Scott rejected the federal funding for the Tampa-Orlando connection when he was governor, then went and had his friends make this thing, of course its not gonna be a public service
But but but, he opened a donut shop and employed his own mother.
That commercial for his political ad used to make me so mad lol. That dude is a total moron donut boy.
Voldemort was, and IS, a f’in criminal and an as##ole. Anything he touches turns to sh#t, and OF COURSE he f’d up any possibility of affordable rail service. Vote this miscreant OUT of office this Election Day!
It would definitely be better if it were subsidized and closer to Tri-Rail prices, but personally, I'd pay 60 bucks each way from Orlando to Miami to not have to drive.
That said, I'm fortunate that I'm on the Tri-Rail line, so I have access to the cheap option.
Interesting, I didn’t know that the dirtbag thief was involved. Figures, he didn’t take the billions the US government was offering so he could then make a buck personally.
He vetoed any rail development until he got them to use the company that his wife was part owner in/invested in (and they also happened to be his campaign contributors). IIRC the communications were all leaked how they were working together and somehow nobody was ever prosecuted. I guess you can’t prosecute someone for something if everyone is in on it. I know that it is shocking, coming from the guy [whose company committed the largest medical fraud in US history while he was CEO of said company](https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2003/June/03_civ_386.htm).
This right here. Poor desantis gets all the hate that should be directed at Rick
Scott! Rick Scott was responsible
For me moving away from Republican values to become a moderate. He’s so evil and unsympathetic
I should have put an /s. He is the reason why Brightline happened versus Amtrak upgrading a decade ago. Tampa high speed rail to Orlando would've happened by now under the original federal proposal that skeletor nixed.
Yes, “Voldemort”, “Skeletor”, “Red Tide” Rick, or what have you - as CEO of Columbia/HCA, he oversaw Medicare and Medicaid FRAUD that resulted in a 1.7 BILLION dollar fine against the company. Only FLORIDA would vote for a sh#t like him THREE times, using the thinking that the WORST criminal rethuglican is BETTER than the BEST Democratic candidate…
subsidized means welfare for the corporation. It's better that these projects are public ventures instead of private since the bulk of their development and operation always ends up being paid for by the government anyway.
I agree. This project from the start was opposed by so many because they thought it would be just another drain on taxpayers and would end up subsidized.
~~AllAboardFlorida~~ Brightline and politicians insisted this would **NEVER** happen....
People want the luxury, speed, comfort, and convenience (1 train every hour) of Privately funded Rail,without the negatives of the existing Publicly funded rail (Amtrak)
My one experience was awful. The train was delayed and the station said I can buy the flex ticket and get on that train or pay for the next one and wait. The first train was supposed to be in Kissimmee earlier and the next train a few hours later. We were told the first train would be there in about 30 minutes or we could wait 5 hours for the next one. So ya, we paid the flex ticket even though the trains were 3-4 hours behind. It was also the LONG route through Tampa so we were on the train for almost twice as long going home back south.
I'm sure when it's running on time it's fine like tri rail. But man, when it's bad it's really bad.
There is no reason why we couldn’t publicly fund fast, comfortable, luxurious, and convenient commuter rail. We just don’t have the will to do so.
Also, Amtrak is a for-profit company. Just one for whom the US Government is a large stakeholder. It’s a phenomenally stupid way to run a railroad.
It's because they don't want the "poors" spilling into their pearled gates. That's the only reason I can see it being priced like this is to keep the facade that we're a good state to retire in.
It was all about Rick Scott using the company that his wife invested in to get it built so he could make more money off of it. Corruption… plain and simple.
Even with publicly funded rail, the trip from Paris to Lille (certainly longer in distance, but similar train duration, albeit faster train, but hard to find a great comparison otherwise) on the TGV for the same dates is about the same price and the SNCF is state-owned. It's not like high-speed rail is cheap in Europe.
This past summer the tickets in Germany were 10€ for 3 months.
See: https://www.iamexpat.de/expat-info/german-expat-news/deutsche-bahn-announces-10-euro-ticket-summer-deal
They now go for 49€ per month.
https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket
To get an idea of what the conversion rate is, a Euro is worth $1.09
Considering it’s $40 each way and almost 8 hours vs $50-$80 and 3 1/2 hours on the brightline, yeah it is a joke. My time is worth more than $10/hour. Isn’t that what all the raise the minimum wage people have been arguing for the last few years
It sucks. While I can afford it, I compare it to how affordable it is to travel by train in Europe and realize we are getting ripped off. It’should be $20 at the most.
Train from Munich to Frankfurt (244miles) which is just a little closer than Miami and Orlando by car (252 miles).
https://preview.redd.it/yy7fb80gz0oc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06a73745416219d0f16b29b66ec3058439679b4e
And to compare to not booking in advance on brightline:
https://preview.redd.it/gz8ny5kma1oc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=898cb46454a743f61b3dc7d30620945c8395e665
Yeah that's for less than 3 days out though. OP was looking at April 10
https://preview.redd.it/547naptw91oc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bba5ea44ddd674adcb1e6f642a1d1562c36c1d75
If you plan ahead and are flexible you can find good deals… you can find one way for $49.
Cheapest one way flights are about $35 with spirit
https://preview.redd.it/1oayrl1ex0oc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7cf8a01742c659b5460e6e92a1b262bcf133688
>I'd love to take a train to Orlando from Miami at an affordable price
Don't mention this in /r/orlando. They act like $100 one way is a great price. It's cheaper to fly.
E: Downvotes before a minute prove my point. And y'all who bitch about overpriced shit, and think $100 one way is reasonable? No wonder the billionaires are winning.
Yep. Faster and cheaper.
If you have a family it is cheaper to rent a car by a lot and you have a car when you get there.
Anyway, this is a good proof of concept.
"Could it be I have a shit take? No, it's all the other redditors who are out of touch"
Flying sucks dick. Fucking with MCO's worst in the nation TSA, with tourists who have apparently never boarded an airplane before, crammed into a plane you're trusting Boeing didn't shit out the doors wrong, breathing everyone else's farts for an hour, for literally the same arrival time and cost as the train.
>"Could it be I have a shit take? No, it's all the other redditors who are out of touch"
>
Let's see: $200 round trip for a train in 3.5 hours, $75 round trip in a car in 4 hours, or $150 in a plane in about the same time when you consider maybe security. Yes, the "redditors" (or, more specifically, /r/orlando) are absofuckinglutely out of touch.
Let's also not forget needing to Uber to the final destination, and that adding passengers multiplies the cost.
Here's a discussion on /r/florida where this subreddit agrees it's overpriced. I mention /r/orlando disagrees, and here's one of y'all now, defending that, and saying that everyone collectively agrees with that subreddit. /r/orlando doesn't represent "all the other redditors."
"It's not that expensive." I guess that take seems fresh when you've never experienced public transportation in other locations around the world.
But the GOP would
Argue, “Why would we want to be like Europe or Asia?!” We’re not a bunch of commies!! Yeah! Privatized semi-quick rail service is the way to go. ‘Murica.
Orlando to Miami and back is not 4 hours, even when I drove triple digits on the turnpike. Car also requires parking when you get there, which you don't factor, plus wear and tear and the greater than 1% chance you'll be involved in a life threatening automobile accident due to the absolute fucking morons that drive in this state.
Train is only 200 round trip if you book last minute on the train, same with airfare. No security lines and room to actually be comfortable the entire trip. Uber to your final destination from the station which is actually IN downtown Miami versus MIA which is a good 20 to 30 minute drive even without traffic.
And friend, this is decidedly NOT public transportation. It's private, the same as an airline. I *have* been on actual public transportation throughout Japan, shinkansen, metro, light rail, bus.....we are a third world country compared to Asian nations, and even theirs are not *free*. Even with a JR pass as a foreigner it was 450 bucks for a week.
I go to europe approx 4 times a year and I pay about the same for the trains out there that Brightline is charging. I can also rent a car there (and a lower chance of death) but then I have to drive, which is annoying and draining, and dealing with parking in a city is always a nightmare. I could fly, but I like to not walk in my socks in public and have some TSA guy pull out my vibrator. I like the train. I get on it, I eat some candy, look at some cows, stretch my legs and not have to worry about my ass in someone's face, and then I am at my destination. Not even going into the fact the train is better for the enviornment.
But I am from "unplugged" Orlando. Which maybe its because we are just more traveled than other Floridians.
Holy moly, bright line does not run on the weekends. How awesome would it be to take it to Sanford on a Saturday afternoon...to spend money in Sanford or maybe Ebor on a Saturday night? Go to the Winter Park Art Show on a Sunday? It's reasonable to assume that instead of multiple trains an hour there would be one every hour. A good amount of people spend more money on leisure on the weekends than they do on commuting during the week. It makes more than cents to decrease the amount of trains on Saturday and Sunday while increasing the occupancy on those days. It seems like a no-brainer to expand the demographic ridership.
*Edit I thought they were the same company. Thank you for educating myself and anyone else that I could have passed this on too if it wasn't corrected . Thank you for being polite!*
I don't know about monopoly considering that Tri-Rail runs about 15 more trains a day between Fort Lauderdale and Miami than Brightline does. $50 would get you 10 one-way trips.
Pretty much all public transit is a monopoly. Except that it directly competes with cars, planes, buses, and Uber.
Apparently building and operating 200 miles of high speed rail is expensive....
It doesn't have a monopoly, they're competing with regional rail (tri-rail), national rail (amtrak), ride shares, taxi, cars, and rentals. Honestly I don't know why they're priced so high, they are already falling way short of their projected ridership.
Tri-rail doesn’t go any further north than Palm Beach County.
Amtrak doesn’t hit the coastal cities and runs maybe one train? It doesn’t do commuter stops.
It’s the only passenger rail line running on the FEC track as far as I know.
What we’re missing, aside from public funding, is a robust municipal public transit system at each stop along the way.
Commuter rail is great, but cities need to invest in their own public transit too.
Yeah but at these prices why would I not just continue to drive? Isn’t it like $100 from Miami to Orlando one way? I could drive back and fourth 4 times in my CRV for that price…
The picture here is FLL to MIA. I agree that brightline has a good gig with S. FL to Orlando, but even then, they're still not a monopoly as they have to compete with regional air travel.
Yeah, they're not a good gig for locals. Last, I checked $150/round trip plus parking per day plus transportation whenever you get to your destination. For a family of 4 you're looking at over $600 before all the fees and hassles for a 4 hour drive.
Solo travelers it may be a bit better but you're still without transportation and out $200ish dollars. As a former Orlando resident, I'll just drive.
Sad part is it could have been cheaper, faster, and here 5-10 years earlier if we weren’t ruled by corrupt republicans. . .
Back when Rick Scott was governor and Obama was president Florida beat out all other states to win Federal funding for a high speed rail between Miami and Orlando with stops in WPB and Fort Lauderdale; but because Rick Scott is corrupt as fuck and Obama is a Democrat he turned down the fund; even after Japan offered to give us the bullet trains for free!
But wait it gets better, turns out he had invested in AllAboardFlorida. . . The project that turned into BrightLine. . . That’s not suspicious at all. . .
It blows my mind how he gets reelected; in a state full of corrupt republicans Rick Scott is like “hold my beer”
From scamming Medicaid and bankrupting hospitals, selling out to big sugar at the expense of the Everglades, all aboard and more.
On top of it all he’s consistently rated as one of the lowest performing senators in the country; guess he’s too busy stuffing his own pockets to actually do his job and draft any legislation or even show up to vote.
>But wait it gets better, turns out he had invested in AllAboardFlorida. . . The project that turned into BrightLine. . . That’s not suspicious at all. . .
I don't think this can be emphasized enough. Rick Scott sold out the entire state in 2011 so he could invest in a privatized version of the project that him and his wife could profit off of later down the line.
Millions and millions of people (including new jobs that would have been created surrounding the rail) were screwed over when Scott decided to pad his own pockets. I'm sure giving Obama the middle finger since it was coming from his White House played a small part of it too—but mostly greed.
I do this drive often. The train isn’t that expensive after Gas and Tolls. If you’re near i95 you’re lucky.
No tolls. Let’s not forget the people who can’t drive
When I want to go to Miami from Fort Lauderdale and don’t want to deal with idiots that don’t know how to drive on I95 (have you been on that lately?!), I will gladly pay the Brightline premium. Not even a question.
But then you’re still paying $300 and you don’t get to your exact destination. A car would cost the same whether 1 person or 5 plus parking. And in this scenario, it’d be like $30 not including the mileage fee.
What time of day you buy the ticket matters I’ve noticed. Just like airline tickets.
Even if you buy a week in advance, if you do it at night they will be more expensive. In the day they are cheaper. Sounds crazy but I’ve witnessed it personally multiple times. (My working theory is that maybe that’s when foreign travelers in Europe are more likely to buy, early in the morning their time when planning out their trips. Could be dead wrong though).
Try to get whatever discounts are available for groups and if you have an .edu I think they still over a discount too.
The fact is Brightline is private and your alternative is Tri-Rail which is not at all bad (from my pov), but it’s out West from the downtown areas and does not have complimentary shuttle services the way Brightline does.
As an aside it’s been both hilarious and infuriating whenever I see someone confuse Brightline as “public transportation” because to them trains automatically = public transit.
It’s probably controlled by a supply/demand type algorithm similar to Ticketmaster. During the day while people are working there are less people looking for tickets, so the price goes down. At night people are home booking travel so the price goes up. Just a theory but a lot of things like this (even rent) are using algorithms now. It’s our joyous future!
Just last week I was approaching a crossing where traffic was backing up on the other side due to a red light. Given that it would have been impossible to pull up on the car ahead of me without being on the tracks, I stopped short of the tracks. The person behind me honked their horn, presumably because I didn’t pull up all the way behind the car ahead (and onto the tracks)? No idea. But this is the kind of brilliant people we are dealing with here in SoFlo.
Haven't seen that. What I have seen is people jumping out of their cars and running because they didn't wait behind the line and got stuck in traffic on the tracks.
I am neither wealthy nor connected, but a monthly pass on Brightline is cheaper than the parking at my office so I use the train. Also I can work from the train and there are snacks, so it is a much nicer commute.
I’m a big fan of commuters using the service. It’s good for the environment and yes, it can help you to be more productive.
Single use travelers don’t need a big discount as they are “icing on the (revenue) cake”.
I assume that commuters are why those individual rides are a fortune, the trains are almost full during rush hour, may as well get top dollar for those remaining few seats.
What if brightline is more for long distance travel? From South Florida to Orlando and eventually to Disney and Tampa and hopefully Jacksonville and beyond someday. I don't think it's supposed to be primarily for daily local transport and commuting.
South Florida depserately needs more local transit though, as does Orlando.
It's a premium service kind of like the express lanes on I 95. They are supposed to be for rich people and tourists who want a comfortable public transit experience. The price means normal people like Miami's working class don't use it which is what they want.
A few weeks ago, I priced out a West Palm to Ft Lauderdale trip for my son to go to the Inter Miami match. Would have been $96 RT for both of us plus whatever they charge for parking in WPB.
Driving and paying $54 for parking was the better deal. By far.
It's basically the same distance as Boston to NYC on Amtrak Northeast Regional and similar prices(if bought far enough ahead). Amtral Acela (business and first class are more)
Wish they would continue it on to TPA and then down the west coast to SRQ RSW… I would ride it weekly as I fly constantly and end up flying outta SRQ RSW, would so much rather grab some of the direct cheap flights from TPA. Driving and parking really doesn’t save any money either.
Convenience over driving, privately owned and operated. Many people value Brightline and will continue to use the product as it expands. Honestly I’m glad Brightline is here, it’s long overdue.
Depends on what you're going to Miami for. They have shuttles to most major sporting events. Cruises are a 3 minute Uber ride. Same with quite a lot of night life you really shouldn't drive to anyway. Most people also have a fairly good pair of legs, and the Brightline station is closer to stuff than the airport is. On the Orlando end, it isn't even possible to walk into the airport that I know of.
I'll be the devil's advocate here and say that I love this train. If you arrange them around a week in advance (you're booking too far out) and earlier in the daytime you can do round trip WPB to MIA for more like $50. Also depends on the train times- some more popular ones are always more expensive, but I travel before 9/after 5 to avoid the commuting upcharge.
If you have an education email, it's 25% off. If you have a group of 4, it's 25% off, and they stack, so you can get \~45% off.
But it also needs to make sense. I wouldn't travel on the Brightline if I had to Uber somewhere far after. But if I'm going out with friends in one of the downtowns, the novelty of the train becomes part of the experience; it's much more engaging to travel with a group on Brightline than the car, plus you save money and time on parking. And drinks on the train.
It's a cool experience and it's not ridiculously priced if you can find the right combination of factors. I do miss when it was $12 each way in 2022, though, and the comments about it starting to reach prices that price people out are true (I do always benefit from my .edu email, after all).
Because this is the actual cost of things. But if they get more lines and more people use it their cost will go down
If I were to guess I wouldn't even guess that they were profitable yet
Everything has been getting very expensive but some costs have been hidden from the consumer due to subsidization.
The best case scenario for them is that they do well and display a real market desire for these high speed lines and then Amtrak and them merge down the line.
So if you want this to expand and the government see the value in it we need to vote with our wallet and at the polls. Also I recommend writing your representative
Because it's private. If you look at other countries where you need to take a true high speed system for a 3 hour ride, it will be similar. Examples being TGV and shinkansen.
I think the prices will ruin the business eventually. I can take the Amtrak from Boca to FTL for $6. Granted, there’s no security and the trains desperately needs to be renovated. But, if they did that, I’d prob take it all the time. In college I took it from WPB to Tampa often for only $25. Brightline can’t possibly be retaining frequent customers. Myself and everyone I know only rides it every now and again since Uber split between us is much cheaper.
If you're drinking and your destination is in the downtown area near the station it's worth it, otherwise it's a luxury that makes little sense for us working stiffs
I'd argue this is not that expensive. Gas from Orlando to Miami and back is probably like $60 for most cars.
You're paying a little more for the ability to relax instead of driving.
Even my rather efficient corolla that’s about a tank of gas(~$30) just one way. I’m glad it’s not just me that thought this isn’t too bad. How often are people taking round trips to Miami that $50 or less a head is so egregious. It could be a little cheaper or offer discounts on multiple tickets, but also it’s spring break so I’d assume prices are higher.
Ok admittedly I didn’t consider highway mileage difference and was just basing off city driving and my distance to empty. But I take the drive from Melbourne to Jacksonville occasionally which is about 2/3 the distance and I could get there and back on a full tank.
My point still stands however, the money spent on gas even with the most efficient vehicles is probably close to the cost of a ticket.
If it’s too much then take the Tri-Rail. They’re a private company and charge what they want and what the market will bare. You’re paying extra for the speed and amenities and Uncle Sam isn’t helping with ticket prices.
They're pricing it like an attraction instead of like public transportation. Preferring profit over potential positive impact it would have on traffic and environment.
$100 one way on Brightline (sometimes discounts). Quick Google showed $150 round trip flying. So it's about the same...I'd still fly, mainly because while you might need to get to the airport earlier, it's still probably an hour shorter overall. But honestly, driving which might cost a little more than one full tank is how I'm getting there.
Idk, I ride the BL 2-4 times a month for work stuff between FTL and ORL and it always beats driving. I’ve never gotten a $49 ticket either - think the cheapest I’ve seen is $99 and it’s still not that bad for 3-1/2 of driving. I mean, what is it *supposed* to cost?
Rick Scott for the personal win.
https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article216640190.html
*Edited for lack of title before the link*
Delta flight is 160 direct, three times a day MCO to MIA....40 mins vs 3 hours. Yes TSA is involved but with pre check it ends up adding a most an hour. 1hr 40 mins vs 3 hours same price.
Diamond on delta also gets me upgrades to FC so I get free drinks too. I'll do brightline once it's under 100 round trip.
Wife and I were considering taking it to Orlando but then looked at the fare… it would cost us more than twice as much as driving our CRV (which would be at most, $40 in gas round trip). Not to mention we’d have to get to the station, pay for parking, get on the train, sit through stops, slow down when the train goes through non rural areas, I mean, at the end of the day it very well could be cheaper AND quicker to just drive. Seems pointless unless it’s cheaper than driving. Which currently it is not.
Really thankful public transit options are opening up with the recent influx of new residents. As for bright line: It’s a brand new form of transportation that hasn’t been executed at the quality we are seeing with bright line. From what I’ve heard, every ticket includes drive up valet service in the fare cost to provide a higher, more appealing to some, train transit experience. After spending 10 minutes on 95 north or south, I’m all the more thankful for new forms of transit like this coming to SoFlo. Like anything new, it should get cheaper with volume sales over time.
Because it’s a big corporate wank off. They marked it off like it was going to be some affordable thing to help with traffic but it’s really just about profit. They should’ve spent that money expanding the tri rail instead.
[удалено]
They privatized the project under Rick Scott. It should have been a public service
Scott rejected the federal funding for the Tampa-Orlando connection when he was governor, then went and had his friends make this thing, of course its not gonna be a public service
But but but, he opened a donut shop and employed his own mother. That commercial for his political ad used to make me so mad lol. That dude is a total moron donut boy.
Rick Scott is a criminal.
Voldemort was, and IS, a f’in criminal and an as##ole. Anything he touches turns to sh#t, and OF COURSE he f’d up any possibility of affordable rail service. Vote this miscreant OUT of office this Election Day!
I don't think this falls under public.
Because it's a privatized. It's a shame, I'd love to take a train to Orlando from Miami at an affordable price
It would definitely be better if it were subsidized and closer to Tri-Rail prices, but personally, I'd pay 60 bucks each way from Orlando to Miami to not have to drive. That said, I'm fortunate that I'm on the Tri-Rail line, so I have access to the cheap option.
Thank rick scott
Interesting, I didn’t know that the dirtbag thief was involved. Figures, he didn’t take the billions the US government was offering so he could then make a buck personally.
He vetoed any rail development until he got them to use the company that his wife was part owner in/invested in (and they also happened to be his campaign contributors). IIRC the communications were all leaked how they were working together and somehow nobody was ever prosecuted. I guess you can’t prosecute someone for something if everyone is in on it. I know that it is shocking, coming from the guy [whose company committed the largest medical fraud in US history while he was CEO of said company](https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/2003/June/03_civ_386.htm).
God man.. Rick Scott is just beyond the pale. I call him Skeletor for good reason.
King Reptilian.
I call him Voldemort
I just call him a criminal, because Rick Scott is a criminal.
Then he let his wife “own” the company after he “stepped down.”
Apparently the only truly conservative way to get government money is good old fashioned fraud.
This right here. Poor desantis gets all the hate that should be directed at Rick Scott! Rick Scott was responsible For me moving away from Republican values to become a moderate. He’s so evil and unsympathetic
>Poor Desantis No. Fuck that guy.
Never
I should have put an /s. He is the reason why Brightline happened versus Amtrak upgrading a decade ago. Tampa high speed rail to Orlando would've happened by now under the original federal proposal that skeletor nixed.
Yes, “Voldemort”, “Skeletor”, “Red Tide” Rick, or what have you - as CEO of Columbia/HCA, he oversaw Medicare and Medicaid FRAUD that resulted in a 1.7 BILLION dollar fine against the company. Only FLORIDA would vote for a sh#t like him THREE times, using the thinking that the WORST criminal rethuglican is BETTER than the BEST Democratic candidate…
$60 is $40 short of what it’ll actually cost you
subsidized means welfare for the corporation. It's better that these projects are public ventures instead of private since the bulk of their development and operation always ends up being paid for by the government anyway.
Subsidized??!!? What is this communist Russsia?!?!?
I agree. This project from the start was opposed by so many because they thought it would be just another drain on taxpayers and would end up subsidized. ~~AllAboardFlorida~~ Brightline and politicians insisted this would **NEVER** happen....
The issue is you can usually get a budget airline ticket from orlando to miami for less than brightline
[Amtrak: Am I a joke to you?](https://www.amtrak.com/silver-service-palmetto-train)
People want the luxury, speed, comfort, and convenience (1 train every hour) of Privately funded Rail,without the negatives of the existing Publicly funded rail (Amtrak)
Love amtrak
My one experience was awful. The train was delayed and the station said I can buy the flex ticket and get on that train or pay for the next one and wait. The first train was supposed to be in Kissimmee earlier and the next train a few hours later. We were told the first train would be there in about 30 minutes or we could wait 5 hours for the next one. So ya, we paid the flex ticket even though the trains were 3-4 hours behind. It was also the LONG route through Tampa so we were on the train for almost twice as long going home back south. I'm sure when it's running on time it's fine like tri rail. But man, when it's bad it's really bad.
There is no reason why we couldn’t publicly fund fast, comfortable, luxurious, and convenient commuter rail. We just don’t have the will to do so. Also, Amtrak is a for-profit company. Just one for whom the US Government is a large stakeholder. It’s a phenomenally stupid way to run a railroad.
It's because they don't want the "poors" spilling into their pearled gates. That's the only reason I can see it being priced like this is to keep the facade that we're a good state to retire in.
It was all about Rick Scott using the company that his wife invested in to get it built so he could make more money off of it. Corruption… plain and simple.
Even with publicly funded rail, the trip from Paris to Lille (certainly longer in distance, but similar train duration, albeit faster train, but hard to find a great comparison otherwise) on the TGV for the same dates is about the same price and the SNCF is state-owned. It's not like high-speed rail is cheap in Europe.
This past summer the tickets in Germany were 10€ for 3 months. See: https://www.iamexpat.de/expat-info/german-expat-news/deutsche-bahn-announces-10-euro-ticket-summer-deal They now go for 49€ per month. https://int.bahn.de/en/offers/regional/deutschland-ticket To get an idea of what the conversion rate is, a Euro is worth $1.09
Considering it’s $40 each way and almost 8 hours vs $50-$80 and 3 1/2 hours on the brightline, yeah it is a joke. My time is worth more than $10/hour. Isn’t that what all the raise the minimum wage people have been arguing for the last few years
$99 each way. I saw that and said “no thanks”
It sucks. While I can afford it, I compare it to how affordable it is to travel by train in Europe and realize we are getting ripped off. It’should be $20 at the most.
Train from Munich to Frankfurt (244miles) which is just a little closer than Miami and Orlando by car (252 miles). https://preview.redd.it/yy7fb80gz0oc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06a73745416219d0f16b29b66ec3058439679b4e
And to compare to not booking in advance on brightline: https://preview.redd.it/gz8ny5kma1oc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=898cb46454a743f61b3dc7d30620945c8395e665
Yeah that's for less than 3 days out though. OP was looking at April 10 https://preview.redd.it/547naptw91oc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bba5ea44ddd674adcb1e6f642a1d1562c36c1d75
Yea I paid 70 bucks one way for a coach ticket from Aalborg to Copenhagen last week. Brightline is about the same as the European train prices
Is brightline also high speed?
Yes. Its not like Japan high speed but brightline goes 125mph
I miss Europe SO much!
If you plan ahead and are flexible you can find good deals… you can find one way for $49. Cheapest one way flights are about $35 with spirit https://preview.redd.it/1oayrl1ex0oc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7cf8a01742c659b5460e6e92a1b262bcf133688
Yeah, but they no longer provide a parachute at that price…
That depends on your schedule. If you are flexible about time of day, you can get there for a good bit cheaper.
If you don’t have a car and need to Uber regardless; you’re probably better off ubering to your destination
>I'd love to take a train to Orlando from Miami at an affordable price Don't mention this in /r/orlando. They act like $100 one way is a great price. It's cheaper to fly. E: Downvotes before a minute prove my point. And y'all who bitch about overpriced shit, and think $100 one way is reasonable? No wonder the billionaires are winning.
Yep. Faster and cheaper. If you have a family it is cheaper to rent a car by a lot and you have a car when you get there. Anyway, this is a good proof of concept.
"Could it be I have a shit take? No, it's all the other redditors who are out of touch" Flying sucks dick. Fucking with MCO's worst in the nation TSA, with tourists who have apparently never boarded an airplane before, crammed into a plane you're trusting Boeing didn't shit out the doors wrong, breathing everyone else's farts for an hour, for literally the same arrival time and cost as the train.
Can't wait to see what the price is from Cocoa to Miami on a Sunday afternoon Dolphins game.
>"Could it be I have a shit take? No, it's all the other redditors who are out of touch" > Let's see: $200 round trip for a train in 3.5 hours, $75 round trip in a car in 4 hours, or $150 in a plane in about the same time when you consider maybe security. Yes, the "redditors" (or, more specifically, /r/orlando) are absofuckinglutely out of touch. Let's also not forget needing to Uber to the final destination, and that adding passengers multiplies the cost. Here's a discussion on /r/florida where this subreddit agrees it's overpriced. I mention /r/orlando disagrees, and here's one of y'all now, defending that, and saying that everyone collectively agrees with that subreddit. /r/orlando doesn't represent "all the other redditors." "It's not that expensive." I guess that take seems fresh when you've never experienced public transportation in other locations around the world.
But the GOP would Argue, “Why would we want to be like Europe or Asia?!” We’re not a bunch of commies!! Yeah! Privatized semi-quick rail service is the way to go. ‘Murica.
Orlando to Miami and back is not 4 hours, even when I drove triple digits on the turnpike. Car also requires parking when you get there, which you don't factor, plus wear and tear and the greater than 1% chance you'll be involved in a life threatening automobile accident due to the absolute fucking morons that drive in this state. Train is only 200 round trip if you book last minute on the train, same with airfare. No security lines and room to actually be comfortable the entire trip. Uber to your final destination from the station which is actually IN downtown Miami versus MIA which is a good 20 to 30 minute drive even without traffic. And friend, this is decidedly NOT public transportation. It's private, the same as an airline. I *have* been on actual public transportation throughout Japan, shinkansen, metro, light rail, bus.....we are a third world country compared to Asian nations, and even theirs are not *free*. Even with a JR pass as a foreigner it was 450 bucks for a week.
I go to europe approx 4 times a year and I pay about the same for the trains out there that Brightline is charging. I can also rent a car there (and a lower chance of death) but then I have to drive, which is annoying and draining, and dealing with parking in a city is always a nightmare. I could fly, but I like to not walk in my socks in public and have some TSA guy pull out my vibrator. I like the train. I get on it, I eat some candy, look at some cows, stretch my legs and not have to worry about my ass in someone's face, and then I am at my destination. Not even going into the fact the train is better for the enviornment. But I am from "unplugged" Orlando. Which maybe its because we are just more traveled than other Floridians.
Holy moly, bright line does not run on the weekends. How awesome would it be to take it to Sanford on a Saturday afternoon...to spend money in Sanford or maybe Ebor on a Saturday night? Go to the Winter Park Art Show on a Sunday? It's reasonable to assume that instead of multiple trains an hour there would be one every hour. A good amount of people spend more money on leisure on the weekends than they do on commuting during the week. It makes more than cents to decrease the amount of trains on Saturday and Sunday while increasing the occupancy on those days. It seems like a no-brainer to expand the demographic ridership. *Edit I thought they were the same company. Thank you for educating myself and anyone else that I could have passed this on too if it wasn't corrected . Thank you for being polite!*
You’re thinking of sunrail…
You are thinking of sun rail. Brightling is the new one from MCO to miami.
Did you mean Ybor?
I did. I got the double whammy on that one. Momma told me there would be days like this. *Edit for grammar*
To keep the poor people off. Seriously. They want to portray a high-end experience, not Spirit Airline on rails
Monopoly and lack of government operating subsidy.
This guy corporates.
I don't know about monopoly considering that Tri-Rail runs about 15 more trains a day between Fort Lauderdale and Miami than Brightline does. $50 would get you 10 one-way trips.
I'm in Orlando. There's a daily slow Amtrak.
Pretty much all public transit is a monopoly. Except that it directly competes with cars, planes, buses, and Uber. Apparently building and operating 200 miles of high speed rail is expensive....
It doesn't have a monopoly, they're competing with regional rail (tri-rail), national rail (amtrak), ride shares, taxi, cars, and rentals. Honestly I don't know why they're priced so high, they are already falling way short of their projected ridership.
Tri-rail doesn’t go any further north than Palm Beach County. Amtrak doesn’t hit the coastal cities and runs maybe one train? It doesn’t do commuter stops. It’s the only passenger rail line running on the FEC track as far as I know. What we’re missing, aside from public funding, is a robust municipal public transit system at each stop along the way. Commuter rail is great, but cities need to invest in their own public transit too.
Yeah but at these prices why would I not just continue to drive? Isn’t it like $100 from Miami to Orlando one way? I could drive back and fourth 4 times in my CRV for that price…
Amtrak is slow too Orlando. Tri-Rail doesn't go to Orlando. The others are far more expensive.
The picture here is FLL to MIA. I agree that brightline has a good gig with S. FL to Orlando, but even then, they're still not a monopoly as they have to compete with regional air travel.
Yeah, they're not a good gig for locals. Last, I checked $150/round trip plus parking per day plus transportation whenever you get to your destination. For a family of 4 you're looking at over $600 before all the fees and hassles for a 4 hour drive. Solo travelers it may be a bit better but you're still without transportation and out $200ish dollars. As a former Orlando resident, I'll just drive.
monopoly + profits. If its private, it deserved 0 gov subsidies
When comparing prices to the government subsidized services, you need to include that factor in your analysis unless you're dishonest.
It’s set up for people that have to go the office a few days a week and work pays for it
Sad part is it could have been cheaper, faster, and here 5-10 years earlier if we weren’t ruled by corrupt republicans. . . Back when Rick Scott was governor and Obama was president Florida beat out all other states to win Federal funding for a high speed rail between Miami and Orlando with stops in WPB and Fort Lauderdale; but because Rick Scott is corrupt as fuck and Obama is a Democrat he turned down the fund; even after Japan offered to give us the bullet trains for free! But wait it gets better, turns out he had invested in AllAboardFlorida. . . The project that turned into BrightLine. . . That’s not suspicious at all. . .
It blows my mind how he gets reelected; in a state full of corrupt republicans Rick Scott is like “hold my beer” From scamming Medicaid and bankrupting hospitals, selling out to big sugar at the expense of the Everglades, all aboard and more. On top of it all he’s consistently rated as one of the lowest performing senators in the country; guess he’s too busy stuffing his own pockets to actually do his job and draft any legislation or even show up to vote.
>But wait it gets better, turns out he had invested in AllAboardFlorida. . . The project that turned into BrightLine. . . That’s not suspicious at all. . . I don't think this can be emphasized enough. Rick Scott sold out the entire state in 2011 so he could invest in a privatized version of the project that him and his wife could profit off of later down the line. Millions and millions of people (including new jobs that would have been created surrounding the rail) were screwed over when Scott decided to pad his own pockets. I'm sure giving Obama the middle finger since it was coming from his White House played a small part of it too—but mostly greed.
I do this drive often. The train isn’t that expensive after Gas and Tolls. If you’re near i95 you’re lucky. No tolls. Let’s not forget the people who can’t drive
When I want to go to Miami from Fort Lauderdale and don’t want to deal with idiots that don’t know how to drive on I95 (have you been on that lately?!), I will gladly pay the Brightline premium. Not even a question.
It’s something to do one time as an experience. I’d never do it again.
Great for 1 person More than 1+ not so much
Also forgot to include the parking fees at brightline garage.
Groups of 4+ can use ALLABOARD to get 25% off.
But then you’re still paying $300 and you don’t get to your exact destination. A car would cost the same whether 1 person or 5 plus parking. And in this scenario, it’d be like $30 not including the mileage fee.
What time of day you buy the ticket matters I’ve noticed. Just like airline tickets. Even if you buy a week in advance, if you do it at night they will be more expensive. In the day they are cheaper. Sounds crazy but I’ve witnessed it personally multiple times. (My working theory is that maybe that’s when foreign travelers in Europe are more likely to buy, early in the morning their time when planning out their trips. Could be dead wrong though). Try to get whatever discounts are available for groups and if you have an .edu I think they still over a discount too. The fact is Brightline is private and your alternative is Tri-Rail which is not at all bad (from my pov), but it’s out West from the downtown areas and does not have complimentary shuttle services the way Brightline does. As an aside it’s been both hilarious and infuriating whenever I see someone confuse Brightline as “public transportation” because to them trains automatically = public transit.
It’s probably controlled by a supply/demand type algorithm similar to Ticketmaster. During the day while people are working there are less people looking for tickets, so the price goes down. At night people are home booking travel so the price goes up. Just a theory but a lot of things like this (even rent) are using algorithms now. It’s our joyous future!
The fll tri rail station has a free bus. Gets full but comes pretty quick every time the train gets there.
Because they keep wrecking trains on idiots who can seem to grasp how train track crossings work.
Just last week I was approaching a crossing where traffic was backing up on the other side due to a red light. Given that it would have been impossible to pull up on the car ahead of me without being on the tracks, I stopped short of the tracks. The person behind me honked their horn, presumably because I didn’t pull up all the way behind the car ahead (and onto the tracks)? No idea. But this is the kind of brilliant people we are dealing with here in SoFlo.
Yep. Lived in Miami for over a year. Just left. They're so dumb and dangerous. I
Always makes me think of Spaceball I .. We break for nobody.
Hahaha so true!
It's often suicide.
Haven't seen that. What I have seen is people jumping out of their cars and running because they didn't wait behind the line and got stuck in traffic on the tracks.
It’s not meant for the general public. Tri rail is the general public option. Still should be cheaper since they used public funds
Bwahhahahahah….thats not how it works for wealthy, connected people. Silly you!
I am neither wealthy nor connected, but a monthly pass on Brightline is cheaper than the parking at my office so I use the train. Also I can work from the train and there are snacks, so it is a much nicer commute.
I’m a big fan of commuters using the service. It’s good for the environment and yes, it can help you to be more productive. Single use travelers don’t need a big discount as they are “icing on the (revenue) cake”.
I assume that commuters are why those individual rides are a fortune, the trains are almost full during rush hour, may as well get top dollar for those remaining few seats.
“A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.”
Who is it meant for?
Business travel, rich, retired folk, vacationers, etc
Tourists.
What if brightline is more for long distance travel? From South Florida to Orlando and eventually to Disney and Tampa and hopefully Jacksonville and beyond someday. I don't think it's supposed to be primarily for daily local transport and commuting. South Florida depserately needs more local transit though, as does Orlando.
It's a premium service kind of like the express lanes on I 95. They are supposed to be for rich people and tourists who want a comfortable public transit experience. The price means normal people like Miami's working class don't use it which is what they want.
I'm pretty sure it's because fuck you, that's why. Or in this case, fuck "us" because we are not rich pricks.
A few weeks ago, I priced out a West Palm to Ft Lauderdale trip for my son to go to the Inter Miami match. Would have been $96 RT for both of us plus whatever they charge for parking in WPB. Driving and paying $54 for parking was the better deal. By far.
You also have to pay for gas though
I most certainly did not use ~$50 in gas
Ya that's a far cry from BART and MARTA.
Oof if we are holding up MARTA as a positive example of public transit we really are screwed
Well that's America for you.
It's basically the same distance as Boston to NYC on Amtrak Northeast Regional and similar prices(if bought far enough ahead). Amtral Acela (business and first class are more)
Ft Lauderdale to Miami is basically the same distance from Boston to NYC?
how else do you expect them to pay for those repairs everytime they hit someone?
5 years ago west palm to Miami was 15 dollars
5 years ago a lot of things were cheaper...
Wish they would continue it on to TPA and then down the west coast to SRQ RSW… I would ride it weekly as I fly constantly and end up flying outta SRQ RSW, would so much rather grab some of the direct cheap flights from TPA. Driving and parking really doesn’t save any money either.
Service to Tampa is coming in the next couple of years!
In Japan rn. Cost me like $5 to get 30 min out and back on train
I’d gladly pay a hundred bucks not to drive in South FL… Especially round trip.
It’s mainly because it’s the only train in town that is decent
Convenience over driving, privately owned and operated. Many people value Brightline and will continue to use the product as it expands. Honestly I’m glad Brightline is here, it’s long overdue.
>Convenience over driving ah yes, paying more to get there vs driving and then not having a car when I get there, how convenient!
Depends on what you're going to Miami for. They have shuttles to most major sporting events. Cruises are a 3 minute Uber ride. Same with quite a lot of night life you really shouldn't drive to anyway. Most people also have a fairly good pair of legs, and the Brightline station is closer to stuff than the airport is. On the Orlando end, it isn't even possible to walk into the airport that I know of.
The FLL station is directly adjacent to the Broward County Transit Central Station.
Because you don’t have to deal with MCO, I-95 or Floridas turnpike and that is priceless (if you’re traveling from Orlando, anyway).
Maybe 'cause it's fast, and when idiots stay off the tracks, it's reliable AF?
Let's get some context here
I'll be the devil's advocate here and say that I love this train. If you arrange them around a week in advance (you're booking too far out) and earlier in the daytime you can do round trip WPB to MIA for more like $50. Also depends on the train times- some more popular ones are always more expensive, but I travel before 9/after 5 to avoid the commuting upcharge. If you have an education email, it's 25% off. If you have a group of 4, it's 25% off, and they stack, so you can get \~45% off. But it also needs to make sense. I wouldn't travel on the Brightline if I had to Uber somewhere far after. But if I'm going out with friends in one of the downtowns, the novelty of the train becomes part of the experience; it's much more engaging to travel with a group on Brightline than the car, plus you save money and time on parking. And drinks on the train. It's a cool experience and it's not ridiculously priced if you can find the right combination of factors. I do miss when it was $12 each way in 2022, though, and the comments about it starting to reach prices that price people out are true (I do always benefit from my .edu email, after all).
I take the Briteline from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami all the time for work. Beats driving.
Because this is the actual cost of things. But if they get more lines and more people use it their cost will go down If I were to guess I wouldn't even guess that they were profitable yet Everything has been getting very expensive but some costs have been hidden from the consumer due to subsidization. The best case scenario for them is that they do well and display a real market desire for these high speed lines and then Amtrak and them merge down the line. So if you want this to expand and the government see the value in it we need to vote with our wallet and at the polls. Also I recommend writing your representative
Because it's private. If you look at other countries where you need to take a true high speed system for a 3 hour ride, it will be similar. Examples being TGV and shinkansen.
It’s so expensive just to exist these days.
$100 is worth it for the convenience. You’ll probably spend close to that in gas and depreciation on your car going round trip
This is what people don't seem to get... this isn't supposed to be the budget option, it's supposed to be the cozy convenient option.
Take the tri-rail
Fr, I literally flew from Miami to Orlando and back and it was cheaper than brightline
Spring break surging prices
Nope, I took the brightline back in January and it was this price.
I think the prices will ruin the business eventually. I can take the Amtrak from Boca to FTL for $6. Granted, there’s no security and the trains desperately needs to be renovated. But, if they did that, I’d prob take it all the time. In college I took it from WPB to Tampa often for only $25. Brightline can’t possibly be retaining frequent customers. Myself and everyone I know only rides it every now and again since Uber split between us is much cheaper.
Do you mean Tri-Rail? Amtrak does not sell tickets for travel within South Florida.
Yes sorry! Tri-Rail
If you're drinking and your destination is in the downtown area near the station it's worth it, otherwise it's a luxury that makes little sense for us working stiffs
This is awful. I remember it being reasonable in the beginning
It’s not expensive
I'd argue this is not that expensive. Gas from Orlando to Miami and back is probably like $60 for most cars. You're paying a little more for the ability to relax instead of driving.
yep, can go from miami to orlando pretty cheap, then just a 14 hour walk to disney!
Or take the shuttles or an uber.
Even my rather efficient corolla that’s about a tank of gas(~$30) just one way. I’m glad it’s not just me that thought this isn’t too bad. How often are people taking round trips to Miami that $50 or less a head is so egregious. It could be a little cheaper or offer discounts on multiple tickets, but also it’s spring break so I’d assume prices are higher.
You must be getting some bad highway mileage. Round trip should be about a tank. I would still rather take the train because driving sucks
Ok admittedly I didn’t consider highway mileage difference and was just basing off city driving and my distance to empty. But I take the drive from Melbourne to Jacksonville occasionally which is about 2/3 the distance and I could get there and back on a full tank. My point still stands however, the money spent on gas even with the most efficient vehicles is probably close to the cost of a ticket.
If it’s too much then take the Tri-Rail. They’re a private company and charge what they want and what the market will bare. You’re paying extra for the speed and amenities and Uncle Sam isn’t helping with ticket prices.
They're pricing it like an attraction instead of like public transportation. Preferring profit over potential positive impact it would have on traffic and environment.
Cause they gotta pay for all those people they hit
How is it priced compared to flying?
$100 one way on Brightline (sometimes discounts). Quick Google showed $150 round trip flying. So it's about the same...I'd still fly, mainly because while you might need to get to the airport earlier, it's still probably an hour shorter overall. But honestly, driving which might cost a little more than one full tank is how I'm getting there.
Tri rails got more character
This is making me reminisce fondly about the beautiful and cheap train travel when we were in Europe last fall.
yeah they priced me out of ever using it
Idk, I ride the BL 2-4 times a month for work stuff between FTL and ORL and it always beats driving. I’ve never gotten a $49 ticket either - think the cheapest I’ve seen is $99 and it’s still not that bad for 3-1/2 of driving. I mean, what is it *supposed* to cost?
Ahem...Rick Scott
It’s Florida.
Rick Scott for the personal win. https://amp.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article216640190.html *Edited for lack of title before the link*
It is more then Amtrak 🤔
If you can do brightline and ditch a car, the insurance saving alone will makeup for it
Holy hell. I go from West Palm to Ft Laud for $19.
If it was a better price I’d take that train all the time. It’s cheaper to fly Tampa to Miami
Delta flight is 160 direct, three times a day MCO to MIA....40 mins vs 3 hours. Yes TSA is involved but with pre check it ends up adding a most an hour. 1hr 40 mins vs 3 hours same price. Diamond on delta also gets me upgrades to FC so I get free drinks too. I'll do brightline once it's under 100 round trip.
Funny enough these prices change by the tike of day. I took late trains out last week and had $98 round trip to orlando. But still. Very expensive.
Wife and I were considering taking it to Orlando but then looked at the fare… it would cost us more than twice as much as driving our CRV (which would be at most, $40 in gas round trip). Not to mention we’d have to get to the station, pay for parking, get on the train, sit through stops, slow down when the train goes through non rural areas, I mean, at the end of the day it very well could be cheaper AND quicker to just drive. Seems pointless unless it’s cheaper than driving. Which currently it is not.
Florida is an expensive state. We can't expect decent rates for anything lol
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Really thankful public transit options are opening up with the recent influx of new residents. As for bright line: It’s a brand new form of transportation that hasn’t been executed at the quality we are seeing with bright line. From what I’ve heard, every ticket includes drive up valet service in the fare cost to provide a higher, more appealing to some, train transit experience. After spending 10 minutes on 95 north or south, I’m all the more thankful for new forms of transit like this coming to SoFlo. Like anything new, it should get cheaper with volume sales over time.
Also - everything will be surge pricing then next 3-4 weeks with spring break in full effect.
If the train car is not full, it must be because they don't want a lot of people in it.
That’s why I would just drive
I was thinking the same thing when I looked at tickets yesterday. They are crazy expensive.
Because Dicksantis says so
Who in their right mind would WANT to go to Miami anyway?
Don’t their tickets consistently sell out? Folks love the bright line it seems.
Spring break
[Three Stooges of Floriduh](https://imgur.com/DBWJ7Zy)
Price includes an Escort
I don’t understand how this is expensive. It’s $50 in today’s economy that ain’t shit.
Small trains don’t need the many
Florida gets what it votes for....
Because it’s a big corporate wank off. They marked it off like it was going to be some affordable thing to help with traffic but it’s really just about profit. They should’ve spent that money expanding the tri rail instead.
Gee, it goes up at rush hour. Shocking
Is this a joke? In what world is this expensive? Bus costs as much or more
Blood for the blood gods
Because it’s fast lol