Called “Brightline+,” the program joins the company at the hip with customers from the time they leave their homes or offices until their return from their train trips among South Florida’s Big Three cities — Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami.
The new system resolves “the long-standing gaps of the first and last mile” between passenger homes and the rail stations, Brightline CEO Patrick Goddard says.
Brightline, which halted service in March 2020 due to COVID-19, has contracted with more than a half-dozen companies to provide apps, booking services, vehicles, drivers, software and station signage.
“I think it’s a very smart strategy,” said Andy Ganz, president and CEO of the High Speed Railroad Association in Washington, D.C. “Getting to and from the stations adds another level of complexity, so you have to think door-to-door.”
For passengers who still want to drive, they can book and pay for parking at downtown garages near the Brightline stations through the company’s own app. A QR code on their boarding passes will allow them to enter and exit a garage.
Phased-in service
The company is rolling out the local ride system in stages.
Starting in November, riders can book transportation from the end of their train journey to their final destination, the company said. On Dec. 1, the service will start providing door-to-door transportation from a customer’s start point to the final destination.
Through the end of the year, shared vehicle rides, where passengers travel with others, will be complimentary, while private rides, where customers have cars to themselves, will carry a flat fee of $10. Prices for 2022 have not been announced.
One contractor, Via of New York City, is providing software that plots “the most efficient routes” for riders and “matches multiple passengers headed in the same direction into a single vehicle,” a company spokeswoman said.
Rides must be booked up to two hours before a scheduled train departure.
In Miami-Dade, Via is providing 15 Teslas and approximately 30 large capacity vans, comprised of Ford Transits and Mercedes Sprinters, including 6 wheelchair-accessible vehicles. All will be recognizable to riders through their yellow Brightline+ vehicle wraps.
The same model vehicles will also appear in Broward and Palm Beach counties.
In the coming months, Brightline said, it will include CitiBikes, a self-serve rental program now in Miami, “scooters and other modes of travel” into the service.
Also in the future: A company called Circuit will provide six-seat electric shuttles in all three cities for rides of up to three miles from each station.
There was no immediate word from Brightline on when the service would be available to passengers at stations in Boca Raton, Aventura and at PortMiami, which are in the early stages of construction or planning.
In the past, Goddard has expressed a need for a collaboration between the train operator and local governments to provide local transportation links to Brightline’s regional service, which is expected to operate from Miami to Orlando by next year.
Gregory Stuart, executive director of the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, which sets transportation policy for the county, said he is eager to use it. In Fort Lauderdale, he lives north of the station within the five-mile service zone.
“It’s the first time a rail line is offering this type of service to its clients,” he said.
Regional opportunities
The mayor of Miami has bought in. For decades, Miami-Dade County’s Metrorail and Metromover transit systems have carried workers to their jobs in the downtown area. Both lines are within walking distance of the downtown Miami Brightline station.
“The return of Brightline’s service and the debut of Brightline+ is a key component to transforming Miami into a major technology hub in the U.S.,” said Miami Mayor Francis X. Suarez in a statement Tuesday, “With this new innovation in transportation, we are connecting Miami like never before, providing endless business opportunities for the entire region of South Florida.”
On Friday, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis called the Brightline+ options “very doable.”
“They fit in with the existing roadway system,” he said. “They’re not going to be a hindrance on the traffic in the city. They’re safe on the road and they’re very convenient.”
He said circuit shuttles are “already operating downtown and on the beach.”
Economic development recruiters in the tri-county area have been uniform in seeing Brightline as a tool for helping persuade out-of-state businesses to relocate to the region.
David Coddington, senior vice president of development at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, said he sees the local ride idea adding to the rail line’s attractiveness. Companies on search trips, he said, are constantly asking about mass transit.
Jenni Morejon, president and CEO of the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority, said her organization will be reaching out to its business partners to sample their views.
‘It’s seamless,” she said of Brightline’s plan. “It’s no different than how the rent-a car companies got you from the airport to their parking lots. It’s pretty basic.”
Marcum, a national financial advisory firm that maintains a downtown Fort Lauderdale office, is interested in how convenient the service will turn out to be as the firm’s employees regularly use ride-sharing services, said regional managing partner Mike Balter.
“The ride-sharing announcement from Brightline seems like a sound business strategy to create added convenience,” he said. “If the pricing models make sense when compared to existing solutions, it’s easy to foresee professionals opting for a single-ticket purchase that includes the ‘first and last miles.’”
Supporting commutes
Kelly Smallridge, president and CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, said she sees an upside for her local labor market.
“I’ve only heard they were working on connectors in the cities — once one gets off the train it takes them to their workplace,” she said. “I think that makes [the railroad] even better. That piece is only going to make Brightline more attractive and they should definitely focus on that.”
She said CEOs of Northeast companies setting up operations in Palm Beach County are considering underwriting all or part of any Brightline trips taken by employees who commute northward from Broward or Miami-Dade counties.
“We are looking forward to the train getting back on track,” Smallridge said. “The labor market is so incredibly tight. Brightline will help open up the two other markets for their workforces.”’
© 2021 South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
