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sunshine

By sunshine
in Orlando

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HankStrong
HankStrong

Agreed.  I hate that people make things for PEOPLE about politics.  There is no partisan divide on things that help all of us.  I don't care if you're rich and never ride a SunRail train.  The pe

Jernigan
Jernigan

Just heard Downtown Kissimmee to Downtown Orlando will be shorter than a 30 minute trip.    That’s fantastic!

Naqiy90
Naqiy90

https://www.transit.dot.gov/ntd/ntd-data The FTA released their monthly update of transit ridership for August, the first month the southern expansion was open. Sunrail ridership increased 70% fr

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steve_o Whistle-Stop

steve_o

Posted
Posted

I just got back from walking from my downtown home to the Church St Sunrail Station where I took the train to Maitland and walk to the dealership to pick up my car that was being serviced.  What an experience!  I have to say I was absolutely impressed with the entire system.  Hope it works out and everyone gets to see why it already makes sense!

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Jernigan Town

Jernigan

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Posted

I do agree - but to me the trip tracker is important. Google just uses pre loaded schedules. I've used it for Lynx and basically it's just a nice way to pull up a schedule without going to Lynx website. Won't help me at all when the bus is late.

With the limited schedule and the biggest use being commuters, I'm not sure how much the google maps componant will help? I'd rather keep a PDF of the train schedule on my phone as the wallpaper ;).

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codypet City

codypet

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Posted

Anyone know what the plan is for July 4th for Sunrail?  I really think they need to run 30 min headways all day until midnight.  That would help huge for parking and bring a bunch of good press for the train.  I'm just afraid they'll pull a Memorial Day and not run at all.

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Jernigan Town

Jernigan

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Anyone know what the plan is for July 4th for Sunrail?  I really think they need to run 30 min headways all day until midnight.  That would help huge for parking and bring a bunch of good press for the train.  I'm just afraid they'll pull a Memorial Day and not run at all.

They aren't "pulling a Memorial Day". They are, "pulling a commuter rail" and staying within their purpose.

We will one day get to vote on funding a more robust service. I hope that day comes sooner than later.

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kdub1 Unincorporated Area

kdub1

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

 

When it comes to the numbers, my guess is that the Orlando Amtrak station brought up the rear because residents still think of the Sligh Boulevard station as "the tourist station" and continue to stay away from it. If the FDOT and the winner of this year's gubernatorial race get off their backsides and implement intercity service statewide, they could designate #3 Church Street, #4 Sand Lake Road, or #6 LYNX Central as "the local Orlando station." 

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codypet City

codypet

Posted
Posted

They aren't "pulling a Memorial Day". They are, "pulling a commuter rail" and staying within their purpose.

We will one day get to vote on funding a more robust service. I hope that day comes sooner than later.

Missed opportunity IMHO.  Parking is a disaster on the 4th and with it being a Friday I suspect there's going to be a lot of people wanting to go and stay downtown for a little while.  Commuter rail or not I'm surprised political pressure didn't force them to run like they said they were going to for the Winter Park art festival.  I know ultimately they didn't run for the art festival because of problems with the testing, but still I think it would have been a good PR move to run with standard fares on the 4th.  I guarantee there's going to be tons of complaints over them not running.

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Jernigan Town

Jernigan

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Totally with you. I have no clue how fast these things can get voted on and rolled out. Sooner the better. Maybe I4 construction will make weekends bad enough to justify 7 day service soon?

And if they run on weekends maybe they'll run the weekend schedule on holidays. Lynx runs a Sunday schedule on all holidays. I guess technically Sunrail does too ;)

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HankStrong Town

HankStrong

Posted
Posted

Missed opportunity IMHO.  Parking is a disaster on the 4th and with it being a Friday I suspect there's going to be a lot of people wanting to go and stay downtown for a little while.  Commuter rail or not I'm surprised political pressure didn't force them to run like they said they were going to for the Winter Park art festival.  I know ultimately they didn't run for the art festival because of problems with the testing, but still I think it would have been a good PR move to run with standard fares on the 4th.  I guarantee there's going to be tons of complaints over them not running.

 

It's not a "missed opportunity" as much as following the rules they are required to operate under.

 

Remember, there was a LOT of politicking involved in even getting this project off the ground.  People on both sides of the aisle were tugging this way and that way.  Thus SunRail can only run when it is allowed to run under the guidelines established by Tallahassee and local governments.

 

This was passed as a "commuter rail" specifically for the bulk of commuters.  The bulk of commuters work 1st shift on Mon-Fri and don't work weekends, nights, or holidays.  Sadly, that isn't always fair to the people who need a system like this the most: the lower-working class people who often get stuck working nights, weekends, and holidays.  This doesn't even work for a huge portion of the hospital workers who are being given great motivation to use this system.

 

HOWEVER, much like SunRail itself, we (the general citizens of the area) have to take what we were given and use it.  If we use it, they will expand it.

 

When I first read about SunRail, I thought "this is a train to nowhere!" I know a woman who is a lot closer to the project than I have ever been (I'm not connected at all, but have become a fan) and she explained it very nicely.  It really turned me around.

 

The basic gist was this:  (none of this is a direct quote, this is just what I took from her conversation)

 

1. You have to have a 1st route in order to have a 2nd, a 3rd, or whatever.  You have to start somewhere, so this is the 1st step in what will hopefully become a multi-decade expansion.

2. You have to make the 1st route the easiest to succeed at because if you don't have an easy 1st path, the naysayers will shut you down quick.  Thus build the 1st route on a path of existing tracks, with a few nice station options along the way and with the impending Ultimate I-4 project, I think SunRail is quickly going to gain steam when people realize the SIX PLUS YEARS of pain that Ultimate I-4 is going to cause.

3. You have to run the hours that people signing the checks will let you run and then show you need to expand.  Under-promise and over-perform.  Let it get busy.  Let people want more, don't make them wish they gave you less.

 

 

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that running on holidays and weekends would open the SunRail up to countless more supporters and potential riders.  However, they have to run when they are allowed to run and prove a need.  I hope that is sooner rather than later.  As it stands, I have a shiny SunCard that I haven't even been able to use yet.  I work and live well outside the line and work during the week.  I'd have to take a day off to ride it, which is a bit much, even for a fan.  However, the next day I take off to run some errands or whatever, I will be riding.  OR maybe I'll get jury duty and use that as an excuse to park at a random station and ride it downtown?

 

It was amazing how the news teams jumped on SunRail when it opened with tag lines "AND IT DOESN'T EVEN RUN ON WEEKENDS!!!  Next at 11!" when you know if it had been the other way around it would've been "AND WE'VE BUSTED SUNRAIL WASTING YOUR TAX DOLLARS ON WEEKENDS WHEN COMMUTERS AREN'T EVEN ON THE ROAD!  Next at 11!"

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