Florida Passenger and Commuter Rail Advocacy Group

12/27/2024

I’ve seen comments and posts on the group talking about cost of the study of sunshine corridor or the eventual commuter rail service on the FEC corridor. It’s not like Florida can’t support the projects or any rail projects across the state. Here’s a numbers breakdown

In 2023 economic revenue generated from tourism was 127.7 billion dollars. That is people coming to the state for the parks, cruises, events etc; 116.1 billion was generated by domestic tourism while 14.9 billion was generated from international tourism. First quarter of 2024 saw 40.6 million people visit Florida. https://floridadaily.com/florida-sets-new-records-in-revenue-from-tourism/

Now the annual 2024-2025 budget was 116.5 billion dollars with a 17 billion dollar surplus. The FDOT has a 15.6 billion for 2024-2025. Of that nearly 8 billion goes to road construction. 5.4 billion for road construction and maintenance and 1.9 billion in resurfacing projects. 997.7 million in rail and transit investments. Transit includes trolleys, Metrorail, buses besides rail. https://www.fdot.gov/info/co/news/2023/12052023-2

So just imagine if in the FDOT budget if Florida legislators just dedicated 1.5 billion to just rail projects and not lump it in transit projects with rail. We would see rail projects take off across the state. Just a thought for the future.

Governor Ron DeSantis revealed his Focus on Florida’s Future Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025. The Governor’s proposed $15.6 billion budget for the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) reflects a significant investment in transportation infrastructure across Florida. The Governor’s budg...

11/23/2024

Welcome:
As Floridians we have dealt with our share of driving here in the state. From our homes to our jobs, events, the airports, theme parks and so much more. We have also seen have been in or have seen our share of traffic jams on the roads and interstates. We lose precious time sitting in our vehicles when we could be getting to either to our jobs, families, dates, events quicker. And things are getting worse on the roads here in the state with the increasing population of the state. More needs to be done but state leaders rather focus on more roads than addressing the needs to easing the problem on our already over taxed road infrastructure. That is where we need to step up.

The purpose of this page and group is to advocate on the behalf of the passenger and commuter rail solutions at the local, county and state level. From light rail, commuter, passenger and high speed rail there are many different types of rail services that can offer solutions to ease the congestion off the roads but we need to fight the bureaucratic system especially in Tallahassee. While GoBrightline, Tri-Rail, SunRail and Amtrak are places to start, there is still a large population base that can be accessed.

If successful, there will be more options for people to take for their commutes as well as save time, money and keep their stress level down. It will take everyone to make it happen but if it does Florida can show the nation that we can have a proper transportation system that can coexist with our car centric society.