"When Tri-Rail Executive Director David Dech arrived in Tallahassee this week for the annual state legislative session, he took along what is probably the South Florida rail line's most important sales aid: a report of record ridership for 2025. He'll need it as he spearheads Tri-Rail's lobbying drive to restore millions in funding cuts announced last year by the Florida Department of Transportation. Without the money, Dech has said Tri-Rail has enough cash to run through July 2027. Elected commissioners in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties all have said they lack the resources to help replace the money the FDOT cut."
"Instead of contributing a statutory minimum of $42.1 million - and as much as $62 million annually as it has in the past - the state transportation agency informed the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which oversees Tri-Rail, that the new figure would be $15 million starting with the 2025-26 fiscal year, which started last July. In the interim, the line has been dipping into dwindling reserves to prop up a $150 million budget. The three counties Tri-Rail serves also contribute annual subsidies of $4 million to go along with the fares paid by riders."
"Proof of Tri-Rail's value to the public came in the form of an announcement last week from the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Tri-Rail's oversight agency, which reported that the rail line surpassed 4.5 million rides during the calendar year 2025, "establishing a new all-time ridership record for the regional commuter rail system." "This milestone follows the achievement from Tri-Rail's fiscal year [from July 2024 through June 2025] that surpassed 4.5 million rides, as well," the authority said in a statement. "With this performance, Tri-Rail has exceeded its previous record set in 2019, when the system surpassed 4.4 million rides in both the fiscal and calendar years.""
Tri-Rail exceeded 4.5 million rides in calendar year 2025 and also surpassed 4.5 million rides in the July 2024–June 2025 fiscal year, topping its 2019 record of 4.4 million. The Florida Department of Transportation reduced its annual contribution to $15 million starting in the 2025–26 fiscal year, down from a statutory minimum of $42.1 million and past contributions up to $62 million. Tri-Rail has been drawing on reserves to sustain a $150 million operating budget and estimates cash will run through July 2027. Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties report lacking resources to replace the state reduction. Counties provide $4 million in subsidies and riders cover remaining fares.
#tri-rail #ridership #transportation-funding #florida-department-of-transportation #legislative-lobbying
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