FEC Corridor Passenger Rail

"SFECC Study Group Begins Public Meetings to Assess FEC Corridor Passenger Rail Development" by v. johns

As I mentioned before, it's one thing to comment on news that's already been gathered, but quite another to attend town hall meetings and presentations and attempt to process raw data into a meaningful package that's well presented and devoid of any misrepresentations. Today, I attended a kick-off meeting, in Jupiter, by the South Florida East Coast Corridor Study held for the purpose of getting input from the public on determining the best way to construct a commuter rail system on the FEC Railway that would provide more useul and intricate sevice through major downtowns as well as integrate with and compliment Tri-Rail, which services a less convenient path along I-95 on CSX tracks away from major urban centers.

The meeting showcased "Phase 2" of a 3-phase study to assess local preferences for improved mobility along the 85-mile FEC corridor in the Tri-County Area of Southeast Florida. Among the issues to be determined are: grade crossings, how to finance, where to place stations (96 possible) and how to phase the study. This study, according to one presenter, replaces three separate studies that were underway in individual counties. The first presentation concluded with the types of stations possible for approved locations such as: City Center, Town Center, Neighborhood, Employment Center, Local Park-N-Ride, Regional Park-N-Ride, Airport/Seaport and Special Event Venue. Among the types of "modal technologies" or vehicles in consideration are: Regionl Rail, Regional Bus, Light Rail Transit, Bus Rapid Transit and Rail Rapid Transit.

The second part of the presentation presented several overlays in which to view service considerations along the FEC tracks in the Gold Coast sub-region of South Florida in regards to environmental considerations. Such as: The regions natural boundary limitations (Everglades forms western edge) and characteristics (Biscayne Aquifer), its historic districts, neighborhoods and parks/recreation areas, its proximity to underserved low income and minority neighborhoods, and, finally the FEC's position to fit int the Eastward Ho! Initiative imlemented by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles to contain sprawl and concentrate major development east of I-95.

The post-presentation Q&A tended to center around noise levels, with costs coming in a distant second. According to one representative, the cost would be 4 million dollars. regarding noise levels, another representatve assured the participants that with passenger trains running mostly during the day when overall activity is high noise levels would less of an issue than they are with industrial trains that run overnight, hauling rock and other raw materials to industries in the area. He noted that passenger trains are lighter and cleaner and would not produce the thundering vibrations that industrial haulers produce.

I myself had questions. I asked why the study stopped at the Palm Beach County line when South Florida reaches up to Sebastian. A representative assured me that while efforts have been made to bring the Treasure Coast into the fold, the study itself is limited to Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. I asked if there were instances in which the "build it and they will come" appraoch fostered development as opposed to population fueling major demand for mass transit. They told me that while the FEC railway, built by Henry Flagler, did just that, Florida's outdated land use policies complicates transit issues and that they are trying to get jurisdictions in the region to embrace more mass-transit centered policies that would consider mobility first, with development taking place around those considerations. Currently, developers build what they want, where they want, and all else is considered later... Even roads. Finally, I expressed my concerns about access for smaller communities outside the major urban core of South Florida. They assured me that although, the curent study is restricted to Metropoltan South Florida, efforts are being made to assess connections and extensions to outlying areas. I was referred to a particular project being looked at to improve travel on State Road 710 (the Beeline Highway). As I write this now, I'm looking at the website and I like what I see. Awesome!

I can't believe I remembered all this. My childhood nickname of Absent-minded Professor is pretty descriptive of this writer. Anyway, I'm one of those people who not only knows what they know, but knows what they don't know. There's so much more that I need to consider. Thanks to this meeting, I now have a clearer picture of what I don't know. And its a lot. In addition to opining on what I see on the news and read in the papers, I will continue to attempt to make it to meetings such as the one I just described. I'm also going to try to get more poor people, such as myself, to come to these meetings as we tend to brush over such mundane things without considering their impact on our lives.

In conclusion, you may be surprised to find that I'm not entirely sold on rail "technology" along that corridor to alleviate traffic in all directions. I'm not thoroughly convinced that a passenger train system along an 85-mile rail segment with 200+ rail crossings in the Tri-County Area would do much to improve mobility. Busses are clearly the way to go as the preferred "technology" to facilitate the needs of this densely populated area. They're cheaper and more flexible. East-West traffic flow is bad enough throughout the region with industrial trains slowing traffic. Upon attending the next meeting, in West Palm Beach, I will seek clarification as to how trains will alleviate traffic in that direction. In the meantime, I really enjoyed the presentation and I hope that many more of our citizens and our political leaders will attend these meetings to help us create a more sustainable and and accessible region for all...