RCL

The Brightline is a railway system that takes its passengers to and from metropolitan areas of Florida such as West Palm Beach, Ft.Lauderdale, and Miami. The Brightline is the nation's deadliest railway, with more than one death per month. This is more than all of the 821 railways in the US. Many of these deaths are a result of suicide or reckless behavior (ie. trying to beat the train or playing drinking games too close to the tracks, etc.). Railway suicide does not only impact the families of the deceased but the passengers and staff on the train and the communities around the area of the incident. Brightline as a company has an inadequate way of addressing suicide prevention and preventing reckless behavior. Despite the clear need for effective change, Brightline has not yet found an efficient way to address this issue. Brightline has partnered with Operation Lifesaver non-profit focused on creating railway safety education. Operation Lifesaver has an abundance of resou...

Alexa Clayton Advocacy Project Memo: Suicide Prevention ( this is a basic idea of where I am going with this project) My advocacy project is a continuity of the idea from my policy paper. The Brightline Train is the nation’s deadliest railway. The majority of these deaths are the result of suicide. To reduce the amount of railway suicide it becomes important to create suitable ways to address the issue of suicide prevention. In terms of visibility, it is important to have a mode that can be easily be seen by those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts and those who are in immediate distress. The distribution will specifically take place in Brightline Train Stations and the communities surrounding train stations but with my partnership with the National Suicide Hotline, the posters can be displayed across the nation. Starting at local levels, such as Brightline Train Stations will be a starting point for addressing the issue of suicide prevention. My aim for this project is to s...

Solution The amount of railway related accidents has increased since 2005. The aim of this section is to propose plausible legislation that addresses the issue of suicide prevention and reckless behavior. This will be done through the evaluation of the proposed programs by Brightline. Furthermore, I will explain the Suicide Prevention and Public Safety Act (SPPSA). Suicide Hotlines Brightline's attempts to address suicide prevention includes a partnership with 211 Helpline. This is a hotline that connects people to the services that they need. Currently, Florida's House of Representatives has an appropriations bill that will allocate $650,000 to this hotline. Since Florida's House of Representatives deems this helpline an effective way of addressing suicide prevention it is important to evaluate what they do and how well they respond to this issue. The 211 Helpline connects people to various call centers based on the resources that they seek. The 211 Helpline has conne...

When I watched the lessons about the advocacy project, I immediately thought about this idea. I wanted to create something that addressed the issue of depression in a nuanced way.  Since I created this graphic for this issue before I had a clear idea about what I want to advocate for. I find myself working backwards. People can be and sometimes are displeased and dissatisfied with their situation or their lifestyle, and this is normal. When one lets their dissatisfaction fester can develop into mental illnesses such as depression. With regard to the pandemic, people are not spending as much time socializing as they would before the pandemic. This creates and can increase the feeling of loneliness and this holds true especially for the people that are already experiencing depression. The situation of depression becomes important to address because without intervention this issue can worsen.  I plan on partnering with the Anxiety and Depression Association of America...

THE FLORIDA BRIGHTLINE ROUGH DRAFT DEFINITIONS: The Brightline: The Brightline is a privately owned company high-speed railway system that runs from central Florida to South Florida. Bonds: The a loan usually given by the government that is paid back at a certain time Phase One: Phase One involved the construction of a railway that takes passengers to West Palm Beach, Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale.  Phase Two: the construction of the Orlando portion of the railway PROBLEM: The lack of barriers or fencing puts pedestrians at risk and inefficient suicide prevention efforts. The Florida Brightline has become the most deadly railroad in the country. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: The creation of the BrightLine is the result of a series of acquisitions. The Fortress Company acquires the company Florida East Coast Industries(FECI) for $3.5 billion dollars. FECI is Florida’s Largest and oldest Real estate and Transportation Company. It is an essential part of constructing the infras...

The Brightline is a high-speed railway system that connects Central and South Florida.  What would take three to four hours in a car ride would take only an hour on the Brightline. According to the Tri-Rail Commuter Service, the national amount of fatalities is 1 for every 100, 000 miles. The Brightline's average is 1 every 29,000 miles. That is about one or more deaths a month. It is important to note that many of the deaths are a result of suicides or reckless behavior. The problem that arises is the lack of regard for suicide prevention and reckless behavior. There are several plausible solutions to this problem. One inadvertent cause is the issue of reckless behavior. Reckless behavior in this sense is a fatality that is the result of a person ( a driver, cyclist, or a runner) tries to beat the train. A solution that came to mind is the patrol of intersections between streets and railroads. This would prevent people from attempting this type of behavior. More specifical...