In the Press

All Aboard Florida’s Self-Propelled Paradigm Shift

“Transformative” is the word that is often used to describe Brightline, the privately funded passenger rail system being built by All Aboard Florida…

The approximately $3-billion rail project is entirely a private-sector effort—the only such transit program currently underway in the U.S.—and aspires to counter South Florida’s long-standing car-centric notion of mobility with modern, brightly colored trains providing fast, amenity-filled service between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, and eventually extending to Orlando and, perhaps, beyond.

In addition, All Aboard Florida is constructing stations designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) and Miami’s Zyscovich Architects to provide a seamless transition of the rail service to its urban surroundings…

“They’re thinking about big-picture things, such as locating the stations in places that make the most sense for passenger access,” observes T.J. Gottesdiener, SOM’s managing partner for the Brightline stations. “They’re looking 50 years into the future and thinking about what they’d like the district to be, and how the rail system will be a part of it.”