All Aboard Florida expects 5.3 million riders by 2020

[thelakelander]

Some interesting nuggets on AAF's projected revenues, ridership numbers and fares....

A high speed train between South Florida and Orlando would eventually attract 7 million riders a year and generate $400 million in revenue, according to report released today by All Aboard Florida.

The planned passenger rail service, set to begin running in 2017, would initially see about 1 million riders a year, ramping up to 5.3 million a year by 2020 and 7 million by 2030, according the report prepared by the Louis Berger Group.

Revenues are projected to be $293 million a year in 2020, rising to $400 million by 2030.

Ridership will be evenly split between those traveling locally between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and long distance trips between South Florida and Orlando.

It would take trains 1 hour, 45 minutes to travel from West Palm Beach to Orlando, 2 hours, 20 minutes from Fort Lauderdale and 3 hours from Miami.

Under ideal conditions, the drive from Miami to Orlando takes about 3 hours and 20 minutes

Officials have said fares will be priced competitively with other local transportation options.

Average fares would range from $11 to $15 from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and $14 to $18 from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. Officials note drivers already pay up to $10.50 to drive the I-95 express lanes at rush hour between downtown Miami and the Golden Glades interchange.

From Miami to Orlando, fares would average $93.80 to $143.46, with higher fares paid by business travelers and those traveling at specific times.

All Aboard Florida said the goal is to draw people headed to special events in or near downtowns, like a Heat game in Miami, the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show or SunFest in West Palm Beach.

Full article: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-all-aboard-florida-ridership-study-20150528-story.html

[spuwho]

SunRail reached 500k in their first year (10% of that was during the free period)

So AAF expecting 1M in the first year of ops will mostly be between Ft Lauderdale and Miami.

As far as growth on the Miami/Orlando leg, connectivity between the OIA multimodal hub and the I-Drive/Disney destinations will be the determining factor.