South Florida's Tri-Rail breaks ridership record

For the first time in its history, the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority's Tri-Rail service carried more than three-million passengers in a single calendar year. The total passenger count for 2006 was 3,177,573. The number represents a 21.2% growth over last year’s ridership of 2,619,693. The highest previous annual passenger count was 2,911,560 riders in 1993, when commuting patterns changed due to the impact of Hurricane Andrew. Ridership has consistently shown double-digit increases since the completion of the Double Track Corridor Improvement Program, Segment 5 Project in March and the addition of 10 daily trains Monday through Friday. Factors contributing to Tri-Rail’s ridership growth include the high price of gas, increasing traffic congestion on South Florida roadways, an aggressive marketing campaign and excess traffic on the South Florida Rail Corridor.