SunRail, a commuter rail system that services 16 stations in the Greater Orlando Area in Florida, is running a $50 million deficit each year, according to an investigation by Fox 35 News.
The SunRail network began service in 2014, but after only a year, it began reducing its schedule due to a lag in riders.
As of Fox 35's February 2021 investgation, SunRail had fewer than 1,000 riders per day, down from an average of 5,609 before the pandemic. It expected to make $16 million that year, but costs were budgeted at $66 million. Taxpayers are left to make up the deficit.
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer defended the project to Fox 35, saying “there’s no public transportation that I know of that makes a profit.”
While he is correct, according to a 2015 study by The Hamilton Project, smaller metro systems like Seattle, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh take a loss averaging $4 per ticket. In Orlando, that loss is over $20 per ticket, according to Fox 35.
While public transit should be affordable for riders, subsidizing over $20 per ticket is unsustainable. That money must come from somewhere, and in the case of the SunRail, its coming from federal, state, and local taxpayers. Public transportation can be not-for-profit and subsidized, but SunRail should do better.
Residents told Fox 35 the system isn’t expansive enough to be useful. SunRail board members are considering adding a line that connects SunRail to Orlando's airport, but it is unclear how long this, or any other expansions, might take.
Until then, it looks like the spiral of SunRail will only get worse, while taxpayers bail them out.
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