Tri-Rail from the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport to Lake Worth and Uber ride home: 2½ hours, total cost = $12.50

The Dania Beach (Ft. Lauderdale Airport) Tri-Rail Station.

Those of you who are regular followers of this blog know I went to Michigan recently. When I booked the flight discovered it was about $100 cheaper for a round-trip fare through Ft. Lauderdale rather than through PBIA. It turned out an alternate airport near my destination (about 60 miles away) also yielded savings. The moral of the story is it pays to look at alternative airports when making your travel plans.

For the departure was dropped off by car. The risk taking Tri-Rail to Ft. Lauderdale was the plane leaving without me. If there was a mechanical or other incident that affected the schedule of the train I may be stuck.

Coming back to Florida last Friday the plane touched down at 4:45 p.m. By 5:11 gathered my one piece of checked luggage and was already on the free Tri-Rail shuttle that links the airport and the Dania Beach Tri-Rail station. The bus was there almost immediately upon exiting the terminal. By 5:35 I had my ticket to Lake Worth that cost all of $6.25.

The northbound train runs on "Track 2" which you reach by walking along the Griffin Road a short distance, crossing the tracks and waiting east of the station. An Amtrak train going southbound required I wait behind a pedestrian gated crossing for a short time. 

Over the public address system there was an automated announcement which kept repeating there was a mechanical failure on one of the trains headed southbound. After 30 minutes the northbound train arrived and got on the second car. You can see what the inside of the car looks like:

Both on the shuttle and the train the air conditioning was blasting. There is quite a contrast between waiting outside in the damp south Florida summer heat and the interior of either the shuttle and the train. The seats were comfortable enough and it wasn't too crowded considering it was near rush hour on a weekday. There is plenty of room for luggage; see racks in the above picture.

There is also room for bikes of which plenty take advantage. The picture above shows one bike taking space reserved for bike storage. You can secure them by a Velcro strap so that they don't fall down while the train is in motion. 

Once at the Lake Worth station I used my phone to hail a Uber driver to take me the last 4 or 5 miles home. That didn't take long. An Uber driver was dropping someone off just as I got off the train. Arrived home around 7:15 p.m. Total it cost $12.50, including the Uber ride, plus 2½ hours from touchdown in Ft. Lauderdale.

There is free WiFi on the train so you can catch up on your emails or anything else you may need to check on the Internet. And remember, it's $5 each weekend day for unlimited Tri-Rail travel. 

See if you can work Tri-Rail into your future transportation plans. Bon voyage!