WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In an exclusive interview, Tri-Rail's director, David Dech, tells WPTV reporter Michael Hoffman they're still working on ways to conserve funds to keep Tri-Rail running.
Tri-Rail riders are still reeling after the announcement that the rail service will only have enough money to stay open until July 2027.
WATCH BELOW: Michael Hoffman sits down with Tri-Rail director David Dech, in an exclusive interview
“Why would they close? I mean, this is everybody's way of transportation that has no car, that couldn't afford a car,” said Niderria Cobb.
Dech says the service just had a record year for ridership. Despite that, the budget cuts are steep. FDOT cut its annual funding to the rail service by nearly 30 million dollars a year starting in July.
"We got 4.5 million people a year riding, you know, 15,000 people a day. I don't think anybody wants to see those people on I-95,” Dech said.
He says they've looked at everything from increasing rates to eliminating express trains to even postponing key projects.
"We're going through and looking at what we have for our reserves, our COVID relief funds," said Dech. "You know, any projects that can be postponed or pinned for a while. And we know that we can run uninterrupted, same weekday service, same weekend service — that we can run uninterrupted till July 2027."
Dech said if Tri-Rail closes, the rail still needs to be maintained for trains like Amtrak and freightliners. As we've reported, FDOT has told leaders it isn’t opposed to more funding if counties increase their contributions as well.
Administrators from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties met today. Palm Beach County Commissioner Marci Woodward, who sits on the Tri-Rail governing board, told Hoffman in a phone conversation that leaders are committed to bridging that gap to keep operations running through next year’s budget, but won’t be able to restore the full funding.
"Commuter rail is a service that a lot of cities plan a long time to try to build. When you have it, you want to keep it," said Dech. "But I think, you know, South Florida has to determine — do we want to take this and grow it, or do we want to keep it the same way?"
Tri-Rail's governing board is expected to meet in August.
