Brightline recently unveiled the new Brightline Buzz Boxx in Miami, the centerpiece of a unique safety initiative driven by the intercity rail system in partnership with Operation Lifesaver and 211 Helpline.
The mobile barbershop is designed to engage with communities that interact along the rail corridor and educate the communities on rail safety and mental health.
Dozens of Overtown youth received free haircuts at Gibson Park by celebrity barber Steven “Cane Barber” Rivera alongside New Orleans Saints and Miami Northwestern alumn Teddy Bridgewater and fellow NFL pro Kenny Stills. All signed the Operation Lifesaver Rail Safety Pledge promising to stay safe around railroad tracks with the City of Miami Police, Overtown NET, Operation Lifesaver and elected officials on hand. This year, Brightline plans on over 60 Buzz Boxx activations across South Florida.
“Safety is our No. 1 priority at Brightline and our team sees this as a calling, which has led us to create the Buzz Boxx,” said Patrick Goddard, president of Brightline. “It was great having the Miami unveiling of our new mobile barbershop right here in Overtown, where we call home, and we look forward to continuing our work educating the public on rail safety.”
The Buzz Boxx is a state-of-the-art mobile barbershop designed to visit the heart of neighborhoods that live along the tracks and promote safety and mental health. Brightline is working with homeless organizations, youth centers and schools educating on rail safety awareness and providing resources for mental illness.
Buzz Boxx barbers have been provided mentorship training so that they know how to best address the youth one-on-one, and provide encouragement and follow up needed to help them succeed.
“We’re thrilled to see the Buzz Boxx come to life in South Florida this week,” said Amir Youssef, CEO and creator of Buzz Boxx. “We’ve worked diligently over the last several years to provide youth with real-life mentors through this program. Now with the help of Brightline, we’ve been able to take this concept to the next level by incorporating education and awareness of mental health and rail safety.”
For more information on the Buzz Boxx and partnership inquiries for events and activations, e-mail buzzboxx@gobrightline.com.
Brightline is the first privately funded passenger rail system in America in over a century. Brightline is designed to reinvent travel and take cars off the road by connecting city pairs and congested corridors that are too close to fly and too long to drive.
Providing fast, efficient, hospitality-driven transportation featuring the latest in customer-friendly amenities, Brightline currently operates in Florida between Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, with plans to expand to Orlando, Boca Raton, Aventura and PortMiami. The company is also on track to break ground between Las Vegas and Southern California in 2020.
