[brickell]

Ouch. This is an ongoing issue. The state refuses to come up with a dedicated funding source. The 3 counties supporting it are tight on cash (except for baseball stadiums). All this as the system continues to increase ridership.


Funding denial puts Tri-Rail on rocky ride
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1037760.html

The crux of the article

Tri-Rail originally sought a statewide $2 surcharge on car rental transactions, which initial estimates showed could have raised between $45 million and $50 million a year -- enough to cover annual operations. The plan was part of a wider measure that would have built an Orlando rail system known as SunRail. The measure died when some legislators questioned SunRail's cost and insurance-liability exposure.

Tri-Rail officials said they plan to decide the fate of the service at the May 22 meeting of the board that governs the 20-year-old commuter rail line, which serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

All three counties contribute a share of the annual $47 million allocation on which Tri-Rail depends. But the funding has never been guaranteed, and there is talk by local South Florida officials of either reducing or ending the counties' contributions because of the economic downtown.

Board members will face two stark choices, both of which foresee drastic cuts followed by shutdown, according to Tuesday's statement by Josephus Eggelletion Jr., a Broward County commissioner and chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.

Those scenarios are:

• Tri-Rail shuts down by April 2011 if the counties continue funding the service at current levels. In the meantime, Tri-Rail would reduce service to 30 trains a day from from 50, and end weekend and holiday runs.

• Tri-Rail shuts down by October 2010, with a reduced schedule as well, if any one of the three counties decides to end its contribution.

''We're facing the most critical juncture in our history,'' said Marie Horenburger, the longest-serving Tri-Rail board member, who lamented that the crisis had struck just when ridership had reached an all-time high.

The number of riders has risen from about 7,500 a day in 2005 to about 14,000 a day since last year, a result first of higher gasoline prices and then the recession, which forced many to think twice about driving -- or who could not afford to drive.

[UrbanImpact]

Isn't Tri-Rail going to receive some of the stimulus funds? Or is that not enough?

[Grego43]

...just one more reason that Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties should form the 51st state.

[Lakelander]

^Why, its those three counties that are looking to cut the $4 million a year they contribute to keep Tri-Rail going. Them combining to form the 51st state only kills transit down there faster.

Anyway, the senate representation down there should have supported Sunrail. If approved, that would have given Tri-Rail extra funding. By voting the plan down with no alternative plan in place, both are in trouble.

[Grego43]

Palm Beach, Broward, & Miami-Dade wanted to ability to add a $2.00 surcharge onto rental car rates. There was no money coming from the State.

[llamaorama]

Because you know an extra 2 bucks on your rent car tab is really going to hurt tourism:haha:

this whole thing is retarded

[Jasonhouse]

^Welcome to Florida...


Anyway, the senate representation down there should have supported Sunrail. If approved, that would have given Tri-Rail extra funding. By voting the plan down with no alternative plan in place, both are in trouble.
Welcome to Florida!


lololol

[mr jones]

Feds want money back if Tri-Rail cuts service on Oct. 5
By Michael Turnbell | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
4:07 PM EDT, May 21, 2009
Ante up, Tri-Rail. The feds want their money back.


The Federal Transit Administration says it can hold the commuter train in default of a $256 million federal grant used to add a second track if Tri-Rail cuts service this fall as planned.

And don't count on getting any more federal money in the future.

"In the event of default, the FTA may demand all federal funds provided to (Tri-Rail) for the project be returned," said Yvette Taylor, the FTA's regional administrator in Atlanta.

Tri-Rail received the grant in exchange for promises to run 48 trains a day with rush-hour service every 20 minutes.

But Tri-Rail plans to drastically reduce service from 50 trains to 30 trains on weekdays starting Oct. 5 due to a cash crunch. All weekend and holiday service will be eliminated.

If no funding is found, Tri-Rail can survive another 18 months beyond October. After that, all service would end.

The 20-year-old commuter service's long quest for a dedicated funding source - a $2 tax on all rental cars in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties - went down in defeat in the Legislature earlier this month.

The $2 tax would have brought in $40 million or more, replacing funding that has been provided by the three county governments.

Budget negotiators declined to include a $30 million infusion to keep Tri-Rail running.

Tri-Rail's board of directors will hold a news conference Friday morning to talk about the train's dire financial situation.

The threatened service cuts come as Tri-Rail has broken numerous ridership records, putting it among the nation's fastest-growing commuter trains.

Michael Turnbell can be reached at mturnbell@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4155 or 561-243-6550.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-0522-trirail-cuts-default,0,1558315.story

[Jasonhouse]

Man, this just gets better...

The 'world's richest country' is suddenly too poor even to fund basic infrastructure.

[Grego43]

:previous: You mean any infrastructure other than roads, airports, & air traffic control.

[Jasonhouse]

^Except we're woefully behind on much of those needs too.

[llamaorama]

Gotta love the Feds for giving them the finger. Jack up that $256 to whatever has been spent on the system by all the taxpayers of the USA I say, and stipulate it be paid in gas taxes by the residents of South Florida....

They should add that in the event Tri-Rail shuts down, their rolling stock of Bombardier Bi-Levels and F40 locomotives, any MOW equipment, station fixtures, spare parts, and repair shop assets, EVERYTHING, should be granted to other cities for free

[bobdreamz]

I just can't believe the state is just going to let a 20 year old commuter rail line die for not allowing a $2 surcharge on car rentals. Meanwhile Miami continues to build it's inter modal center with Tri Rail being a major component. It's bad enough that the center lost the HSR line when Jeb Bush got his repeal of the project a few years back now this! This state makes me ill sometimes!

[Grego43]

With the exception of another few progressive-minded, forward-thinking urban areas around the state, we here in South Florida are bound by the rubes that inhabit the rest of the state.

[mr jones]

Board OK's Tri-Rail cuts but requests new proposal
A Tri-Rail budget approved Friday would cut back weekday runs, end weekend service and shut down the entire service in 2011.

BY ALFONSO CHARDY
ACHARDY@MIAMIHERALD.COM


Tri-Rail officials rolled out a budget Friday that calls for some draconian changes: reducing service from 50 trains daily to 30, ending weekend and holiday runs and completely shutting down the system by early 2011.

Yet Tri-Rail riders should hold off before making alternate travel plans.

That's because board members, who voted 5-2 to approve the tight budget, instructed Tri-Rail staff to tweak it and return with a new proposal next month that somehow could ensure service without cutbacks.

The doomsday budget was unveiled at the regular monthly meeting of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority. Officials also disclosed that the Federal Transit Administration is threatening to demand the return of $256 million Tri-Rail used for adding a second track -- if service is cut below 48 trains a day.

Tri-Rail's agreement with the transit agency called for a minimum of 48 trains a day with 20-minute intervals between them during rush hours.

''Tri-Rail is in dire straits,'' said Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, who also serves as chairman of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.

While Tri-Rail has faced tough times before, this is the first time in the system's 20-year history that officials are seriously considering ending the service -- formally started in 1989 as an alternative to commuters who faced rush-hour disruptions during an earlier reconstruction of Interstate 95.

Eggelletion and authority Executive Director Joe Giulietti said the situation is worse now because Tri-Rail failed to secure a dedicated source of funding during the recently ended session of the Florida Legislature. Making financial matters even worse: The counties that help fund the system -- Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach -- notified the board they will reduce subsidies for the tri-county commuter rail.

Giulietti said the bleak fiscal picture leaves Tri-Rail with a $9 million funding shortfall that requires service cuts first and -- absent a dedicated source of funding or additional money from somewhere -- a shutdown of service by 2011.

$18 MILLION LOSS

The hit to the budget would actually be $18 million because the Florida Department of Transportation would also cut $9 million in matching funds, Tri-Rail officials said. Previously, Tri-Rail officials had said that the three counties had taken no concrete steps to decrease funding, though they acknowledged that some commissioners had talked about funding cuts.

Friday was the first time Tri-Rail officials said the counties were planning to reduce contributions to the required minimums of about $4.2 million per county -- instead of the $7 million per county under existing levels.

''The counties will no longer be funding this agency at the same level,'' said Eggelletion. ``That's what the problem is.''

Giulietti said each county was giving Tri-Rail $7 million a year or about $3 million more than required by law. But he said that the counties had recently notified Tri-Rail that they intended to ''drop back'' to the minimum level of about $4.2 million a year. Later, other Tri-Rail officials said the counties' cuts would take effect in October.

Ironically, the funding crisis comes at a time of high ridership for Tri-Rail. The number of passengers has risen from about 7,500 a day in 2005 to about 14,000 a day.

Experts believe the surge in riders began as a result of last summer's spike in gas prices. Ridership stayed high, experts said, because of the recession, which has forced many commuters to think twice about driving.

Tri-Rail has an annual budget of about $47 million. Almost half comes from three counties' contributions. The rest comes from fares, the Florida Department of Transportation and the federal government.

If the board action Friday is reaffirmed at the June meeting, service cuts would take effect Oct. 5, and closure would occur 18 months later.

Tri-Rail's funding woes have been compounded by a letter received Wednesday from Yvette G. Taylor, regional administrator in Atlanta for the Federal Transit Administration, warning that if Tri-Rail implements service cuts, her agency may demand return of the $256 million for double-tracking.

''In the event of default, the government will have all remedies at law and equity, including the right of specific performance, termination and or suspension,'' Taylor wrote in the letter, a copy of which was given to reporters by Tri-Rail officials.

Eggelletion said he interpreted the letter as a threat to sue as a way to recover the money.

The current Tri-Rail funding crisis began when, toward the end of the legislative session earlier this month, it became clear lawmakers would not pass legislation that would have created a dedicated source of funding for the service.

Money would have come from a statewide $2 surcharge on car rental transactions, which could yield between $45 million and $50 million a year -- enough to cover Tri-Rail's annual operations. The proposal was linked to a broader measure that would have funded an Orlando area rail system known as SunRail. The SunRail proposal died when some legislators questioned its cost.

Eggelletion said Friday he was optimistic Gov. Charlie Crist might come to the rescue. ''I'm asking the governor to step up,'' he said.

Afterward, he said the Florida Legislature may be convinced over the next two years to pass a bill giving Tri-Rail a dedicated funding source.

REGIONAL BUS SERVICE

But even if Tri-Rail closes, it will not be the end of regional transit service.

Starting in January, Broward County Transit and Miami-Dade Transit will launch the first full-fledged regional bus service between the two counties, adding buses that will link downtown Miami with North and Central Broward.

The counties plan to launch the service on Interstate 95 express lanes.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/broward/v-fullstory/story/1061825.html