Fiscally threatened Tri-Rail sets passenger record

As it fights for its financial life, Tri-Rail this week released figures detailing an all-time fiscal year ridership record that surpassed its pre-pandemic highs as it races full throttle to find adequate long-haul funding.

The three-county commuter railway “is actively collaborating with the Florida Legislature, Florida Department of Transportation, and leadership from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties to secure a long-term funding solution,” a statement from the publicly owned railway’s parent said following the legislature’s cut of most of Tri-Rail’s state funding.

This week’s announcement of 4,578,680 rides in the year ended June 30 surpassed by 112,930 passengers the record set in 2019, before covid put ridership on public transit in freefall across the nation.

“We are exceptionally proud of this ridership milestone,” said David Dech, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, in a formal statement. “It speaks to the essential role Tri-Rail plays in meeting the transportation needs of our growing region.”

Current financial projections show that without added funding support, Tri-Rail will run out of operating money at the end of July 2027, Miami Today reported last week.

The Florida Department of Transportation slashed its minimum funding for the railroad from $42.1 million for the year to $15 million, Mr. Dech told a July 25 workshop of Tri-Rail’s governing board.

That budget cut forced Tri-Rail to pull some money out of its reserves to use for current operations, Mr. Dech told the board. “We run about $150 million a year operating budget,” Mr. Dech told the board, “so about $90 million of that is not from federal sources.”

Tri-Rail’s contract with the state expires at the end of July 2027. “I think this is an existential threat,” Mr. Dech said. “This is real.”

“Tri-Rail is leading the nation in ridership recovery among commuter rail systems” after the pandemic, this week’s statement said, ranking number four overall. The line in February 2024 got back to a benchmark 15,000 weekday and 7,000 weekend rides, and now has surpassed its prior record, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Tri-Rail’s only competition in the Miami-Palm Beach run, privately owned Brightline, faces its own challenges as the line seeks to enhance its financial operating reserves and ability to pay its debts. Rating firm Fitch last week downgraded Brightline’s bonds and placed the bonds on a rating watch negative list.

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