By, Dan Tracy | Orlando Sentinel
The SunRail commuter train, which starts picking up paying passengers May 1, has sold more than 6,500 passes and is offering a free round-trip ticket to anyone who buys a pass next week at two downtown Orlando office towers. SunRail intends to sell 10,000 passes – which can be loaded with any amount of money – before opening day.
To help reach that goal, on Monday and Tuesday SunRail promoters will be in the lobby of the Bank of America building, 390 N. Orange Ave., and on Wednesday and Thursday at the SunTrust tower, 300 S. Orange Ave., handing out free tickets worth $4 with every pass purchased.
Downtown is a key location for SunRail because an estimated 95,000 people work there, many of them on a relatively set schedule. That makes them prime candidates for Central Florida’s first fixed rail transit system. "We’re getting to the businesses to get to the employees," said Tawny Olore, the SunRail project manager.
SunRail estimates it will carry 4,500 riders day when it begins operating, though that number could easily be exceeded if the presale numbers are an accurate barometer of interest.
So far, SunRail has sent out bills for $17,250 to 25 businesses and government agencies that have bought passes. That’s the equivalent of more than 4,300 round-trip tickets within one county, which cost $4 each. Going from one county to the next adds $1.
The two biggest purchasers of tickets so far have been the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, with 1,500, and the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando, with 1,000. The Orlando Magic and i4 Business Publication each purchased 500.
"We are really excited about the fact we have this much interest in pre-sales, about 75 days out," said Steve Olson, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, which runs SunRail.
The train will run from DeBary in Volusia County, through Seminole County and downtown Orlando to Sand Lake Road in south Orange County. There will be 12 stops, including five in Orlando, stretching from Florida Hospital to the north to the Orlando Health campus in the south.
SunRail officials are promoting the passes as a cheaper, convenient way to travel because riders will be offered a discount and not have to buy their tickets each time they board the train. A one-week adult pass in one county, for example, costs $17, which would represent a $3 savings over buying five round-trip tickets. The train will only run during the week and not on weekends, at least initially.
Riders also can write off their ticket purchases for income tax purposes at up to $240 a month in a manner similar those of health savings accounts. SunRail is counting on traffic congestion on Interstate 4 to drive passengers to the train. A five-to-six year overhaul of Central Florida’s main highway that features the installation of four toll lanes is supposed to start no later than early 2015.