The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) announced that Tri-Rail ridership has continued its increasing trend in 2023, averaging over 13,000 weekday and 6,500 weekend passengers in the first three months of the year.

This is an overall 25% increase from the same time last year, according to SFRTA's news release. 

Tri-Rail has begun 2023 surpassing 300,000 rides in its three first months, a feat accomplished just four times in 2022.

In January 2023, the agency reported a 30% increase compared to the same month of the previous year. Similarly, February 2023 had a 27% increase, and March 2023 had a 20% increase, compared to the same months in 2022. March 2023 is also the first month where Tri-Rail surpassed 350,000 passengers in a month since February 2020.

“Thanks to the commitment of our daily commuters combined with South Florida’s year-round airport travelers, Tri-Rail ridership numbers remain on the upswing,” said Raquel Regalado, SFRTA Governing Board chair. “We have also witnessed many leisure travelers onboard as people take the train to explore new destinations in South Florida.”

A recent survey performed by the agency showed that 50% of passengers ride the train to get to work and 32% use the train to travel for leisure. Forty-six percent of respondents said they traveled to the airport, whether for work or leisure. 

“There have been days where we carried up to 1,000 bikes onboard the trains so we are working at adjusting our equipment to continue to accommodate the influx of riders,” said David Dech, SFRTA executive director. “We give a big thanks to our passengers for counting on us as their best substitute for driving on I-95 and we promise there will be more improvements to come.”