Brightline Reports Substantial Ridership Growth to Begin 2020

Brightline has released ridership numbers for the month of January 2020, showing an increase of 56 percent compared to January 2019, and the third straight month of ridership growth compared to the same month the previous year.

Since November 2019, Brightline has exceeded the monthly 100,000 ridership milestone and January 2020 marked an all-time high. Brightline kicked off 2020 with record ridership and connected the South Florida megaregion with 30,000-plus passenger trips over Super Bowl Week alone.

To put this in perspective, it is equivalent to removing nearly 14,000 one-way car trips from our city’s streets and highways. This is a reduction in trips reduced over 600,000 vehicle traffic miles which otherwise would have consumed nearly 25,000 gallons of gas and emitted almost 500,000 pounds of CO2 into our air.

“Since Brightline opened its station in the heart of downtown West Palm Beach, our destination has enjoyed unparalleled accessibility—opening up more options for leisure and business travelers as well as residents throughout South Florida,” said Jorge Pesquera, president and CEO of Discover The Palm Beaches. “Recently, with Super Bowl LIV in our backyard, we also saw an influx of visitors from across the region who came to experience our Super Bowl Host Committee activities. We look forward to continuing the momentum during the MLB Spring Training season and the increasing number of conventions and meetings being held in The Palm Beaches throughout the year. The addition of Brightline’s forthcoming Boca Raton station also will reaffirm our southern gateway city’s status as a major corporate center, meetings and leisure destination.”

The weekend of February 14, Brightline connected the marine industry and boating aficionados alike to the Miami Yacht Show and Miami Boat Show, many traveling from points north of South Florida—parking in West Palm Beach to take the train.

Brightline’s Train-to-Port Package continues to gain popularity among guests and recently had a cruising couple book their third package in less than a year. The train’s Travel Agent Program provides a generous 20 percent commission to registered travel agents when booking reservations on Brightline.