FL: Florida budget cuts threaten Tri-Rail’s future

Tri-Rail is facing a financial emergency that could put it out of business by the end of next year, and officials are scrambling to convince the state to restore funding before it’s too late.

Tri-Ral carries 4.4 million commuters a year to and from locations in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. While it pales in comparison to the public transit systems of major metropolitan areas like New York, Chicago and Washington D.C., it represents an irreplaceable lifeline for its users in South Florida.

“It’s extremely important to those who don’t have cars and who rely totally on Tri-Rail to go their jobs, to go to the store, to those who can’t afford any other type of transportation,” said Broward County Commissioner Lamar Fisher, who sits on the governing board of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates Tri-Rail.

In the budget passed last month by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the state’s share of funding for Tri-Rail plummeted from $42 million a year to $15 million. Earlier this year, David Dech, the executive director for the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, warned the three county governments that they will need to contribute $10 million a year each to offset a looming budget shortfall caused by the expiration of federal stimulus payments that have helped keep Tri-Rail afloat.

Tri-Rail runs on a $150 million a year budget, only a tenth of which is paid by commuter fares. The majority of passenger rail systems in the country require government subsidies to operate, from local buses to Amtrak. This holds especially true for daily commuter services, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. Fare increases would, at best, only make a dent in responding to a $27 million budget cut.

But as the state seeks to reduce overall spending, local governments are finding it difficult to replace vanishing funding sources. The $10 million Dech sought for Tri-Rail from each South Florida county? “It’s not going to happen,” Fisher predicted. “There’s simply no way we can afford it.”

The regional transportation authority meets on Friday to begin tackling the issue. Dech told officials this week that Tri-Rail is likely to run out of money by the end of 2026 unless a solution presents itself or the state decides to restore the funding.

Until then, the stage is set for a standoff between a region that wants to provide a pricey service to workers who need it the most and a state government looking to wipe out wasteful spending.

The Tri-Rail authority meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. Friday and is accessible to the public. Those interested can call 312-626-6799 and enter the Meeting ID 867 0327 0696, followed by the password 866320. The same meeting ID and password can be used to access the meeting on Zoom.

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