Florida
Brightline ridership grows as South Florida ticket fares shrink while it gets more time to pay its debt
Brightline trains carried almost 10,000 passengers on the average day in February. That’s a new record as ridership between its five stations in South Florida jumped thanks to a sharp drop in average fares.
Long distance trips between South Florida and Orlando, however, remain the main driver of revenue as Brightline works to be a transportation alternative to driving on I-95 or the Florida Turnpike.
The average long distance fare in February was up 7% from a year earlier, while ridership grew by 4%. A price hike for its baggage fee also helped drive stronger revenue. Brightline’s total monthly revenue was $18.3 million, up 8%. The company does not disclose its monthly operating costs.
Short haul riders, those on trains in South Florida, jumped on cheaper fares last month. The average passenger paid 16% less for the shorter trips in February as ridership on those itineraries jumped 21%. And most of that increase came in the final two weeks of the month.
“February ridership and revenue were negatively impacted by a cold weather event in Florida during the first 10 days of February,” Brightline noted in its monthly report. Ticket revenue was flat during that same period. The company also sold a lot more higher-priced premium tickets from a year ago. Brightline has changed its scheduling and fare strategy in recent months to offer peak and off-peak prices while adding trains to its South Florida service, hoping to attract more regular commuters. It canceled a popular ticket package more than a year and a half ago only to reintroduce a commuter pass a year later.
“We believe the commuter business will reach its previous levels over the next several months,” it said.
Brightline is racing to accelerate its revenue growth to meet its debt payments. Last month, it negotiated with some of its bondholders to extend the deadline for one interest payment that was originally due Feb. 17. The lenders agreed to wait two more months.
Credit rating agencies S&P Global, Kroll and Fitch cut their grade on some Brightline bonds this year as the company’s revenue growth has lagged behind forecasts. S&P has since withdrawn its rating altogether at the request of Brightline. Its IOUs are rated as junk bonds, the riskiest category for lenders.
The company tapped its reserve account to pay its interest payments that were due Jan. 1. It is scheduled to pay $162 million in debt payments this year, though credit analysts are increasingly doubtful the company will be able to stay current on its IOUs.
In March, S&P Global predicted Brightline will be forced to restructure its debt “in about six months.”
The company has been updating lenders for months that it is looking to raise money by selling “a substantial amount of equity” to pay down its multi-billion dollar debt load. Analysts expect some bondholders will convert their loans into ownership stakes of the passenger train service.
Gulf system to bring downpours to Florida
FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber is continuing to watch an area in the Gulf that is expected to bring much-needed rain to Florida this weekend. He said the system will likely drift to the north and northwest and will linger before heading to the northeast. He said to get a tropical depression, or a tropical storm there needs to be winds and a closed low and he is not seeing that in the models yet. Weber is also tracking a system off the coast of Africa that has a 10% chance of developing over the next week. He says it will likely enter a hostile environment and dissipate.
TAMPA, Fla. – Forecasters are tracking a broad disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida coast that could bring much-needed rain to parched communities this weekend.
Gulf tropical development potential
What we know:
Models continue to indicate there is a potential for an area of low pressure to form over the northeast Gulf off the west coast of Florida over the weekend.
The National Hurricane Center says an area in the Gulf has a 30% chance of tropical development over the next seven days.
Models a shifting away from the forecast of the system moving over the state and off the coast of the Carolinas. Models are now indicating a more likely scenario that it lingers in the Gulf over the weekend and may drift more to the northwest near the Florida Panhandle or Louisiana coast. Early next week conditions look like they will become less conducive and may prohibit much development. Regardless of whether it organizes, the system will bring tropical downpours and increased moisture across Florida and parts of the Southeast.
FOX 13 Meteorologist Jim Weber states we are close to 7.50″ below average on our rainfall in Tampa for the year. A weak area of low pressure or tropical system can be beneficial in helping to make up for the rainfall deficit we have been experiencing. Drought conditions continue over much of the state of Florida. If this system ends up drifting more westward, it would limit the total amount of rainfall and the highest totals would be along the immediate west coast.
Atlantic tropical development potential
A tropical wave southeast of the Cabo Verde Islands remains disorganized.
It is moving west-northwest and, according to the NHC, there is a chance for slow development over the next day or two. By the weekend it is expected to move into less conducive conditions and Saharan dust will begin to affect this wave, limiting its moisture. The time for this system to develop is very limited and will not develop after the weekend.
The NHC is giving it a 10% chance of developing.
Weather factors and storm names
What we don’t know:
Officials cannot yet confirm if the disturbance will overcome environmental hurdles like land interaction, wind shear and dry air. Computer models remain uncertain on how much this system will develop over the waters of the Gulf. If it stays over the warm waters of the Gulf longer, it may give it additional time to organize. Interactions with land and wind shear will likely pose obstacles in further development.
To become a tropical system, it must develop a defined circulation with organized thunderstorms. If it reaches maximum sustained winds of 39 mph, it will become a tropical storm and be named Bertha.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13Meteorologist Jim Weber, the National Hurricane Center tropical weather outlooks, as well as forecast computer models.
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VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – If you felt shaking along Florida’s east coast on Thursday, you’re not alone. But it wasn’t an earthquake.
A strong “experimental explosion” was reported in the waters off Central Florida on Thursday afternoon, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The USGS website indicates that the explosion happened around 3:04 p.m., roughly 91 miles east-northeast of Ponce Inlet.
Per the agency, the event registered a preliminary magnitude of 3.9. However, few other details about what may have caused the explosion have been provided at this time.
“The recorded ground motions from this event are more typical of an explosion than a naturally occurring earthquake,” the USGS website reads. “The Navy has conducted Full Ship Shock Trials in this region in the past.”
[A LOOK BACK: U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford performs shock trials on an aircraft carrier in 2021]
News 6 has reached out to Navy officials for more information and is awaiting additional details.
Anyone who felt the impact of the explosion is urged to report their experience here.
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