Brightline ride-share program will take you from station to Marlins Park or downtown Miami. How it works
MIAMI — Brightline and Miami city leaders on Tuesday unveiled details about Brightline+, a door-to-door ride-share system that will launch in December and bring passengers to and from train stations as part of their journeys.
The train service is relaunching its routes between West Palm Beach and Miami on Nov. 8. Passengers will get their first ride free if they create an account and book it through the Brightline App, the company announced last week.
Shortly after the restart, Brightline+ will allow passengers to reserve a ride from their location to the train station for a price that's included with their train fare. In addition, Brightline will integrate its payment system with the Miami Transit System so riders can use their Brightline ticket to access Miami's Metro Rail and Metrobus systems.
"It's not enough just to take care of the train trip. Your trip doesn't start at a train station. Your trip starts wherever you are," Brightline President Patrick Goddard said in a news conference. "We want to take care of the entire journey for you."
Goddard said Brightline's multimodal transit system is the first of its kind in the United States, and that the expansion is necessary to get cars off South Florida roads.
Here's how it will work: A rider will book the journey through the Brightline App and pay once for the ride to the station, the train itself and for a vehicle to pick them up at their arrival train station. That vehicle will take them anywhere within a 5-mile radius of the stations in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
To use Brightline+, the rider must book the journey at least two hours in advance.
Where can you go with Brightline cars?
Tuesday's announcements mean easier trips to Fort Lauderdale and Miami for West Palm Beach riders.
The 5-mile radius around Miami's Central Station served by Brightline+ vehicles includes Miami International Airport, LoanDepot Park, downtown Miami, and the south end of Miami Beach.
But if riders' destinations are outside that radius, they will be able to use Miami-Dade public transportation to get there without paying a second fare, Carlos Cruz-Casas, the assistant director of the county's Department of Transportation and Public Works, said Tuesday.
Starting in 2022, Brightline, Miami's Metro Mover, Metrobus and MetroRail payment systems will be fully integrated, Cruz-Casas said. That will allow a rider to use their Brightline ticket for transit options around Miami-Dade County, which generally cost $2.25 each way.
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"That first-and-last mile (of Brightline train service) becomes 10 miles, 15 miles. It becomes access throughout Miami-Dade County," Cruz-Casas said.
Brightline+ will be rolled out in phases.
Starting in November, riders can book transportation from the end of their train journey to their final destination.
Beginning Dec. 1, Brightline+ will begin providing door-to-door service from the rider's starting point to their final destination.
Through the end of the year, shared vehicle rides will be complimentary, while private rides will have a flat fee of $10. Prices for 2022 have not been announced.
More details on masks, schedules for Brightline
On Tuesday, Brightline unveiled two of its Brightline+ vehicles at the Central Station in Miami. The bright yellow vehicles will be part of a 30- to 40-car fleet that operates in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties. In all, 75 percent of the fleet will be electric vehicles, Goddard said.
When Brightline service restarts, it will run the same schedule it had before the coronavirus lockdown brought its trains to a halt. Fares will be similar to what passengers were used to, Goddard has said.
Passengers and onboard staff members will be required to wear face masks both on trains and in stations.
The company's employees will be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus, but passengers will not be required to show proof of vaccination.
Brightline's safety measure include prepackaged foods, touchless bathrooms, cashless payments and electronic tickets.
Trains will include reserved seating, and the private four-person table configurations within coaches will have plexiglass dividers, according to a news release.
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@katikokal
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brightline Miami, West Palm trains ride-share system information
