The first Brightline train from Miami arrives at the Orlando International Airport, September 22, 2023. Courtesy, Brightline
This week, we saw two incredible stories about how we will travel now and in the future. Most of you who are our faithful readers drive or fly for business travel but in Florida we now have a 170-mile extension of high speed rail’s originating 67-mile long segment. The days of cars or planes as being the only way to get from here to there are gone. Brightline celebrated the opening of its Orlando to Miami route with five trains costing less than $100 a seat in coach! Premium pricing is less than $150. These prices vary based on demand but still a bargain compared to flights and for that matter gas costs.
Think about it this way…auto insurance companies will either love or hate this new trend in the United States – love it because it reduces their risk of loss, i.e. fewer auto accidents because of fewer cars on the road or hate it because fewer cars on the road can mean fewer auto insurance customers. Regardless, Brightline and high speed rail travel will eliminate the “it’s too far away!”
There will be 32 trains daily and from Fort Lauderdale and Miami, the rides to the Orlando station are slightly more than three hours long, an hour less than it takes by car on Florida’s Turnpike or Interstate 95.
Brightline started as a three-stop operation serving the downtowns of Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in 2018. They have come a long way!
An electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. Courtesy, Brian Garrett-Glaser, Joby Aviation
And to make matters more interesting we are following flying taxis in Ohio where Orville and Wilbur Wright lived and worked in Dayton and in 1910, opened the first U.S. airplane factory. Joby Aviation will soon be manufacturing cutting-edge electric planes that take off and land vertically. Electric vertical takeoff and landing, or eVTOL aircraft are entering the mainstream and are nearing the day when they will provide individual people or small groups transportation from rooftops and parking garages to their destinations, avoiding congested roadways below. Joby’s production aircraft will transport a pilot and four passengers at speeds of up to 200 miles (321.87 kilometers) per hour, with a maximum range of 100 miles (160.93 kilometers). This aircraft will begin in the ridesharing space in 2025.
This sort of transportation innovation will be right at home here in Florida with previously announced plans for flying car service between Orlando and Tampa and the 60-story Paramount Miami Worldcenter luxury condo tower ready to modify its top pool deck into a SkyPort when flying cars and taxis become available.
See you on the trail in a high speed train or in an air taxi! Next up are some terrific and timely tales to get your week started. Thanks for staying close!
LMA Newsletter of 9-25-23
