Are traditional railway trains even practical now that there are Japanese bullet trains and ridesharing apps? Those traditional trains are feeling the pressure now that railway systems like South Florida’s Tri-Rail passenger chain may lose nearly $200 per month in discounted rides on Uber, Lyft, and taxis in just within a month from now. Here’s the scoop.
Nothing to worry about?
This September 26th, officials running the Tri-Rail passenger train will vote on whether payments will end to Uber, Lyft, and taxi rides hailed by passengers to and from its 19 train stations in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade counties.
So, it’s not final after all. However, issues of certain venues with ridesharing companies, such as airports with Uber and Lyft, have also been reported here.
These discussions on bidding goodbye to the discount program surfaced after the Florida tourism department shockingly cut over a whopping $27 million from the railway system last July, thereby the effects.
However, there are parties saying that the ridesharing discounts are just a small part of the budget. Ridesharing and taxi subsidies cost $747,000, negligible, since this is only less than a percentage of the budget of the Tri-Rail, with half funded by a $1.9 million from the department.
Yet, despite the tiny percentage, several passengers avail of the discount that is supported by the subsidies, representing around four percent of all the trips.
Raquel Regalado, the Miami-Dade County Commissioner, stated during the meeting with the governing entity of the train that this “would kill” the rideshare subsidies.
“This is too expensive,” she further stated. "We’re not getting our money’s worth."Given the situation in Tallahassee. I would return all o the money from the FDOT grant helping fund the rideshare program.”
The grant also funds the other services of the Tri-Rail, such as the fare-free shuttle that connects the railway’s beach station to the international airport.
David Dech, the director of the Tri-Rail, wants Regalado and the rest of the governing entity to stop subsidizing the ridesharing discounts, but instead use the funds for other projects.
The government intervention
In June, the controversial Governor Ron DeSantis approved a state government budget, saying state law let it slash the contribution to Tri-Rail to just $15 million from $42 million.
The Tri-Rail officials, of course, stated the department is wrong here, and are keeping the push for the funding to remain.
Tri-Rail runs on a $149 million budget, with $49.3 million spent on repairing, maintaining and coordinating trains running along the miles of tracks the service shares with federal passenger train Amtrak and a freight rail company.
Discounts will continue on this matter. In the meantime, keep browsing this site for more ridesharing and food delivery news.