PATRICK GODDARD
PRESIDENT, BRIGHTLINE, MIAMI
Goddard worked in the hospitality industry before becoming president of the passenger rail system, the first private privately owned passenger rail system in the U.S. in more than a century. The system, which operates on the historic Florida East Coast line, connects Miami with Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach; construction is underway on a leg that will bring service to Orlando. Eventually, the line expects to extend to Tampa.
| EDUCATION | Dublin Institute of Technology (BS), Trinity College, Dublin (BS) |
| PROFESSIONAL EVOLUTION | I made the unlikely move from hotels to train travel. It’s been interesting and insightful as we seek to reinvent train travel. |
| CIVIC EFFORT | Before the pandemic, Brightline had launched a mobile barber shop, the BuzzBoxx, which provides mental health services and rail safety education. In exchange for taking a brief rail safety course, we offer free haircuts. We are also partnering with 211, a crisis hotline. |
| SOMETHING SURPRISING | I served as the head waiter for David Beckham’s wedding. |