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An amendment offered by U.S. Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL) and Brian Mast (R-FL) to study pedestrian safety along the high-speed rail corridor being constructed on Florida’s East Coast cleared the House of Representatives today. Earlier this month Reps. Posey and Mast introduced the Pedestrian Safety Study Act to direct the Federal Railroad Administration and the Federal Highway Administration to study motorist and pedestrian safety along the Virgin/Brightline high-speed train corridor with an emphasis on schools in the vicinity of the tracks.

“Residents and local businesses have expressed safety concerns about the upcoming high-speed rail project given the high number of fatalities already associated with the train since its South Florida operations began in 2018,” said Rep. Posey. “There are several schools that are positioned in very close proximity or are adjacent to the tracks. Our amendment will help address some of the safety challenges facing our communities and I thank my colleague Rep. Brian Mast for partnering with me to ensure the safety of our Florida constituents.”

View Rep. Posey’s Floor Speech HERE. 

“The Brightline train project that runs through the heart of our community leaves very little room between it and the people who live there,” Rep. Mast said. “This common sense, public safety provision will help keep our children safe and promote better pedestrian safety.”

Over the past three years, 74 deaths have been recorded along the rail corridor with more than 40 deaths involving the new high-speed train. Last year the Associated Press analyzed data from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and concluded that the project had “the worst per-mile death rate of the nation’s 821 railroads.” 

The Posey-Mast Amendment directs the FRA and the Federal Highway Administration to conduct a study on pedestrian, motorist and student safety along the Virgin/Brightline high-speed train corridor.