On December 20, intercity rail company Brightline and its partners in Boca Raton, Aventura, and Miami-Dade County, celebrated the ribbon cutting of its Aventura and Boca Raton train stations. Congressman Carlos Gimenez and Mayors Daniella Levine Cava, Scott Singer, and Howard Weinburg were joined by officials from the City of Boca, the City of Aventura, Miami-Dade County, and Brightline executives to officially launch the highly-anticipated opening of the two new stations. Today is the first day of service for Boca Raton and Aventura.
Credit: Brightline.
The ceremony commenced at the entrance of the Boca Raton station at 9 a.m. where city officials and media were welcomed with remarks by Brightline’s President Patrick Goddard, City of Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, Florida State Senator Tina Polsky and Milton Segarra of Discover The Palm Beaches. The ceremony proceeded with a tour of the completed station and the inaugural ride from Boca Raton to Aventura.
Boca Raton Ribbon Cutting. Credit: Brightline.
The ceremony at Aventura began at noon with remarks by Brightline President Patrick Goddard, Congressman Carlos Gimenez, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, City of Aventura Mayor Howard Weinburg, former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Sally Heyman, and Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT) Second Vice Chair Robert Wolfarth. A tour of the Aventura station and the inaugural ride from Aventura to MiamiCentral followed the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Aventura Ribbon Cutting. Credit: Brightline.
ABOUT AVENTURA AND BOCA RATON
With the station openings of Aventura and Boca Raton, Brightline now has five stations in South Florida and will connect travelers to existing stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach. Both stations feature Brightline’s signature autonomous MRKT, SMART, and PREMIUM lounges in addition to touchless turnstiles and free high-speed WiFi throughout the station and onboard the train.
Aventura Station
Brightline’s Aventura station is located at 19796 West Dixie Highway. The Aventura station will allow guests congestion-free travel between all of Brightline’s stations with an estimated travel time to MiamiCentral of about 20 minutes. The station will also offer express service between Miami during the peak morning and evening hour commute periods, saving time and stress for commuters.
Credit: Brightline.
Credit: Brightline.
The 34,000-square-foot station features 240 parking spaces, a bus drop-off for Miami-Dade Transit passengers, newly landscaped and hardscape areas, and a pedestrian sky bridge that transports guests from the vertical transportation towers to the train platform. Brightline is currently designing a new pedestrian bridge that will connect the platform to the Aventura Mall. Upon the station’s opening, Brightline will provide a complimentary bi-directional Brightline+ shuttle to Aventura Mall for guests. The shuttle will be available for 14 hours of the day.
Credit: Brightline.
The Aventura station has been designed to LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Silver criteria as part of Brightline’s goals to reduce contribution to global climate change, enhance individual human health and protect water resources. These LEED Silver station design features include a solar canopy and installation of electric charging vehicles to reduce emissions and encourage clean transportation, a careful selection of materials to increase healthy indoor spaces and smart technology to reduce water use.
In October 2019, the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT) passed a resolution to approve the property acquisition and development agreement between the County and Brightline. It also approved the use of $76.7 million of surtax dollars for the development of this project, which will serve the Northeast Corridor – one of six corridors in the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Program.
Boca Raton Station
Brightline’s Boca Raton station is located on a 1.8-acre site adjacent to the downtown library and across from Mizner Park and at 101 NW 4th St, Boca Raton, FL 33432. The 22,000 square-foot station features a 455-space parking garage which will service Brightline’s guests and visitors to the library, who will have dedicated, covered, and complimentary spaces on the first floor. The station will also provide two complimentary, on-demand Brightline+ EV carts to destinations within downtown Boca Raton. Travel between Boca and MiamiCentral will be approximately 60 minutes.
Credit: Brightline.
Partners in this project include the City of Boca Raton and the Federal Railroad Administration which awarded Brightline and Boca $16.4 million for the construction of the station.
Credit: Brightline.
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They’re seriously promoting TWO Golf Carts being available for an entire train’s worth of customers trying to get to Mizner & surrounding areas?
It’s obvious they half-assed both stations’ design, but you’d think the PR would at least be better…