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Another missed opportunity for Orlando. None of these routes are relevant to the Orlando residents. Miami/south Florida stations are serving the urban population. Hell even Tampa! If I can recall it says something about a stop between downton tampa and Ybor city. This only caters to Disney/tourism sector and the airport. 

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12 hours ago, Urban25 said:

Another missed opportunity for Orlando. None of these routes are relevant to the Orlando residents. Miami/south Florida stations are serving the urban population. Hell even Tampa! If I can recall it says something about a stop between downton tampa and Ybor city. This only caters to Disney/tourism sector and the airport. 

It is disappointing but these are the only viable options now. The trains are catering to tourists and how many of them will want to take a train to downtown Orlando? I am more interested in seeing this train succeed.  Anything that increases the viability of rail long-term in this state is a huge win. 

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6 hours ago, leondecollao said:

It is disappointing but these are the only viable options now. The trains are catering to tourists and how many of them will want to take a train to downtown Orlando? I am more interested in seeing this train succeed.  Anything that increases the viability of rail long-term in this state is a huge win. 

I agree but geesh, we cant even get quality development out of this like they say Tampa  and south Florida will. 

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20 hours ago, Urban25 said:

Another missed opportunity for Orlando. None of these routes are relevant to the Orlando residents. Miami/south Florida stations are serving the urban population. Hell even Tampa! If I can recall it says something about a stop between downton tampa and Ybor city. This only caters to Disney/tourism sector and the airport. 

Not relevant to urban residents? Do you mean residents downtown and nearby? Maybe Brightline/Virgin thought with Sunrail there it would be redundant. In Miami, WPB, and FTL, the stations are in or very close to the CBD. I can’t imagine another place to put a train in Orlando that’s pretty walkable and not totally car-dependent, besides maybe UCF. But I didn’t expect the trains to go to the suburbs so I can’t say I’m disappointed.  Hopefully the powers that be find a way to connect Sunrail to Brightline so that everyone wins.

Edited by Uncommon
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On ‎1‎/‎5‎/‎2019 at 2:31 PM, Urban25 said:

I agree but geesh, we cant even get quality development out of this like they say Tampa  and south Florida will. 

yeah, that's real estate for you.  

OIA is to the SE of Orlando;  the spur from the coast is shadowing the 528.  There is no metro Orlando station opportunity between those two points. 

Leaving Orlando, there could've been, if they did the 528 alignment.  They still can, though, somewhere near Celebration or Xentury ("Zzzzzentury") City, i.e., the Gaylord Palms at the county line.  But, dang, missing the OCCC, for me, is a huge miss for Orlando.  This really should've been OIA-OCCC-WDW-Polk-Tampa.  But now it will be, potentially, OIA-Meadowoods/Sunrail-WDW-Polk-Tampa.

I'm starting to feel like those pissed off residents suing Brightline now.

But, this might be better b/c it will help Sunrail connect to OIA and it will allow Brightline passengers access to downtown via rail.

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After having recently traveled to Denver, I’m quite envious of the airport to Union Station airport light rail line. It’s ease of use and frequency is a huge asset to Denver. 

 

I cite Denver over other cities with airport connections due to the similarity of Denver’s airport with downtown as well as Orlando’s.  Both are many miles outside the core.

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14 minutes ago, prahaboheme said:

After having recently traveled to Denver, I’m quite envious of the airport to Union Station airport light rail line. It’s ease of use and frequency is a huge asset to Denver. 

 

I cite Denver over other cities with airport connections due to the similarity of Denver’s airport with downtown as well as Orlando’s.  Both are many miles outside the core.

And how it came to be:

https://www.denverpost.com/2016/04/16/how-the-denver-to-dia-train-opening-friday-will-change-the-metro-area-forever/amp/

From the Denver Post

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1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

But, this might be better b/c it will help Sunrail connect to OIA and it will allow Brightline passengers access to downtown via rail.

The other big thing is this might actually get Disney's support, which will really help make sure its a success. Disney made it clear the 528 route would not get its support.

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17 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I’ve seem it, but not ridden it...yet.  They are correct about the inefficiency of moving people unless you’re in Tokyo...

for Orlando, the Sunrail non-link is a joke and just reflects how things have always been in Orlando ala transit.  I just can’t believe it’s gonna take a line to Tampa to get downtown connected to OIA.

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On 1/5/2019 at 7:53 AM, leondecollao said:

It is disappointing but these are the only viable options now. The trains are catering to tourists and how many of them will want to take a train to downtown Orlando? I am more interested in seeing this train succeed.  Anything that increases the viability of rail long-term in this state is a huge win. 

I've really kinda had my fill of projects with amenities that don't benefit the vast majority of residents. It's like getting all excited about "stadium upgrades" that include suites and club areas that 95% of those attending won't ever experience, though I get the importance of having the added revenue stream. I just hope it doesn't end up being a ridiculous fee to transfer to Sunrail, or else tourists benefit the most and the residents get the junk end of it. If it doesn't end up costing a ridiculous amount, though, I think it could be good. 

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1 hour ago, Xander said:

I've really kinda had my fill of projects with amenities that don't benefit the vast majority of residents. It's like getting all excited about "stadium upgrades" that include suites and club areas that 95% of those attending won't ever experience, though I get the importance of having the added revenue stream. I just hope it doesn't end up being a ridiculous fee to transfer to Sunrail, or else tourists benefit the most and the residents get the junk end of it. If it doesn't end up costing a ridiculous amount, though, I think it could be good. 

I thought they mentioned that they would built the tracks and allow Subrail to use them to get to the airport. That way locals don’t need to transfer to Brightline to get to IOA.

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I second that.  I hope that it spurs further options, too.

It seems like we need something to get further options rolling, some sort of catalyst to open doors.  This is a weird cross-pollination comment for both Virgin and SunRail but I'm hoping that if rail actually becomes a viable choice in this region that the OBX idea comes out of mothballs.  I hope that a spur to the Sanford airport becomes real.  I would love if Virgin heads to Jax next that SunRail finds a way to tie-in to Daytona like those folks want and thus have another connection to the Virgin train.  Maybe a train between the UCF campuses?  The convention center idea comes back to life (hopefully as something other than a maglev) and gets even more cars off the roads. 

 

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I hope (and I know this won’t happen) that the Virgin extension to Jacksonville takes the central Florida corridor north instead of the coastal one.

They could add a station downtown and all the routes would go through Orlando.

Edited by WAJAS98
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5 hours ago, WAJAS98 said:

I hope (and I know this won’t happen) that the Virgin extension to Jacksonville takes the central Florida corridor north instead of the coastal one.

They could add a station downtown and all the routes would go through Orlando.

There is no available ROW from my understanding so that isn't feasible.

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4 minutes ago, aent said:

There is no available ROW from my understanding so that isn't feasible.

I could see a problem in Maitland and DTO, but they could schedule the trains so that they didn’t become an issue.  Also, the Lake Monroe bridge would need to be reconstructed.  The main problem would be the cost of the ROW, not the ability to acquire, right?

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Having just visited Denver, their new CU rail line from the airport to downtown central station is something I wish Orlando had.  Train was full of locals and tourists and ran every 15 minutes during the day and 30 at night until 2 am. Central Station also had a  boutique hotel and several great stores / food options.  

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9 hours ago, Kaz said:

Having just visited Denver, their new CU rail line from the airport to downtown central station is something I wish Orlando had.  Train was full of locals and tourists and ran every 15 minutes during the day and 30 at night until 2 am. Central Station also had a  boutique hotel and several great stores / food options.  

Denver’s Union Station is amazing.   

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From that article on how Denver’s train came to be this paragraph is so accurate today. 

“A Lyft spokeswoman said her company is talking with transit agencies across the country to figure out how Lyft can be a “last mile” solution — that is, providing the link between people’s homes to the nearest transit stop. “

Once in downtown it was just an $8 Uber ride to my hotel after an $11 train ride. Airport doors to my hotel for $20 was very easy and lasted about 45 minutes total.

 

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There's a big difference between the Denver line and what a Sunrail/Brightline arrangement might look like: the Denver line is funded by local taxes, while Orange County does not have a dedicated funding source for these types of infrastructure projects.   The only way you will ever see something like the system Denver is building is if Orange County voters agree to an extra penny sales tax to fund local transportation improvements.  Last year, both Hillsborough and Broward County were able to get initiatives through to implement a local sales tax increase; the Hillsborough sales tax initiative was approved as the result of a citizen-led push, bypassing the traditional anti-transit bias of the county commission.  The measure mandated a citizen oversight committee to prevent waste and redirection of funds to projects not promised to voters.  Previous initiatives have failed in Orange County because of vague language which anti-tax opponents were able to twist.  Mayor Demings would be smart to follow Hillsborough's lead in getting this through, with specific terms and sufficient oversight.  Any proposal should include funding SunRail for the long-term and increasing its frequency of service.

Then, the metro area can start talking about a metro-wide transit system that truly improves economic mobility.  BTW I hope light rail doesn't become part of the conversation; I would rather see more dedicated BRT lanes which will be adaptable to autonomous electric vehicles when they become mainstream.

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Here's the thing. People think buses are garbage, slow, inefficient and for poor people. Make dedicated lanes separated from traffic with little automated electric pod cars that have less capacity but run more frequently and have wi-fi and better operating cost efficiency, and suddenly. HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER. 

The millennials and automation are coming. Might as well get in front of it and do it right. Everybody else, including poor people, will benefit too.

Please let's do this! Better than trains, for sure for around town.  

Edited by dcluley98
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