Brightline will begin killing people carrying passengers between Miami and Orlando today. I hope the new line will be safe, but Brightline trains began killing people even before they went into revenue service and again when they resumed service after the pandemic. Brightline says it is willing to spend $45 million making its route safer for pedestrians and auto drivers — on the condition that taxpayers put up $35 million of it (so much for it being unsubsidized).
I’ve previously predicted that Brightline’s Miami-Orlando line is quite possibly the only higher-than-normal-speed passenger train route in American that could earn a profit. That’s because the route connects Orlando theme parks with the three busiest cruise ship ports in the United States: Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Port Canaveral. Together, they saw 11.9 million cruise ship passengers last year, which is about 15 percent less than before the pandemic, but still quite a lot. If only 40 percent of those passengers take a round-trip to Orlando on Brightline, the line would carry more passengers than Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor carried in 2022.
Billed as “higher-speed rail,” meaning faster than conventional trains but not as fast as true high-speed rail, Brightline is supposed to reach top speeds of 130 miles per hour north of West Palm Beach but is limited to 79 miles per hour between Miami and West Palm. However, its average speed is about 65 miles per hour as its fastest trips take 3 hours and 33 minutes between Miami and Orlando. Google maps says the same trip can be done by auto in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Although I am disappointed that Brightline is so callous about the people it has killed (always blaming the victims), I wish them well. If it is successful, however, no one should think that such success will justify spending lots of tax dollars on passenger trains elsewhere.
Or they could have built two 5,000 foot runways (one at each end), bought a few regional jets (100 seats each +/-), avoided all the drama and saved a lot of money.
Source on the cost? cause the brightline carries 248 per train, that being 198 “smart” class seats (3 cars) and 50 “premium” seats (1 car).
Passenger rail will never be a competitive solution to any mobility problem in any fair comparison of alternatives. By its very nature, it will ALWAYS be slower, more expensive, AND less convenient than its main competitor: private cars on public roads and highways.
source? cause from what i’ve seen it is working swimmingly in europe.
yeah brightline needs more safety features. 1 train line should not even begin to approach the number of traffic fatalities in the entire area.
As predicted. Wasting no time. š https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/delray/2023/09/22/brightline-train-strikes-kills-pedestrian-in-delray-beach/70928703007/
Other fatal or near-fatal crashes happened recently in Orlando or Miami. Yet the antiplanner failed to mention any them for some reason. Very curious! I wonder why?
https://www.clickorlando.com/traffic/2023/09/23/traffic-blocked-on-interstate-4-in-osceola-county-following-fatal-crash/
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2023/09/23/15-year-old-seriously-hurt-in-marion-hit-and-run-crash-while-walking-dog/
https://www.clickorlando.com/traffic/2023/09/21/brevard-school-bus-involved-in-crash-in-west-melbourne/
https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/fhp-makes-arrest-after-fatal-hit-and-run-in-orlando
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/09/22/woman-was-driving-107-mph-seconds-before-fatal-dui-crash-miami-dade-police-say/
https://wsvn.com/news/local/miami-dade/police-arrest-man-after-multi-car-crash-on-79th-street-causeway-leaves-1-dead/
The antiplanner is very concerned about pedestrian deaths, so I’m sure he’ll be interested in this. Looking forward to his post about it!
https://www.lawhancock.com/blog/florida-top-of-list-for-deadliest-pedestrian-state/
Florida Consistently Tops The List of The Deadliest States for Pedestrians
According to the FLHSMVās Crash Dashboard, there were 9,450 pedestrian crashes in 2021 that resulted in 7,285 injuries and 817 deaths. Additionally, based on preliminary data from January 2022, Florida saw 321 pedestrian accidents that caused 268 injuries and 17 deaths. This is a massive problem because the Sunshine State has consistently topped the list of the most dangerous states for pedestrians in the country.
Brightline blames all of the fatalities on the victims.
ā antiplanner
Video: thereās gates, thereās signs, thereās lights, thereās bellsā¦
Then again how do you know the stove is hotā¦.I flick a drop of water on the stoveā¦. if it sizzles its still hot. ?
Even as an adult I still live by the same safety talk mothers gave us. LOOK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE STREETā¦.
Meanwhile over 3000 Floridians are killed per year in in car accidents.
Brightline shouldn’t be built? because it killed 70 some people in last few years.
Same logic cities go after scooters………35 lb scooter hits a pedestrian, we’ll ban them. 3500 lb car hits a pedestrian, Fuck it, business as usual.
The point is, IF you think you can beat a train in a perpendicular race……..be my guest. The gene pool benefits from your absence.
More pedestrians are killed every month (68) in Florida by cars than the number of pedestrians killed by Brightline in its entire existence (“the deadliest train per mile in America”).
The number 68 is derived by using the 2021 number shown in https://www.lawhancock.com/blog/florida-top-of-list-for-deadliest-pedestrian-state/ (817) and dividing by 12.
Looks like this was delayed due to it killing another person. https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/deadly-crash-delays-brightlines-first-train-service-from-miami-to-orlando-17881210
Not 69, Damn
”
Meanwhile over 3000 Floridians are killed per year in in car accidents.
Brightline shouldnāt be built? because it killed 70 some people in last few years.
Same logic cities go after scootersā¦ā¦ā¦35 lb scooter hits a pedestrian, weāll ban them. 3500 lb car hits a pedestrian, Fuck it, business as usual.
”
LazyReader suppling us with lazy thinking.
No one is talking about banning brightline. We’re speaking to practical, cheap things that shoudl’ve been done to mitigate accidents and deaths.