more than a year, the SunRail daily ridership has nearly doubled.

We remember when not too long ago when daily ridership was limping along at 3,200.

But that was in the past. In a statement sent out Friday (3/8) afternoon, SunRail managers reported that during this January and February, daily ridership averaged 6,000.

They also pointed out that Friday ridership is averaging more than 6,300.

What happened?

The Southern Expansion – opening stations last summer in the south Orange County community of Meadow Woods and in Osceola County at Tupperware, downtown Kissimmee and Poinciana.

Sometimes trains headed northbound from those stations are so full there are few empty seats available by the time to train reaches the original 12 stations that opened 5 years ago when SunRail service launched.

“The ridership numbers are very exciting, and we are anticipating even higher numbers in March and April as these months are typically among the strongest for SunRail” said SunRail Chief Executive Officer Nicola Liquori. “The increases are trending system-wide as customers take advantage of the new schedule and the convenience of SunRail.”

It’s noteworthy that even though SunRail’s resources – money and equipment are limited – they have embarked on several initiatives to expand the service. They:

Tweaked the schedule to better accommodate the hours of the caregivers who work at Advent Health/Florida Hospital and ORMC. It still needs work, but we notice more caregivers boarding at those stations in the afternoons.

Launched a special late-night southbound train after Orlando Magic games.

Worked on partnerships to get people from the SunRail station in Sanford to historic downtown Sanford with a trolley service and worked with Lynx on a bus connection between the sand lake Road station and Orlando International Airport. Those efforts are bearing fruit. Many days the Sanford trolley is packed. We see more people with luggage boarding and getting off SunRail and Sand Lake Road.

We are also delighted to learn that SunRail is working closely with the University of Central Florida to find ways students at the new downtown campus can make use of SunRail. That downtown campus is due to open late this coming summer.

See you on The Rail.

People who decide on SunRail don't ride the train

Check out the accompanying photo. These are the local elected officials who serve on the SunRail Commission that oversees the local passenger rail service.

When is the last time you’ve seen any them waiting with you on the platform for the SunRail train to arrive?

Usually, the only time you see them on SunRail is when they’re posing for a publicity photo.

At least two of those officials are chauffeured around by a police detail. During the January rail commission meeting, Volusia County Council Member Ed Kelley freely admitted to the audience that instead of taking the train to the meeting, he chose to ride in a car with another county official.

So, you may wonder, if they don’t ride the train on a regular basis, then how are they qualified to make decisions on the train service that the rest of us receive? (This the same problem with the board that oversees Lynx bus system.)

For decades Central Florida public transit has been largely ignored (and drastically underfunded) because the local officials who vote on the budgets and policies don’t use public transit.

We think the lack of rider representation on the rail commission is a big part of the problem with SunRail – especially its weekday schedule and lack of weekend service.

The train exists to serve riders, so riders should play a direct role in setting the policy for local transit. The advisory boards for SunRail and Lynx are not enough. What those advisory boards have to say is just that – advice. Advice is easily pushed to the side.

Riders need voting representatives on the boards that oversee SunRail and Lynx. That’s the only way that the public can be assured that the real-world concerns of riders will be addressed seriously.

Why we need Transit Equity Day

Monday (Feb. 4) is Transit Equity Day.

No, there won’t be any parades and you don’t get the day off from work.

Transit Equity Day is a national observance that was created to call attention to the importance of public transit. This date was selected because it was the birthday of Rosa Parks, who is credited with launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955 to 1956) to end racial segregation on public buses.

We share the belief of Mrs. Parks, and the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that access to public transit is a civil right. (If you don’t have a car and can’t afford one, then how do you get to work, the doctor, or shopping for groceries?)

The goal is of Transit Equity Day is to recognize the importance of public transit to everyone because it:

·        Helps reduce traffic congestion

·        Improves our local economy and create more jobs

·        Protects the environment from toxic emissions, which helps to counter the catastrophic danger of global warming.

What can you do to observe Transit Equity Day?

·        If you already use Lynx, SunRail or Votran, click here to create a poster for a selfie to share on your social media to show you’re a supporter.

·        Call and email local, state and federal elected officials and tell them we need more money invested Lynx, SunRail and Votran for more buses and trains to improve the service and make them easier and more convenient to use.

·        At your daily work team meeting, mention today is Transit Equity Day and tell your colleagues why you use the train or bus.

·        If you usually drive, but want to include public transit in your work journey, click here to visit our friends at rethink Your Commute.

·        Plan to have your next work team off-site meeting on SunRail to get a taste of what public transit is like. We have heard that many businesses have done off-sites on the train.

Happy Transit Equity Day!