Brightline to Remarket Remaining $215M of PABs In Coming Weeks; Aventura, Boca Raton Stations Open to Revenue Service

December Revenue and Ridership Report
December Construction Report

In the coming weeks, Brightline Florida will remarket its remaining $215 million of private activity bonds, or PABs, currently in escrow to fund project costs and interest reserves, according to Brightline’s December revenue and ridership and construction reports.

The move follows Brightline’s issuance of $770 million of PABs in August 2022 through the Florida Development Finance Corp. that carry a 7.25% coupon and mature in 2057. These bonds are subject to a mandatory tender and conversion to a new term rate on Oct. 3. Prior to that, the bonds are subject to an optional redemption at 102 through March 31, which increases to 103 from April 1 through July 31, and 104 from Aug. 1 through the mandatory tender date of Oct. 3.

Construction Update

Brightline’s new Aventura and Boca Raton in-line stations opened in December 2022 and will complement the previously opened stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, according to the construction report. The new stations “leveraged the existing passenger rail infrastructure and were predominantly funded with municipal and federal grants,” Brightline states.

Brightline notes that the two stations serve two of South Florida’s largest residential communities and expects the stations to have “a significant accretive impact to its existing rail operations.” Both stations received temporary certificates of use in late December 2022 and began revenue service from Dec. 21 through Dec. 24, 2022, while ongoing construction activities continue at both stations.

Brightline’s expansion from West Palm Beach to Orlando is now approximately 90% complete, with two of the four construction zones “substantially complete” and nine of 10 planned trainsets already delivered, according to the construction report. Approximately 900 construction workers were actively engaged in the expansion to Orlando during December. During the month of December, the total combined construction budget for both the Orlando expansion and the new in-line stations remained at approximately $2.8 billion.

Ridership and Revenue
 
Brightline carried 183,920 passengers and generated total revenue of $5.1 million during December 2022, according to the ridership and revenue report. Ticket revenue in December 2022 increased 205% to $3.7 million when compared with December 2021, the report adds. Ridership was up 87% and average fares were up 63% in December 2022 when compared with December 2021.

The “strong” year-over-year increase in revenue “reflects continued adoption of our service and the opening of our two new stations in late December,” Brightline states. Meanwhile, ancillary revenue totaled $1.4 million in December 2022 when compared with $0.4 million in December 2021.

The total ridership growth of 85,491 during the year-over-year period was “supported by strong results in all segments,” according to Brightline. The three original stations at Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach experienced growth of 40,791 passengers, or 49%, while the two new in-line stations at Boca Raton and Aventura served 17,682 passengers during the month, which “revealed strong latent demand for our service in those communities,” the ridership report indicates.

Monthly passholder rides increased 107% in December 2022 compared with December 2019, which Brightline says continues to show a return to normal commuting patterns following the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Brightline also reports increasing the price of the monthly pass by about 15% in November 2022, and expects to further raise pricing following an evaluation of the “increased demand expected as a result of opening our new Aventura and Boca Raton stations in December,” the report adds.