June/July 2019
 

 

IT ONLY TAKES ONE EVENT TO DEVASTATE A COMMUNITY

No one who lived in South Florida in August 1992 will dispute the words of Daniel Kniewski, FEMA Deputy Administrator for Resilience. Hurricane Andrew swept across south Miami-Dade County flattening virtually everything in its path – Homestead, Florida City, Naranja Lakes and County Walk. A nascent commuter rail system, 3-year old Tri-Rail, was called in to help with the recovery and rebuilding effort. Employees volunteered to serve however they could. A young public transportation system became an integral part of its community, in part because of the devastation caused by one terrifying night.

Fast forward 27 years. Tri-Rail is the public transportation spine of South Florida, carrying more than 4 million passengers a year, and it still takes hurricane preparation as seriously as it did almost 3 decades ago, if not more so. “We’ve had our staff-wide preparation and we are ready,” affirms SFRTA Executive Director Steven Abrams. Just prior to the start of hurricane season, Mr. Abrams gathers critical staff together to review the preparation and recovery plans of contractors in the areas of operations, security, maintenance, and facilities. When it comes to hurricanes, there is no such thing as being over prepared, be it a transportation system or a family.

NOAA is predicting a near-normal Atlantic hurricane season. They expect 9-15 named storms of 39 mph plus, 4-8 hurricanes with winds of 74 mph or higher, and 2-4 major hurricanes, category 3, 4, or 5 with winds of 111 mph or higher. No matter if it’s a Cat 1 or a Cat 5, the impact to your family, friends and yourself cannot be overestimated.

The SFRTA wants its passengers and loved ones to be safe, prepared and protected. This is the time of year when we remind our passengers of our hurricane procedures. SFRTA makes the decision as to when the tracks and service are shut down. Once sustained winds reach 35 miles per hour, it becomes necessary for us to suspend service in order to secure the gates. Our policy has always been, and continues to be, that we will not take passengers to a destination unless we are sure we can get them back later. This is for the protection and safety of our riders and their families.

The customer service call number 1-800-TRI-RAIL (874-7254), website www.tri-rail.com, Facebook and Twitter pages, and the local media are your best sources for information and updates in the event of a storm. We have staff housed in the Operations Center 24/7 to maintain communications, barring any unexpected technical difficulties such as we encountered with Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Here’s hoping that you won’t need this information, but you always have to question when another major storm will hit. Now is the time to prepare. Don’t wait until a storm is approaching. By then it is probably too late. Have a plan to keep yourself and your family safe. The SFRTA does.

 

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PBSO SPEARHEADS JOINT EFFORT TO COMBAT SUICIDE ON THE TRACKS

The Palm Beach County Sherriff’s Office (PBSO) was recently awarded a grant from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to address railway trespassing in the City of Lake Worth Beach. The FRA falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The proposed project will address trespassing along Lake Worth Beach’s two rail corridors including three miles of Florida East Coast (FEC) railway, which accommodates FEC freight trains and Virgin Trains, and the equivalent length of the South Florida Rail Corridor (SFRC), which serves Tri-Rail, CSXT freight trains, and Amtrak.

“This is a collaboration headed by the PBSO and including Amtrak, CSX, FEC, SFRTA/Tri-Rail and Virgin Trains (f/k/a Brightline),” reported Allen Yoder, SFRTA Director of Safety and Security. “Through this joint effort, we hope to begin to combat a critical issue that is plaguing our entire region.”

The grant will enable additional PBSO patrols to be assigned to these designated areas of the corridors, which have been identified as areas of specific concern regarding trespassing activity on the corridors. The goal of the patrols is to identify hot spots, conduct enforcement and maximize project benefits. The expectation is that through these efforts, incidents of trespassing will be reduced, related injuries and deaths will be mitigated, and the overall safety of both community members and train occupants will be enhanced.

Palm Beach County, which includes the City of Lake Worth Beach, ranks second in the state for trespass related injuries and deaths. Florida ranks third in the nation in the same category.

Feeling desperate and thinking that suicide is the only way out? Help is available for you. Call 211 24/7 and a kind, caring individual will be on the other side of the phone to offer assistance.

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LEGISLATURE PASSES BILL TO SPEED INCIDENT PROCESSING

On June 7, 2019, Governor Rick DeSantis signed into law new legislation designed to streamline the investigative process when a train is involved in a crash with a motor vehicle. The new legislation, House Bill 341/Senate Bill 1002, passed unanimously in the closing days of the 2019 legislative session.

The bill stipulates that the collection of certain information will be at the discretion of the law enforcement officer having the jurisdiction to investigate the crash. The bill also specifies that certain persons are not considered passengers for the purpose of making crash reports and need not be interviewed as part of the process.

This could dramatically cut down on the time it takes to clear up an accident investigation and get the train and passengers moving again. In the past, there have been occasions during rush hour when an accident has occurred and officers took previous legislation as meaning that every single passenger on the train needed to be questioned. A rush hour train can carry more than 400 people. Just getting their basic identifying information can take hours. This new laws relieves passengers of that inconvenience. The bill takes effect July 1, 2019.

The sponsors were Representative Chip LaMarca, District 93, Lighthouse Point, and Senator Travis Hutson, District 7, Palm Coast.

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SFRTA REACHES PTC MILESTONE BY TESTING REVENUE TRAINS OPERATING UNDER NEW TECHNOLOGY

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) announced today that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has approved a plan to test trains operating revenue (regularly-scheduled) service with Positive Train Control (PTC) technology. SFRTA will launch the Revenue Service Demonstration (RSD) on its entire commuter operating corridor, which runs from West Palm Beach to Miami, beginning June 29, 2019. This is a key milestone in moving closer to having PTC technology certified and implemented on the South Florida Rail Corridor. Revenue trains will be incrementally added in the demonstration phase until the entire fleet is operating with PTC systems.

“I’m proud of our talented and dedicated team that has been working diligently to keep SFRTA moving forward with PTC implementation ahead of federal deadlines,” said Steven Abrams, SFRTA Executive Director. “PTC is a significant safety upgrade to our system, and we will continue to prioritize this project to ensure our train operations have the highest level of safety technology.”

SFRTA does not anticipate any major delays due to PTC while it is being demonstrated and after it is fully implemented. PTC however, is an incredibly complex system that involves numerous components that must constantly communicate with each other. Because it is a new system for SFRTA engineers and maintainers to learn, the potential exists for minor glitches and minor delays, particularly in the early days of implementation.

PTC is a complex computer and GPS-based system that helps prevent human error from causing train accidents. The technology can prevent over-speed derailments, train-to-train collisions, trains entering an established work zones, and unauthorized train movement onto sections of the track through a track switch left in the wrong position.

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TRI-RAIL UDPATES SMARTPHONE APP WITH NEW TRIP-PLANNING FEATURES

Tri-Rail’s free smartphone app has been completely redesigned with enhanced trip-planning features and improved mobile technology. Riders can access critical information about Tri-Rail service, including an improved real-time train and Commuter Connector status, system-wide alerts of service updates, as well as information on train schedules, destinations and more.

New in the Tri-Rail app are the ‘My Ride’ and ‘Next To Arrive’ features, which enhance the trip-planning functions of the app. The My Ride feature allows passengers to save multiple recurring trips made on Tri-Rail trains and Commuter Connector buses, providing a countdown for the next upcoming trip based on My Ride selections. The Next To Arrive feature allows passengers to select a Tri-Rail Station and view the next train or Commuter Connector bus, if applicable, that arrives at the selected station. Both My Ride and Next To Arrive features display real-time information, giving passengers more power on their hands to help with their travels.

The app was developed by Boca Raton-based software developer Daruma Tech and is available for download on the App Store and on Google Play

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SOUTH FLORIDA REGIONAL
TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY

801 NW 33rd Street | Pompano Beach, Florida 33064
954-942-RAIL (7245) | 1-888-GO-SFRTA (467-3782)
www.sfrta.fl.gov


Governing Board

Commissioner
Esteban L. Bovo Jr.
Andrew Frey
Frank Frione
Nick A. Inamdar
Gerry O'Reilly

F. Martin Perry
Commissioner Tim Ryan, Chair
James A. Scott
Commissioner Hal R.
Valeche, Vice Chair
Robert C. L. Vaughan

Executive Director
Steven L. Abrams

954-357-8400
www.broward.org/bct

1-877-930-4287
www.palmtran.org

305-770-3131
www.miamidade.gov

1-800-TRI-RAIL
www.tri-rail.com