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The man who heads the agency overseeing Tri-Rail can’t run fast enough from his $20 million shadow.
Mr. Steven Abrams, Executive Director of South Florida Regional Transportation Authority(SFRTA), insists that the builder is responsible for a Tri-Rail station with train cars that don’t fit, a $20 million mistake. But the evidence indicates his agency, which oversees Tri-Rail, knew the station’s design was flawed years before it was reported.
Mr. Abrams’ recent response to my column has changed nothing. Having a Tri-Rail station with trains that don’t fit is one of the most obscene examples of government mismanagement and waste I have ever seen. His opinion piece does nothing but blame and point the finger at everyone except him. He should resign along with the other key leaders.
Let’s go over his excuses point by point.
Mr. Abrams states in his letter to Community Newspapers that Tri-Rail’s downtown station was, “not poorly designed, but poorly constructed.” The engineering report that was available for download in the newspapers had a nine page section entitled “Design Discrepancies,” which reviewed all the design failures. So who is telling the truth?
Dirty Trains
Another oversight is whether the trains meet the federal standards for air quality. He denies they are “dirty trains,” but he stated in an April 6, 2021 letter to train owner Brightline that requiring EPA Tier III Compliant locomotives would “severely limit Tri-Rail’s ability to operate.” So does Tri-Rail have enough “clean” trains to operate the planned service or not? Who is telling the truth?
Train Safety System
Another issue is whether Tri-Rail has the appropriate safety software for operations. A timeline distributed in the SFRTA Board packet for the December 22, 2021 meeting shows that in February of last year Tri-Rail was notified that a new software version for the Train Safety System was required. On February 4, 2021, the firm that provides the software told Tri-Rail it could be delivered in 6 to 9 months, but the order never happened.
If the software was ordered when Mr. Abrams was informed it was required, 11 months ago, it could already be in place. Now Mr. Abrams is seeking approval at the January 28 SFRTA Board meeting to place the order. Why wasn’t this ordered from the start?
When did he Know?
Mr. Abrams claims that he learned that the trains didn’t fit in October 2021. The evidence says otherwise – at the December 22, 2021 meeting, staff said the problems with the trains were known in 2018. Who is telling the truth?
Budget
He also takes credit for erasing “a $16 million agency deficit.” That would certainly be a remarkable feat and he should get credit for that if it is true. But the 2019 budget on the Tri-Rail website shows a deficit of $15.9 million. The original 2020 budget showed a deficit of $11.5 million. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in Tri-Rail reducing service by 50%, thus cutting expenses dramatically. Finally, the approved budget for 2021 applied $31.3 million in Federal COVID-19 funding (Cares Act) to plug the hole in Tri-Rail’s budget.
In other words, Mr. Abrams is taking credit for saving Tri-Rail’s finances when if not for COVID-19, the deficit would have continued to grow.
It is shameful that Mr. Abrams and his Executive Team continue to muddy the issues surrounding the mismanagement of this $20 million fiasco at the Miami Central station and the other failures of leadership.
It’s time for Mr. Abrams to go and take his team with him.
