south florida regional transportation authority - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-28T18:00:26Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/south+florida+regional+transportation+authorityAlong the Coast: Abrams to resign as Tri-Rail chief, cites dispute with board memberhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-abrams-to-resign-as-tri-rail-chief-cites-dispute-2022-02-02T17:57:11.000Z2022-02-02T17:57:11.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>Steve Abrams intends to resign as executive director of Tri-Rail following controversy over construction defects that delayed the commuter railroad’s extension of operations into downtown Miami.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}10065754297,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-left" src="{{#staticFileLink}}10065754297,RESIZE_180x180{{/staticFileLink}}" width="105" alt="10065754297?profile=RESIZE_180x180" /></a>Tri-Rail has long planned to run trains into Brightline’s MiamiCentral station, and the upscale train company is constructing a platform for them. <br />But in December, Abrams told the board of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which operates Tri-Rail, that a structural engineer working for Tri-Rail discovered problems that include a platform too narrow to accommodate Tri-Rail trains and station bridges that possibly are not strong enough.<br />Board member Raquel Regalado, a Miami-Dade County commissioner, expressed anger that the board was just then hearing about the issues when Tri-Rail knew about them in April. She called on Abrams to resign, the <em>Miami Herald</em> has reported.<br />Abrams, a former Boca Raton mayor and Palm Beach County mayor and commissioner selected to run Tri-Rail in 2018, told <em>The Coastal Star</em> that he has the support of most board members but Regalado has been a constant critic.<br />That prompted his decision, made during a Jan. 28 SFRTA board meeting, to seek a negotiated separation agreement, he said.<br />“It is the accumulation of the fact that, although I have the support of the majority of my board, I have one board member who is intent in undercutting my ability to perform,” Abrams said. <br />“In my judgment, I have accomplished a lot here and in a 30-year career,” he said. “It has been a good record. I am not willing to be trashed by this commissioner.”<br />Abrams said he is open to remaining on the job until a new executive director is hired.<br />Abrams blames the construction defects on Brightline, whose workers are constructing Tri-Rail’s part of the MiamiCentral station. “Brightline gave us a defective platform,” he said.<br />Tri-Rail’s consultant issued a report critical of Brightline’s platform work and the bridges that link the train tracks to the station.<br />In retrospect, Abrams said, he should have alerted the board to the problems sooner. “I have taken responsibility for that,” he said.<br />He delayed, he said, because he knew there were defects but did not know how extensive they were or what needed to be done to fix them. He wanted to first get a report from a structural engineer to provide the board with that information.<br />In response to questions from <em>The Coastal Star</em>, Brightline provided a Dec. 14 letter from its president, Patrick Goddard, to Abrams that acknowledges problems with the platform, which he said were discovered by Brightline last April, and that Brightline is obliged to fix them.<br />Brightline suggested at the time that the easiest and quickest way to resolve this is for Tri-Rail to modify its trains’ entrance and exit steps, an idea that he said Tri-Rail’s engineering team agreed with. Tri-Rail had not taken steps to do so in December but last month presented a timetable for making the changes.<br />Goddard, however, denied that there are any problems with the station’s structural designs or with its bridges. A Dec. 21 letter from a Brightline consultant to Goddard said the bridges are appropriate and safe.<br />He outlined two other matters Tri-Rail has not yet addressed, saying they were the most significant impediments to starting Tri-Rail service into MiamiCentral.<br />Abrams told <em>The Coastal Star</em> that there aren’t quick and easy answers to a number of the issues. For example, the train steps could be modified, but he needed to find out if that change would create problems at Tri-Rail’s other stations.<br />Looking back on his tenure with Tri-Rail, Abrams said “we have had some great accomplishments.”<br />When he was hired, Tri-Rail had a $16 million deficit, which is now erased. Train tracks that were in disrepair were replaced and, as a result, speed restrictions on trains were eliminated. That, in turn, helped Tri-Rail improve its on-time performance to 93%, he said.<br />He also noted that the American Public Transportation Association found that Tri-Rail was second only to Denver’s commuter railroad in how quickly it recovered ridership lost during the coronavirus pandemic. </p></div>Along the Coast: Prospect of second Tri-Rail station in Boca Raton all but deadhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-prospect-of-second-tri-rail-station-in-boca-raton2019-04-03T19:46:36.000Z2019-04-03T19:46:36.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Mary Hladky</strong></p>
<p>The possibility of a second Tri-Rail station in Boca Raton has all but evaporated.<br /> Steven Abrams, executive director of the South Florida Regional Transit Authority, which operates Tri-Rail, told the Federation of Boca Raton Homeowner Associations on March 5 that the idea is on permanent hold.<br /> Tri-Rail began considering a second Boca Raton stop in 2007, and the idea got traction when a coalition of landowners near the Town Center mall proposed a “live, work, play” redevelopment that included as many as 2,500 apartments near the CSX railroad tracks that run roughly parallel to Interstate 95.<br /> A 2016 Tri-Rail study found the station would attract enough riders to be economically viable. In July, Tri-Rail chose as its preferred location a site in the center of the proposed Midtown project. The former King’s Deli property sits along the tracks at the intersection of Military Trail and Northwest 19th Street.<br /> But even as Tri-Rail was selecting a site, momentum stalled after the Boca Raton City Council last year did not enact land development regulations that would have allowed Midtown redevelopment to proceed.<br /> The council’s decision also made it unlikely that landowner Crocker Partners, which led the Midtown coalition and owns the King’s Deli site, would donate the land for the station.<br /> Crocker Partners has sued the city, seeking $136.7 million in damages, for not adopting the land development regulations.<br /> Without residential development and land donation, “I don’t envision [the station] happening,” Abrams said after the meeting.</p>
<p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><strong>Coastal Link vision</strong></span><br /> But as Tri-Rail celebrates its 30th birthday this year, it is moving ahead on other fronts under Abrams, a former Palm Beach County commissioner and Boca Raton mayor who became the transit authority’s executive director in December.<br /> The authority is negotiating with Boca Tri-Rail LLC, which is not affiliated with Tri-Rail, to build a transit-oriented development on 7.5 acres it owns adjacent to the Yamato Road station. The company’s proposal calls for an orthopedic surgery center, restaurant and other retail, but no residential.<br /> The area already has the maximum amount of residential allowed by the city. Abrams said uncertainty about whether the City Council would be willing to raise the residential cap led the transit authority board to shy away from a project that includes housing. The City Council must approve the project once plans are finalized.<br /> The transit authority has long wanted to create Coastal Link, with trains running on the Florida East Coast Railway tracks from Miami to Jupiter. The FEC tracks run roughly along Federal Highway through city centers where stations would be more conveniently located for many riders.<br /> The agency has built a link from the CSX tracks to downtown Miami, and its Miami station is anticipated to open at the end of this year.<br /> “That is the first step of an envisioned Tri-Rail Coastal Link,” Abrams said. “It is a strong vision for the future. It is something I think there is demand for.”<br /> Coastal Link would share the tracks with privately owned Brightline, which now runs from Miami to West Palm Beach and is seeking financing to expand to Orlando. Brightline rebranded as Virgin Trains USA on April 4.<br /> The FEC would charge Tri-Rail to use its tracks, but negotiations over price have not yet started.<br /> “We would anticipate ridership would explode” if Coastal Link becomes reality, Abrams said.<br /> Coastal Link would build gradually, he said. Initially, he sees running trains possibly to Wynwood and then to Aventura.<br /> Tri-Rail would not abandon its service on the CSX tracks if Coastal Link comes into being.<br /> The two rail lines “serve two different areas of South Florida,” Abrams said. “There will be ridership on both.”<br /> Tri-Rail is funded by Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, the Florida Department of Transportation and rider fares, but has been chronically underfunded since its inception.<br /> When Abrams became executive director, Tri-Rail had a $15 million deficit. It has since been trimmed to less than $10 million with “lots of belt-tightening,” including hiring and travel freezes, he said.<br /> Ridership was up 2 percent in January compared to last year, with 16,000 to 16,500 passengers riding the trains each day. Tri-Rail has long been criticized for running late, but Abrams said on-time performance has improved greatly and is now at 95 percent.<br /> Both Tri-Rail and Brightline share a problem: people who trespass on the tracks or use the trains to end their lives.<br /> Tri-Rail wants to use drones that would fly ahead of its trains to spot anyone on the tracks, so the train has time to stop.<br /> Legislation has been introduced in Tallahassee that would end the practice of treating a Tri-Rail train as a crime scene when it strikes a person. The crime scene designation means the train cannot move and passengers cannot enter or exit until the investigation is completed — a process that can take four hours.<br /> Tri-Rail also hopes to replace its outdated ticket machines.<br /> The launch of Brightline passenger service last year has not had an impact on Tri-Rail ridership, Abrams said. The two rail lines have different markets, he said, with Brightline catering to tourists and Tri-Rail to blue-collar and hospital and medical office workers.</p></div>Along the Coast: Abrams hired to lead Tri-Rail’s governing agencyhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/along-the-coast-abrams-hired-to-lead-tri-rail-s-governing-agency2018-10-31T18:06:00.000Z2018-10-31T18:06:00.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Steve Plunkett</strong></p>
<p>Palm Beach County Commissioner Steven Abrams, who leaves office Nov. 20, will spend only a few weeks unemployed before tackling his next job — as executive director of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.<br /><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7960819066,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img src="{{#staticFileLink}}7960819066,original{{/staticFileLink}}" class="align-left" width="98" alt="7960819066?profile=original" /></a>His former colleagues on the SFRTA governing board hired him on a 9-1 vote to lead the agency that runs Tri-Rail, choosing his political savvy over the deep operational skills of rival job candidates.<br /> “Oh, I’m thrilled,” Abrams exclaimed as well-wishers congratulated him following the Oct. 26 vote. “I’m excited about the opportunity.”<br /> Abrams, who resigned as chairman of the governing board in May to apply for the director’s position, dismissed concerns about his lack of operational expertise. <br /> “I have the background to jump right in,” he said.<br /> The other finalists were Joe Giulietti, retired president of Metro-North Commuter Railroad in New York City and before that executive director of SFRTA for 13 years; Mikel Oglesby, SFRTA’s deputy executive director; Benjamin Limmer, assistant general manager of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority; and Tim Tenne, chief operating officer of the Maryland Transit Administration, who withdrew from consideration after his job interview. <br /> Two other finalists — Joseph Black, a practice leader/director at Washington, D.C.-based Network Rail Consulting, and Raymond Suarez, chief operating officer of the Denton County Transportation Authority in Texas — withdrew before the interviews.<br /> Jack Stephens, SFRTA’s current executive director, is retiring at the end of the year.<br /> Abrams’ appointment seemed in jeopardy at first as board members discussed his nomination.<br />“I feel like the agency … needs some strong management right now,” said former state Sen. Jim Scott, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer, who preferred Giulietti.<br /> Broward County Commissioner Tim Ryan was dismayed that so many applicants dropped out, including Tenne, “who hit it out of the park” in his interview.<br />“It just gave me a sense that there’s something else going on that I haven’t figured out in this whole interview process,” said Ryan, whose second choice was Limmer.<br /> But Miami-Dade County Commissioner Esteban Bovo, who succeeded Abrams as chair and supported his candidacy, said all the applicants had good points and flaws.<br /> “We need a person, in my opinion, that can navigate the politics of the three counties, and that’s not an easy thing to do,” Bovo said. “We need somebody that’s going to be able to go to Tallahassee, to the federal government. We need somebody that’s going to be able to exploit relationships and needs to do it immediately, the moment they hit the ground running.<br /> “There’s no learning curve here, and that, by definition, perhaps may disqualify a few.”<br /> The Nov. 6 general election will decide who succeeds term-limited Abrams on the Palm Beach County Commission. Running are Democrat Robert Weinroth, a former deputy mayor of Boca Raton, and Republican William “Billy” Vale, a pharmaceutical representative and political newcomer. The district covers coastal communities in the southeast portion of the county.<br /> “The timing works pretty well,” said Abrams, who still has to negotiate his salary with SFRTA. Stephens is paid $260,000 a year.<br /> Abrams, 60, is finishing his ninth year as a county commissioner and sat on the Boca Raton City Council as a member and mayor for 17 years.</p></div>