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Last year, Tri-County Commuter Rail Authority’s ridership increased 7.92 percent, according to American Public Transportation Association data. A fine improvement, by most standards. But the real story lies in its fourth-quarter 2000 performance, which showed a 15.05 percent ridership jump compared with the same period in 1999.


And it’s a trend that’s since continued at full force: Ridership increased nearly 17 percent in January, from 187,056 passengers to 218,124 passengers, compared with January 2000. From end to end, trains ran 96 percent on time.


"We have Herzog, Florida Department of Transportation and CSX Transportation to thank for the efficient movement of the trains," said Tri-Rail Executive Director Joe Giulietti in a prepared statement. "As happy as we are with our end-to-end performance, we are all working toward bringing the station-to-station performance to a higher standard."


Station-to-station transit was only 75 percent on-time all of last year; In January alone, the same measure rose to 87 percent.


"More customers have come to rely on Tri-Rail for their commuting needs, and we are constantly working to improve our on-time performance to meet them," said Giulietti.