Passenger Trains > More funding coming for the Brightline Cocoa FL Station

From a Florida Today (Brevard county) new article:

Brevard County's tourism advisory board on Wednesday will consider recommending a $5 million allocation toward construction of a Brightline train station in north Cocoa. Any support for that allocation also would have to be approved by the Brevard County Commission.Brevard County Commission Chair Jason Steele ― who also chairs the Brevard County Tourist Development Council ― said he will recommend that $5 million be designated for the train station from revenue generated by the county's 5% tourist development tax on hotel and motel rooms, vacation rentals and other short-term rentals.

Brightline has said it wants to have a station and a train stop on a site it owns in north Cocoa. But it has not disclosed details of how much the station might cost and has not committed any of its own money to the project. So far, the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization's Governing Board has set aside a total of $15.5 million in federal grant money it is targeted to receive in the 2026-27 and 2027-28 budget years to help cover design and construction work for a possible station.In addition, the Cocoa City Council at a workshop in March unanimously voted to commit $5 million in city money for a Brightline station project in Cocoa, which helped trigger Brightline's commitment to have the train stop there.Steele said he anticipates that Brightline will apply for a federal grant related to the Cocoa station project.Brightline currently operates 32 trains a day — 16 in each direction — from early morning to late evening on the roughly 3½-hour route between Orlando International Airport and Miami. But it has no stop in Brevard County.

Steele said executives of Brightline plan to attend Wednesday afternoon's Tourist Development Council meeting in Viera to update members of the tourism advisory board of the rail line's plans for a Cocoa station at the so-called "Cocoa curve."The Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization had previously identified that location near Clearlake Road/U.S. 1 and State Road 528 as the best site for a Brightline station. The site makes sense for the Brightline. In addition to owning the land, the area is where Brightline trains must slow down, as they switch from an west-to-east configuration to a north-to-south configuration.

Steele said he met last week with other county officials, as well as officials from Cocoa and Port Canaveral, and Florida Rep. Tyler Sirois to discuss funding options for the station.Sirois said he would consider sponsoring a legislative appropriation for the 2025-26 state budget to help provide road, infrastructure or environmental-related funding tied to the station project.A Brightline stop in Cocoa "would be a wonderful thing for Brevard County," Sirois said. "I think it's a great opportunity for us. The potential is very exciting. It's going to be a boon for our residents. It's going to be an outstanding amenity to help revitalize Cocoa."

There is a potential for more development to spring up around the station site, including stores and restaurants.Sirois ― whose House district includes both the proposed Brightline station site and Port Canaveral — said he is "waiting to see what all the shareholders can bring to the table," in terms of funding for the station. He also is awaiting data on the potential ridership that a Cocoa stop would create — both for tourists coming to the Space Coast, and for local residents traveling to Orlando or South Florida. 



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 04/24/24 04:12 by amtrakbill.

Thanks for posting this, Amtrakbill.  Sounds like the Brevard folks are getting their ducks in order.
 

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Thanks for posting this, Amtrakbill.  Sounds like
> the Brevard folks are getting their ducks in
> order.

In the future, if BL completes the Tampa extension and then a Jacksonville one, the decision to support a station will really be looking good.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Thanks for posting this, Amtrakbill.  Sounds
> like
> > the Brevard folks are getting their ducks in
> > order.
>
> In the future, if BL completes the Tampa extension
> and then a Jacksonville one, the decision to
> support a station will really be looking good.

Brevard County actually supporterd a station ion the County in principle as far back as 2015. Unlike our southern neighbors in Indian River County and south, we actually supported the All Aboard Florida project proposal even before the Brightline dba was invented. All that is being now is step by step the necessary pieces are being put together to realize the original position. Incidentally this is also fully in line with the obscure and dormant rail transit plan that the County TPO has stashed away in its archives.

There is a potential for more development to spring up around the station site, including stores and restaurants.Sirois ― whose House district includes both the proposed Brightline West station site and Port Canaveral — said he is "waiting to see what all the shareholders can bring to the table," in terms of funding for the station. He also is awaiting data on the potential ridership that a Cocoa stop would create — both for tourists coming to the Space Coast, and for local residents traveling to Orlando or South Florida. 

Land development is where the real money is made and that is what Brightline West will do at the site of their Las Vegas station, currently a barren section of land 245 acres in size.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
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> There is a potential for more development to
> spring up around the station site, including
> stores and restaurants.Sirois ― whose House
> district includes both the proposed Brightline
> West station site and Port Canaveral — said he
> is "waiting to see what all the shareholders can
> bring to the table," in terms of funding for the
> station. He also is awaiting data on the potential
> ridership that a Cocoa stop would create — both
> for tourists coming to the Space Coast, and for
> local residents traveling to Orlando or South
> Florida. 
>
> Land development is where the real money is made
> and that is what Brightline West will do at the
> site of their Las Vegas station, currently a
> barren section of land 245 acres in size.

Cocoa Station has nothing to do with Brightline West or Las Vegas. It is a planned station on the Brightline Florida route between Miami and Orlando in Florida.

But it has everything to do with the Brightline formula:  real estate development around their station, which they control.  I applaud them.

Just think if Amtrak had a similar formula??