Growing Popularity of Events Downtown Poses Challenge for Orlando Transit
Friday, July 27, 2012
By: Matthew Peddie

The popularity of home games and other events downtown is sparking a conversation about whether Orlando's mass transit system and Sunrail Commuter train can meet late night and weekend demand.

The Orlando Magic just released its schedule for the upcoming season, which begins November 2nd. They'll play 41 home games, and 22 of those on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

The Magic says it's hoping to sell out tickets for home games.

And while SunRail isn't set to begin service until 2014, there are questions about whether its schedule can meet the need of big events downtown.

Sunrail is not slated for weekend runs and in a recent interview with WMFE, developer Craig Ustler highlighted the issue.

“I’m concerned about frequency of service and about running into the evening and things. I think SunRail’s well aware of that." said Ustler.

"I think Alex Martins and the Magic have already clearly communicated that we need to have this thing running at night, it’s got to coincide with when they’re doing stuff.”

Ustler said while scheduling for SunRail has been planned conservatively, he’s confident the commuter rail will eventually run with enough frequency to meet demand.