AVENTURA, Fla. – Brightline recently faced bad news from Wall Street: its bonds were downgraded due to concerns about its earnings.
A lot of South Florida public money is banking on the private business.
Its tracks are planned to be used for a Miami-Dade commuter rail system. In fact, for that reason, the county built Brightline’s Aventura station.
Last year, the company spent almost twice what it earned, even though ridership is up.
Most of Brightline’s Florida passengers are long-haul, as in Miami to Orlando, and not commuters going to work every day. A 40-ride commuter pass runs $500 a month.
Funding for mass transit on Brightline tracks comes from federal, state and local taxes.
In Broward County, public grants fund safety improvements after a spate of crashes at crossings.
Brightline is reporting that it has an affiliate trying to raise money to pay off its debt and calm Wall Street’s fears.
The company has not commented to Local 10 News about the bond downgrade.
