Florida Department of Transportation – SunRail Southern Expansion

SunRail is the first-ever commuter rail for the Orlando region. In the summer of 2018, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) planned to launch the $200 million “Southern Expansion,” which added 17 miles of service across an already-existing 32-mile route. To prepare the public, FDOT laid out an aggressive education strategy for potential riders – including hand-delivering information to over 13,000 households, providing bilingual train tours, and surveying riders and businesses to better align travel times with other public transportation options. That education strategy helped increase ridership by 82 percent and garner a 95 percent satisfaction rate from riders. The expansion also proved to be an economic success for the areas along the new rail route, bringing new jobs, and an estimated $3 million in future development – not only improving transportation options and commutes, but shaping the community for years to come.