Lynx needs to teach SunRail a lesson

The Lynx bus folks could teach the SunRail commuter train executives a few lessons.

Lesson No. 1 is – you gotta be there!

On this past Monday – the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday – SunRail let down the people who count on the train for daily transportation.

MLK Day bus service at SunRail

As SunRail has done for the past 5 MLK holidays – there was no train service on Monday. It is one of seven holidays when SunRail does not run.

But guess what?

Lynx was on the road – on a holiday schedule – but the buses were running.

We watched Monday morning while two Lynx buses pulled into the Meadow Woods SunRail station. Even though the parking lot was empty, there was a handful of people waiting for the buses.

Lynx has many shortcomings that demand attention, but at least the Lynx bus is there and operating 365 days of the year.

We’ve heard from people who use a combination of the Lynx bus and SunRail to get to and from work. When there is no SunRail, their commute time increases by 2 hours or more.

SunRail stops on the front doorstep of this region’s two largest hospitals – Orlando Health and Advent Health.

Hospitals are open 24/7. How are the caregivers supposed to get to work when the train is not running? (In addition to Orlando Health and Advent Health, there are at least two other hospitals served by SunRail stations.)

What about the airport workers and those who are the lifeblood of our hospitality industry?

SunRail has an excuse for why there is no holiday service, but it’s crap.

Whoever came up with SunRail's jacked up operating schedule that doesn’t include holidays and weekends was either a bureaucrat or a politician who never uses public transit -- and doesn’t care about those who do.

Cut the baloney, SunRail!

Put Lynx in charge of the trains and let’s get SunRail on the right track.

SunRail needs Lynx, not the other way around.

Lynx brings many people to the train station and provides a last-mile solution for many riders.

That said, Lynx needs to double the size of its bus fleet; pay its drivers a livable wage and increase its infrastructure with more operations centers to stage buses and improved bus stops for passengers.

People shouldn’t have to wait an hour for a bus or put up with no train service on weekends and holidays.

We deserve better!

Lynx must not think too much of its drivers

Usually, we write about residents who depend on the Lynx bus for transportation in Central Florida.

But this time we’re focusing on the plight of Lynx bus drivers.

Recently we noticed a Lynx bus sporting a sign announcing that Lynx wants to hire new drivers.

The starting pay: $14 an hour.

Seriously?

Maybe Lynx management (a public agency) isn’t aware of it, but there is a national campaign seeking a minimum wage of $15 an hour for all workers. Lynx’s ridiculous compensation offer may be one of the reasons the agency is so desperate to recruit that it resorted to ads on the side of its buses.

Honestly, $15 an hour isn’t a livable wage. Try paying your rent, utilities, bills and feeding your family on that. No wonder so many people are living in tents and their cars.

We’ve heard some Lynx drivers can’t afford a car. Just like many of their passengers – who can’t afford a car – some drivers ride the Lynx bus to work. Let that sink in for a moment…

The good news at Lynx is after you complete your bus driver training your pay goes up to $16.70, according to a union official.

Big whoop!

Driver pay at Lynx tops out at $23 an hour. Gee hope they don’t have children who want to visit Disney or go to college one day.

Let’s get serious. A driver must have special training and licenses. Drivers also must pass an annual physical. Everybody doesn’t have what it takes to drive a Lynx bus.

The driver operates a half-million-dollar piece of equipment on crowded, chaotic streets and is responsible for the safety and lives of dozens of passengers. Come to think of it, the driver’s responsibilities look a lot like an airline pilot’s – and fly jocks make six-figure salaries.

Realistically we understand that Lynx drivers aren’t going to get six-figure salaries, but gee, they ought to be getting decent pay for a difficult job that is sometimes dangerous. Last year a Lynx driver was killed in a mishap. Down in Hillsborough County, a bus driver was viciously slashed and disfigured by a passenger.

The amount Lynx is willing to pay its drivers says a lot about how much it cares about the customers (the public) Lynx is serving. Would you want your heart surgery performed by a doctor being paid minimum wage?

How are drivers supposed to focus on the jobs when they’re worrying about picking up enough overtime hours to keep a roof over their heads and pay their bills?

How can Lynx become a world-class public transportation agency if it can’t hire and retain outstanding drivers?

Lynx gotta do better!

Please attend Wednesday meeting to improve Lynx bus service

If you have difficulty getting from Point A to Point B in Central Florida, then you should attend a very important meeting scheduled for this Wednesday (Aug. 21).

The meeting was called by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings to discuss transportation -- everything from roads to SunRail and the Lynx bus system.

During his first State of the County address Demings floated the idea of seeking voter approval for a 1-cent sales tax increase in Orange County to help pay for needed improvements to public transportation.

In that speech, Demings said, “I am convinced that now is the time for us to seek multi-modal transportation options that will increase frequency of public transit so more people will use it,” Mayor Demings said.

“Now is the time to collectively arrive at a comprehensive solution that will foster an environment where a transportation network is fully funded. I invite our community to consider support of a sales tax referendum to prepare for the future today. I look forward to leading efforts to pass a one-cent sales tax increase that will allow us to fully fund a transportation system that can better serve us well into the future.”

He promised to call meetings to discuss transportation needs.

Wednesday's event, which will be held in a second-floor conference room at Lynx Central Station in downtown Orlando.

Lynx struggles to serve three counties with a fleet of barely more than 300 buses. By comparison, the Orange County School District has a fleet of 900 buses to serve one county. Many passengers must wait an hour for buses because the fleet is too small, and the system is poorly funded.

Improving public transit gives residents an alternative to driving their cars everywhere – especially when heading to downtown Orlando, where congestion is the worst and parking is expensive.

“Now is the time to move forward and not go back, now is the time to build a better quality of life not only for us but for generations to come,” Demings said during the State of the County speech.

County officials said they're seeking the public's thoughts on:

·        Public transportation

·        Congested roads

·        Pedestrian crossings

·        Traffic signals and technology

Wednesday’s meeting will start at 6 p.m.

Lynx Central Station is a perfect location because it is easy to reach by folks who ride SunRail and Lynx.

Lynx bus stop changes in Pine Hills

Pay attention if you or your friends ride the Lynx bus in the Pine Hills area.

As of Friday (6/26) Lynx will no longer serve the bus terminal in the parking lot of Park Promenade Plaza in Pine Hills.

Transfers between bus routes will be made at the intersection of Hiawassee Road and Silver Star Road.

·         Link 37 – last stop northbound will be at the new bus stop on the northwest corner in front of Bank of America. Southbound buses will board at bus stop on southwest corner by Walgreens.

·         Link 44 – last stop southbound will be at the new bus stop on the northwest corner in front of Bank of America. Northbound buses will board at bus shelter on Hiawassee Road in front of Popeye’s.

·         Link 48 – last stop westbound will be at the new bus stop on the northwest corner in front of Bank of America. Eastbound buses will board at the bus stops on the southeast and southwest corners.

·         Link 301 – last bus stop westbound will be on the northeast corner in front of the Shell/Circle K Express station. Eastbound buses will board at the bus stop on the southeast corner.

·         Link 443 – last stop westbound will be at the new bus stop on the northwest corner in front of Bank of America. Eastbound buses will board at the bus stops on the southeast and southwest corners.

All buses that terminate at Silver Star Road and Hiawassee Road will continue to the new layover and turnaround location at Lake Stanley Road and Silver Star Road. No passengers will be permitted to ride to the layover location.

Lynx is making route and schedule changes

Lynx announced that it’s changing some routes, schedules, and even bus stop locations.

These changes go into effect on April 28.

Here is what will happen:

ROUTE ADJUSTMENTS

·         Link 155 – The Loop/Buena Ventura Lakes/Osceola Parkway (Osceola County) – The route will now travel between Greenwald Way and Centerview Boulevard via Osceola Parkway.

·         FastLink 407 – Kissimmee/OIA/Medical City (Orange County/Osceola County) – During the morning peak, trips to Lake Nona will first serve the VA Medical Center. Morning peak inbound trips to Kissimmee will serve Nemours Children’s Hospital and the USTA National Campus. Midday and afternoon peak service will remain unchanged, except for minor schedule adjustments.

·         NeighborLink 613 – Pine Hills (Orange County) – NeighborLink zone will be extended north to include the Park Promenade Plaza.

 BUS STOP ADJUSTMENTS

·         Link 61 - LYMMO Lime Line (City of Orlando) – Adding new bus stop on Amelia Street at Terry Avenue.

·         FastLink 441 – Kissimmee/Orlando (Orange County/Osceola County) – Inbound and outbound trips will now each serve a bus stop at South Orange Blossom Trail and Centerview Boulevard.

SCHEDULE ADJUSTMENTS

·         Link 15 – Curry Ford Road/Valencia College East (Orange County) – Minor schedule adjustments.

·         Link 26 – Pleasant Hill Road (Osceola County) – Minor schedule adjustments.

·         Link 60 – LYMMO Orange Line (City of Orlando) – Weekday, 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., frequency will change to every six minutes.

·         Link 61 – LYMMO Lime Line (City of Orlando) – Weekdays, after 7 p.m., bus frequency will change to every 20 minutes. All day Saturday and Sunday bus frequency will change to every 20 minutes. Friday and Saturday the last trip will leave Livingston Street and Hughey Avenue at 10:40 p.m.

·         Link 62 – LYMMO Grapefruit Line (City of Orlando) – Minor schedule adjustments.

·         Link 63 – LYMMO North Quarter Line (City of Orlando) – On Friday and Saturdays the last trip will leave LCS at 10:40 p.m.

·         Link 103 – North 17-92/Sanford (Orange County/ Seminole County) – Minor schedule adjustments.

·         Link 301 – Pine Hills/Animal Kingdom (Orange County) – Minor schedule adjustments.

·         Link 304 – Rio Grande

Osceola County has a plan to improve Lynx bus service

Great news! Osceola County is taking steps to create a dedicated source for funding that can help both the Lynx bus and SunRail. The rest of Central Florida should follow Osceola’s lead.

On May 21st Osceola County voters will have the opportunity to approve a one-cent sales tax for transportation. If voters support the referendum, money raised by that tax can be used for a variety of transportation improvements from road widening to helping Lynx and SunRail.

Kissimmee Intermodal Station

That’s outstanding. Please vote "for" this referendum.

Lynx is catastrophically underfunded. Right now, the Florida Department of Transportation is helping to fund SunRail. In 2 years that becomes the responsibility of local governments.

Public transit – Lynx and SunRail – don’t raise enough from the fare box to fully pay operating costs. If government didn’t subsidize public transit, people would have to pay up to $14 for a one-way ride on some Lynx routes.

No public transit system in the world can pay for operations solely from the fare box. Typically, a transit system can pay about 30 percent of the costs from fares. Beyond that, they need government support.

Remember, public transit is a service. The police and fire are also very expensive services paid for by the government. Unlike police and fire, transit raises some of the money needed to pay for its operating costs. Keep in mind that all transportation – from the street outside your house to the airlines – receive government subsidies.

Up to now, every year Lynx officials must go hat-in-hand to local governments to beg for money to keep the buses rolling. This creates a precarious situation, which makes it difficult to improve the bus service.

Osceola County Commissioners demonstrated enormous wisdom and courage in putting this issue up for voters to decide.

No elected official likes to raise the subject of increasing taxes, but "for"  this issue is an important investment in Osceola's future. One of the great things about this referendum is it includes a little something for everyone.

If approved, this tax would raise $67 million per year.

That money will go to:

·        Improve roads and bridges

·        Install sidewalks and bike lanes

·        Help Lynx and SunRail.

For more details on the tax and how the money will be used, click here.

Osceola County residents make great use of public transit. You can see that every day in the crowds at the Intermodal station in downtown Kissimmee that serves Lynx and SunRail. You can also see it on the SunRail trains. They’re packed leaving and returning to Osceola.

Granted adding a penny to the sales tax will put a squeeze on some residents. But the sacrifice is worth it because communities with a strong transportation system – both roads and public transit – are attractive to investors and that means more employers; more and better employment opportunities, and a better standard of living for everyone.

We encourage Osceola residents to vote “for” this sales-tax referendum on May 21st.

We would be remiss if we didn’t mention that on May 21st, Volusia County is also holding a vote to increase the sales tax by a half-cent. Sadly, that money is for infrastructure improvements, which includes roads. None of that money can be used for Votran or SunRail.

That’s a shame, and very shortsighted.

Meanwhile, we’ll rejoice that Osceola County is showing real leadership on public transit funding. We urge Orlando, Orange, and Seminole counties to get on board with dedicated funding sources for public transit.

We need it now, more than ever!

Lynx riders were the biggest losers when the bus CEO resigned

Lynx bus CEO Edward Johnson is gone, but not forgotten.

Though Johnson had some shortcomings, we believe that he tried his best to improve public transit for thousands of Central Floridians.

Ultimately, Johnson’s departure will hurt riders the most. It could take six months or more before a permanent replacement is selected, and then that person faces a learning curve to understand the system and all the political players.

Much has been said about the $21 million deficit at Lynx, we think it’s important to note the technology innovations the bus system added under Johnson’s leadership to improve the rider experience.

Those include:

·        Mobile-fare collection (paying with your smartphone)

·        Real-time bus tracking app

·        Free wi-fi on all the buses

As for the $21 million deficit – that’s what happens when you try to provide transit service to a sprawling metro area when your agency is catastrophically underfunded and doesn’t have enough people, equipment or other critical resources.

In an interview last year, Johnson described some of the things Lynx needs to improve service. To see that interview, click here.

Despite these shortcomings, Lynx provides roughly 83,000 rides daily, compared to SunRail, which provides 5,300 rides daily on weekdays. Lynx has 300 buses to serve three counties. By comparison, the Orange County public school district has 900 buses to serve one county.

Point your fingers as much as you want at Johnson, he was not the problem. The problem is that Central Florida’s elected officials have neglected Lynx for decades.

Lynx riders have been neglected because most of them don’t have a choice because they can’t afford a car. Many ride the bus for almost two hours on the way to work and two hours on the way back home.

Neither Lynx nor SunRail, have a dedicated source of funding to subsidize the cost of service. Almost every public transit system in the world (THE WORLD!) needs to subsidize the cost of service. Taxpayers subsidize all transportation systems and services from the street outside your house, to the airlines.

Every year Lynx officials go hat in hand to local governments to beg for money to keep things rolling. They get the bare minimum, which is why Lynx is always limping along.

Lynx needs a reliable source of funding that could come from a penny sales tax or surcharge on car rentals – two possible sources.

It’s up to our elected officials to demonstrate political courage to embrace a dedicated source of funding to provide Lynx with the resources it needs.

Without a dedicated funding source, the next Lynx chief will be on a fool’s errand doomed to suffer the same fate as Edward Johnson.

Either that or the next Lynx chief will be forced to eliminate many routes and reduce the frequency of buses to cut costs.

The community deserves more, not less public transportation.