SunRail: ambassadors back mid-Nov; how to fund Phase2 &airport lin

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beautifulplanet

Lead Service Attendant
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According to the following report, SunRail ambassadors to help riders at SunRail stations will return around mid-November:

SunRail ambassadors will staff all stations

October 14, 2014

By Mike Lafferty

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/sunrail/ride-with-me/os-sunrail-ambassadors-at-all-stations-20141014-post.html

The stations of DeBary, Winter Park, Lynx Central and Sand Lake Road will be staffed also during off-peak hours, all other stations only during peak hours:

SunRail officials said this week that one platform attendant will be on duty at each station during peak travel hours in the morning and late afternoon, when trains run most frequently.

An ambassador also will be on duty during off-peak hours at the rail system's four busiest stations - DeBary, Winter Park, Lynx Central and Sand Lake Road - when fewer trains are running. The staffing levels could change based on ridership levels, SunRail says.

In addition, there was an interesting press report recently not only about the question if "Phase 2 North" to DeLand will include two miles of single track (possibly limiting future capacity) or double-tracked, but also an exchange about the funding for any future expansions of SunRail commuter rail service:

Volusia County, state take up SunRail-to-DeLand link

October 4, 2014

By Mark Harper

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20141004/news/141009674?p=all&tc=pgall

Finally, Kissimmee is preparing for the start of SunRail service in 2016, including projects for pedestrians and to encurage the use of public transportation:

The [pedestrian] bridge over the parkway also represents the kind of pedestrian-oriented infrastructure Kissimmee is moving toward to reduce traffic and build ridership on public transportation, said Craig Holland, director of Development Services for the city of Kissimmee.
“The world is not going to get any less congested traffic wise,” he said. “We’re not anti-car but at a point there’s no way to really relieve it. The roads are going to be crowded.”
Holland said the city is working with Lynx to establish a circulator bus that would connect the city’s major employers including Osceola Regional Medical Center, Florida Hospital, Valencia College and the city and county administration buildings.
With Kissimmee’s SunRail station scheduled to open in 2016 alongside the Lynx “super stop” bus station downtown, the city is expected to become a hub for public transportation, he said.
source:

Pedestrian parkway bridge taking shape
October 10, 2014

By Charlie Reed

http://www.aroundosceola.com/?p=11946

Now some might still be interested to follow how the whole process about the addition of quiet zones in certain cities of the SunRail corridor will play out, and which cities will add them soon, and which ones won't...
 
Again, some news regarding SunRail:

Park Avenue merchants lobby for SunRail service on weekends

November 5, 2014

By Michael W. Freeman

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orange/winter-park/os-park-avenue-merchants-lobby-for-sunrail-service-on-weekends-20141105-story.html

and

Construction for SunRail Phase 2 South to start in late summer/early fall

November 12, 2014

By Anjali Fluker

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/blog/2014/11/construction-for-sunrail-phase-2-south-to-start-in.html

At least to some, this may sound like good news:

The transportation department at a Nov. 12 Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission meeting reported all 14 right-of-way parcels have been acquired and design should be completed early next year, which is about the time it expects the federal government to sign off on the full funding grant agreement. Joint-use agreements also are expected to be finalized early next year.

The department will start advertising construction contracts in the spring for Phase 2 South. That $173.6 million piece of the commuter rail will continue the train another 17.2 miles south from where Phase 1 ends at Sand Lake Road in Orange County to Poinciana in Osceola County.
 
Reading between the lines, it sounds like Volusia is looking to try and arm-twist funding for a Daytona line in exchange for helping to fund an OIA line. Seems like a reasonable request in many respects (Volusia seems to really want the line to Daytona now that SunRail is a clear success), though I can't wait to see the sausage-making mess this triggers.
 
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