To save Tri-Rail from financial doom, the publicly funded South Florida passenger train must raise fares, perhaps as early as this year, rail officials said Jan. 23.
Members of Tri-Rail’s governing board, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, asked analysts that morning to explore the possibility of a 10% fare increase this year. The rail service’s analysts will report back Feb. 27, they said.
The Florida Department of Transportation cut its expected contribution to the train’s budget in July by $27 million, threatening the service’s future. Tri-Rail faces a looming $30 million deficit on top of that once COVID-19 relief funds from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act run out. The train would stop running by July 2027 without new sources of funding, rail officials have said.
Tri-Rail tries to persuade Florida to restore $27 million in funding
Tri-Rail officials have argued state law did not allow FDOT to cut funding, but have not taken the agency to court. Rail officials hope instead to persuade state lawmakers this spring to restore those cuts…