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Brightline's South Florida ridership grows for first time in years and this is why
For the first time in about two years, the private passenger train Brightline is gaining riders in South Florida following its reintroduction of commuter passes for the tri-county area, but ridership in the region still lags far behind 2023 figures.
More than 84,000 people rode Brightline between Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties in June, a 7% increase from one year prior, the company's latest ridership report published July 14 said. It was the second month in a row that Brightline's South Florida year-on-year ridership grew.
A Brightline spokesperson credited this renewed growth in part to the new commuter pass it launched in May for South Florida riders — a 40-ride package with costs as low as $15 per ride — that is almost as cheap as the $10-per-ride program it killed in 2024.
More: Brightline lost more than half a billion dollars in 2024, report says
What's Brightline's new South Florida commuter pass again?
Brightline killed its original South Florida commuter pass in June 2024 as part of a strategy to dissuade riders from that region in favor of filling seats with passengers paying higher fares to and from the company's Orlando International Airport station.
But Brightline brought back the South Florida pass after it added two rail cars to each of its trains in April that it had bought with $33.8 million in tax money it received in January from the Federal Railroad Administration.
The Biden administration gave the company the grant so it could revive its South Florida commuter pass. Brightline originally promised to do so by the end of March, but did not meet its deadline because the new rail cars were not delivered by then, the company has said.
The South Florida program includes a 40-ride pass between the train's West Palm Beach and Miami stations for $599, or about $15 per ride. The price is the same between the Boca Raton and Miami stations.
Brightline said in May, when it launched the new commuter pass, that it would be available in "limited quantities." Representatives for the company on July 16 did not answer questions on whether or when it would stop offering the pass.
How much money is Brightline making?
The train in June 2023 carried about 150,000 passengers up and down South Florida, almost double what it carried in the region in June 2025.
Total ridership, including trips to and from Brightline's Orlando station, was nearly 255,000 in June.
More than 164,000 people went to and from Orlando.
Brightline brought in a total of $16.9 million in June, an 11% increase from one year prior.
Revenue from Jan. 1 through June totaled $105.9 million, up 12% from the first six months of 2024.
Brightline lost about $549 million in 2024, in large part due to paying $218 million to refinance its debt of about $4.6 billion.
Chris Persaud covers transportation in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email news tips and ideas to cpersaud@
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Brightline's South Florida ridership grows for first time in two years
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