At a media event Oct. 26, Brightline unveiled its new fully integrated, door-to-door booking service Brightline+, which will include a Brightline-branded mobility fleet.
The fully electric mobility fleet is Brightline’s investment to provide travelers in South Florida a door-to-door solution to travel by train, powered by Brightline’s new app and supported by the fleet. The service will enable customers to book seamless transportation across multiple modes of private and public transportation for the first and last miles of their journeys — which is expected to make Brightline the most integrated multimodal planning and ticketing app in North America.
During the Brightline+ unveiling event, Brightline President Patrick Goddard was joined by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and Miami-Dade County’s Assistant Director for the Department of Transportation and Public Works Carlos Cruz-Casas to provide media with a preview of this new service.
As the most significant enhancement made to Brightline since its inception, the service enables passengers to leverage an upgraded Brightline mobile app to plan, book and pay for their entire journey across a variety of eco-friendly transport modes, leading to a lower environmental impact. These vehicles currently include Brightline+’s fleet of Tesla cars, shared electric vans and Circuit neighborhood electric vehicles (fully electric shared shuttles) which will complete trips within a five-mile radius of the Brightline stations.
All Brightline+ vehicles will be operated by private chauffeurs vetted and trained by Brightline and its mobility partner, Via. Customers who choose to use their own vehicle to arrive at the station can pre-book and pay for their parking through the app, and will use the QR code on their boarding pass to enter and exit the parking garage.
“As an innovator at the intersection of transportation and technology, Brightline is leading the future of high-speed rail in America and transforming the end-to-end mobility experience for riders with a service that will be unlike anything offered in North America,” said Goddard. “Through Brightline+, we are solving the long-standing gaps of the first and last mile and, in the process, proudly supporting Miami’s growing tech sector.”
Riders can book Brightline+ fleet transportation at least two hours in advance of a scheduled departure through the website and mobile Brightline app, with a real-time arrival estimate provided at time of purchase and journey tracking throughout. The app will also allow riders to order food prior to their journey, at the station or onboard during the ride.
Brightline+ will be rolled out in phases. During the month of November, riders can book transportation from the end of their train journey to their final destination; and beginning Dec. 1, 2021, riders can get the full experience for both first and last miles, providing a full door-to-door service from their point of origin to their final destination.
For the duration of 2021, shared vehicles will be complimentary while private rides will have a flat fee of $10 for each segment used. Passengers can now purchase tickets and book Brightline+ transportation through Brightline’s new website and mobile app, available for download in Google Play and the Apple Store.
“The return of Brightline’s service and the debut of Brightline+ is a key component to transforming Miami into a major technology hub in the U.S.,” said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. “With this new innovation in transportation, we are connecting Miami like never before, providing endless business opportunities for the entire region of South Florida.”
Brightline is working with Miami-Dade Transit, Broward County Transit and Palm Tran to produce the first multimodal transit payments integration with high-speed rail. Over the coming months Brightline will integrate CitiBikes, scooters and other modes of travel into the Brightline+ service. To make each station a first-class mobility hub, Brightline is also improving rider transportation information by providing real-time updates via TransitScreen. The Brightline+ fleet will also be fully electric by 2022.
“Miami is a young city that had been overshadowed by cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco,” said Cruz-Casas. “Over the last 10 years, we have made significant strides in thoughtfully building our city, and over the last five years we have created the first high-speed train of its kind in the country with an integration that will surpass all others in North America.”
Brightline is partnering with multiple vendors to power the Brightline+ service, including:
- Iomob: Providing the platform to power Brightline’s new mobility-on-demand service offered on its app.
- Via: Providing pre-booked rides for trips to-and-from Brightline rail stations. The goal of this partnership is to minimize the use of single-occupancy vehicles, and in turn reduce traffic congestion, carbon emissions and gas consumption in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.
- Circuit: Providing all-electric, first-and-last-mile shuttle services around stations and nearby downtown areas in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The 6 seater GEM electric shuttles will be available from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and will be offering rides in geo-fenced areas between zero and three miles of the station.
- Kaptyn: Providing a premium first-and-last-mile mobility option.
