>>This week on NewsNight, local governments and agencie pledge additional funds to pay for a study into the potentia sunshine corridor, and some Canadian voice concerns over traveling to Florida amid diplomatic strain between Canada and the U.S.. NewsNight starts now.

[MUSIC] Hello, I'm Steve Mor welcome to NewsNight, where we take an in-dept look at the top storie and issues in Central Florida and how they shap our community.

First, tonight the relationship between Canada and the United States and its impact on Florida.

Visits from Canada to the US are declining after rising steadily since the pandemic.

Statistics Canada reports road trips to the US in February, many acros land ports of entry like these, were down by more than a fift from the same time a year ago.

Visit Florida says Canadians make up the largest segment of international visitors to Florida, and the trade relationship between Canad and our state is worth billions.

But the Trump administration's position on tariffs, immigration enforcement and Canada's sovereignty appear to be having a significant political impact north of the border and, according to polling on some Canadians, willingness to head south.

At the same time, a U.S. policy shift requiring Canadians over the age of 14 visiting for longer than 30 days to register with immigration authorities is also causing a stir.

As NewsNight's Krystel Knowles found out when she caught up with a group of Canadian snowbirds at a retirement community in Brevard County.

>>My sister was... >>For over a decade Canadian snowbird Carol Free along with several family members... >>Hello!

>>Come on in.

>>Have flocked to Florida, escaping the northern chill for three sun soaked months at a time.

After crossing the border, Canadian citizens can stay in the U.S. for up to six months without a visa, but they now have to face rules that are changing the way some view travel to the United States.

When you cross the border, what is the process like?

>>When you cross the borde you hand them your passpor and it's pretty easy going.

Except this year the question were just different this year.

>>Free says the experience felt more like an interrogation.

President Trump recently signed an executive order enforcing an existing law that requires most alien over the age of 14 to register when visiting for longer than 30 days.

It's a long standing rule, but it's not been applied consistently to Canadians.

>>It was fun.

>>Free's brother in law, a neighbor in the Brevard County retirement community, Robin Murray believes a growing number of Canadians who stay for the winte will be unwilling to register.

He says he plans to take his money elsewhere.

>>If we have to do this 30 da thing, I will get go next year.

We'll first leave here soon.

If we have to registe and when we could.

Next year I'll come down.

I'll do it for 30 days, sell my place, and that's it, sayonara I will not be back.

>>I think we're planning on coming next year too.

But we're thinking about selling, you know.

>>According to the Departmen of Homeland Security, the registration requiremen takes effect on April 11th.

Failure to do so can result in a $5,000 fine or six months behind bars.

Even both.

Do you think this is going t deter a lot of Canadian visitors from coming down?

>>Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

And they spend millions, like even going to out west, I know, like go to we have friends that went to Texas, so they're all over.

>>Thousands of Canadians, including Carol Free and Robin Murray, are ready to trade the U.S. for other destinations next winter.

Last year alone, more than 3 million Canadians visited Florida.

About 27 of all international travelers.

Pumping billions into the local economy.

Governor DeSantis recently touted the state's record breaking tourism numbers.

>>I can say that for 2024, Florida broke ye another record for tourism.

We're really excited tha our tourism industry is humming.

>>Meanwhile, Carol Free hope tensions between President Trump and the Canadian government ease.

>>It's not between the Canadia people and the American people.

It's between the prime minister and the president today.

>>I see things slowly going downhill every day.

The rhetoric going back and forth.

The thing about the 51st state, that is, that's, an insult.

I mean, we are a sovereign nation and intend to be.

>>I'm very sad about that.

I feel bad because I love this place.

I love the people that are in it.

>>Krystel Knowles reporting there.

Let's bring in our panel now to break it all down.

And joining us in the studio this week, Catherine Silver from WKMG News 6.

Good to see you, Catherine.

It's been a while sinc we saw you on the program, so.

>>It's good to be back.

>>Nice to have you here today.

For the first time James Wilkins from the Orlando Sentinel covers business for the Sentinel.

Good to see James.

>>Yes, good to see you as well.

>>Thanks for coming in today.

Appreciate it.

And Alexa Lorenz WFTV Channel 9 morning anchor.

Good to see you, Alexa.

>>Likewise.

>>Thanks for coming in as usual.

Alexa, let me start with you.

And we'll start with some of the numbers, shall we?

And I wonder how intertwined the Florida and Canadian economies really are, both in terms of visitors but also trade.

>>I think when this starte making headlines, everyone knew there was some sort o intertwining with Florida and with Canada.

But to what degree I think really surprised people.

No other nation buys more of Florida's produce or agriculture related products than Canada.

They get 40% of their seafood from here.

So those are already really big numbers when it comes to imports and exports.

As for what we get from them, that includes oil, auto parts and some different forestry products.

So this is imports and exports.

That's the basics of it.

>>Yeah.

>>But when we're talking about business and real estate, they contribute pretty significantly in that department as well.

There are more than 600 Canadian companies located here in Florida.

They contribute to a lot of the real estate buys.

And again, we are talking about some of the numbers declining now given the conversation that's happening.

But back in 2024, there were more than 3 million Canadian visitor to the state of Florida alone.

So not the country.

We're talking Florida.

They like coming here.

And we're seeing that change.

>>Yeah 3.3 million.

And certainly tariffs could have an effect on a of the things you're talking about.

We saw a sampling of opinion just now there in Krystel's piece.

Catherine, you guys have been covering this as well.

I mean, I wonder what impact we're seeing.

Sort of so far in terms of the tangible response from from Canadian who frequently travel to the US.

>>Well, some reports do show that the numbers are much lower even as low as they were during the pandemic.

So we're talking about you know, when there was a worldwid pandemic, that's the amount of people that were not traveling then.

We're looking at numbers now and they look quite similar, and we know here in Florida, this is one of the top states where Canadians do come not only because we are a destination, but because of the weather we have.

So we have those snowbirds that come down here, and if they're not spending time here anymore, they're not spending money here anymore.

They're not purchasing property here anymore.

And right now, Canadians are being told by their leadership to sta there and spend money at home.

>>It's worth noting, though, as we talk about this, that overall, the tourism numbers, as we heard the governor say they're in Krystel's piece is still pretty strong.

>>Yeah, Krystel did a great job highlighting that in her package.

In 2024 we broke a record here for tourism back in Florida.

So when you compare it to the pandemic to years past, we continue to see that gain.

Last year, it was 142.9 million visitors to the state of Florida.

That's about 2.5 million more than the year before.

But of course, the vast majority, more than 91% of that is domestic travel.

So, yes, Canadians, oversea travelers, that plays a major role.

But... >>The international segment's relatively small.

>>Correct.

Is that domestic travel.

>>The Sentinel's covered, the response of, Florida political and tourism industry leaders, right, to these Canadian concerns.

What have you guys heard?

>>Mainly what we're hearing is that, yeah, Canadians are not necessarily happy with the way that things are going with the relationship between the United State and Canada.

I mean, we're we're seeing you know, just at Canadian hockey games.

We have, you know, Canadians booing the United States national anthem.

We have Canadians stores pulling American alcohol off of shelves.

And so, there definitely is a lot of like, general consternation between, Canadians and United States.

But while we're hearing, you know, general things from the Canadian public, political leaders like, Governor Ron DeSantis don't necessarily seem to be as concerned.

We have some, reporting with The Citadel where he basically has said that he's not super worried and he still sees, you know a lot of Canadian license plates as he travels around the state.

So, a little bi of, like I said, consternation.

But overall, we'll we'll see how it turns out.

>>And it'll be interesting to se what tourism industry leaders, have to say, as well as as we go forward.

I mean, beyond the politics, Catherine, you've covered the economic impacts of tariffs as well on Florida businesses locally here in our community.

What have you found?

>>Well, we have spoke to a few small business owners that are right here in Central Florida.

One that stood out in particular was an auto body shop owner who I spoke to, which of course, mostly everything they sell has some sort of aluminum or metal in it.

They're putting parts in cars, whether it's electronics or lights or anything else.

So they have a lot of uncertainty about what the trickle down effect will be here at home.

They've heard from manufacturers it could be maybe 10%.

Even though that might sound small to a small business, that's a big impact.

Some of that will have to be passed on to the customer, unfortunately, which means prices will likely go up.

>>Europe' also an important segment right for the for the hospitality industry.

Do we know ho how how Europeans are responding particularly to those sort of, stories about people being detained at airports and things like that?

>>Yeah.

I don't know if, Europeans are necessarily too happy about the current state of affairs.

When it comes to United States.

Just, you know, over the last couple of months since President Trump has taken office, there's been, you know, tightening of, vetting for visa restrictions and things like that.

We have stories of you know, Germans, people from, you know, Slovenia and other countries being detained for weeks at, border crossings with, you know, visas and things of that nature.

So, I don't know if they'r necessarily too happy about the, the way that, I gues President Trump's comments have, upended the longstanding relationship between, you know, Western Europe and the United States.

>>Well, it might take a while of course, for us to see numbers reflected in our economic data here in Florida.

But we'll, certainl keep an eye on where that goes.

You can find links to the new role on alien registration that Krystel referred to plus data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Statistics Canada to explore for yourself.

It's all at wucf.org/newsnight.

Okay, next tonight growth and transportation to key issues.

We followed closely here on this program.

Let's start with rail and steps towards funding a study for a potential Sunshine Corridor rail expansion.

The Sunshine Corridor holds the potential to connect SunRail services to the airport and the region's attractions area, but a state study of the potential development and its environmental impacts needs to be done first, and local and state governments and agencies need to pa an estimated $6 million for its.

This week, Orange County agree to kick in half a million for the study, joining Osceola County, which took the same step earlier this month.

Last year, Osceola commissioners were pressed by the state on funding.

>>This is a very expensive project.

When you add u all of the costs, you know, to get all the wa to Disney Springs, but you're also going to hav a dramatic result in the ridership of SunRail.

>>But some commissioners seemed skeptical the rail project would do much to alleviate the strain on existing infrastructure.

>>If we're going to spend, you know, if the ask is $4 million, I' like to see how many, you know, what percentage of tha is going to alleviate Osceola County traffic.

>>Osceola and Orange counties now joins Seminole County in the city of Orlando, which are also contributing $500,00 each to the initial PD&E study, which officials hope to begin this year.

Volusia County could make a decision on that soon.

Universal is paying 2 million, and has set aside land for a station as it prepares to open its Epic Universe theme park.

The state Department of Transportatio is also contributing 2 million.

To note, the Central Florida Commuter Rail Commission, which is made up of the Cit of Orlando and Seminole, Orange, Osceola and Volusia Counties meeting Thursday afternoon.

We record this show on Thursday mornings.

The story may change by airtime.

The funding and operations of SunRail, of course, are currently transitioning from state to local control.

And James, let me start with you and the Sentinel of course, extensively covered this story.

We heard from the FDOT district secretary just there, John Tyler, say, that ridership is predicted to rise dramatically.

If there's a connection, I guess, from the airport to to Disney Springs, what is the estimated ridership boost if the Sunshine Corridor comes to fruition?

>>Yeah, I think the Department of Transportation estimates about 6.4 million riders, in this first year, once the sunshine corridor-- >>In one year.

>>Yeah.

Which is, a large increase from the few thousand rider that, SunRail has monthly now, ridership has never really recovered since the pandemic.

And so the Sunshine Corridor, well, hopefully, you know, for the Department of Transportation do a lot to close that gap.

>>And of course, it wasn't particularly heightened, before the pandemic.

News 6 has also been across this rail story, for a long time.

Catherine, as we heard, Orange and Osceola counties are the most recent ones to to contribute to this expansion study.

Osceola commissioners, as we heard there in that piece were skeptical about providing funding just last year.

What have been the main concerns from local agencies about contributing to this?

>>Well, concerns we've heard from Osceola are really two main things, and one is just what's next after we fund this initial study, you know, it's one thing to give that amount of money now, but then what else are we expected to commit down the lin potentially to get this across the finish line?

And then the other thing is really the traffic, when we talk about Osceola and how much that area is booming and we've all sat in tha traffic or have heard about it, you know, many times.

And so, you know, commissioners are wondering if we put millions of dollars or thousands of dollars towards this, how big of a dent is that really going to make?

Are people going to take SunRail, or are they still going to choose to get in the car and be on the road and it won't even really alleviate the problem that they're hoping it will.

>>Universal's committed money, as well, Alexa, to this to this study.

And on Friday, this as we were just talking off camera, the Central Florid Tourism Oversight Board formerly Reedy Creek, could consider helping with funding.

Again, we record this on Thursday morning, so that might change.

But but does thi what does this sort of indicate about this project's importance to the tourism industry do you think?

>>So if you're following the math here.

>>Yeah.

>>2 million FDOT, 2 million Universal.

That's 4 million.

And now you have 500,000 from, as we said, Seminole, Osceola, Orange and Orlando.

>>Yeah.

>>We'v reached that 6 million mark for what's needed for this project.

We're still waiting on Volusia.

And then we could have, the oversight district coming through so we could see this study start here soon if we get the go ahead.

And all those financial commitments hold, but universal is all in $2 million into this study shows what they believe this will do to the area.

They have set aside and reserved, real estate and property for a station, set aside real estate for track.

So they really do believe.

And of course, we can't ignore the fact that Epic Universe is going to be a major driver for that right here.

People could get to the airport, get on SunRail, head straight to that are and visit them at Epic Universe and their other theme parks.

I mean, again, you said it already, but they're pretty pretty much all in.

>>And of course, Brightline would be part of that Sunshine corridor plan so people could travel from further afield to to the attractions area.

Certainly a big deal for the tourism industry.

Is that what you guys are hearing as well?

>>Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, money talks that's the bottom line, right?

So if Universal is willin to put $2 million in that shows you just how much they believe they're going to get a reward for that further down the line.

And they're targeting the same people who they hope will take the SunRail, which would be those tourists that are going to go to our parks and also the convention center in Orange County.

>>It's going to be interesting to see what kind of boost it gives, the local economy here.

Let's discuss some other growth and transportation issues before we move on.

And, James I wanted to talk a little bit, about the airport.

The sunshine corridor, of course, will will connect the airpor to, to points west, the airport itself got some important news about its future leadership.

The Sentinel has been covering that.

What do we know?

>>Yeah there's a new leader at the helm when it comes to the Orlando International Airport.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, just voted last week, and they, approved Lance Lyttle he is the, managing director of aviatio for the Seattle-Tacoma airport.

And he's-- >>That's a big airport.

>>Yeah, it's a huge airport.

And he's going to be the, the new CEO of the Orlando International Airport, which I think is the seventh busiest airport in the United States.

So, he's got a lot on his plate.

But he's, replacing Kevin Thibault who, announced in December he's stepping down to take care of his wife, who is ill.

But, yeah, he was unanimously approved last week, and I think he's going to be starting here shortly.

>>Well you say a lot on his plate.

And the airport, of course, as we've talked about on this program has an extensive expansion plan.

So there certainly will be a lot, to deal with.

Staying with rail for a minute.

Alexa you've been looking at that safety issue at railroad crossings where we're continuing to see these accidents.

I mean, Brightline has been particularly affected by this issue.

What measures are being proposed to, improve safety from your reporting?

>>These crashes are nothing new.

We've had rail in Florida for hundreds of years, but with Brightlin running trains more frequently, people are impatient and cross the tracks.

The Department of Transportation says 88% of crossin incidents are caused by driver behavior, and that's across the board.

Whether we're talking Amtrak tracks CSX, Brightline across the board.

So approaching 90% there that that's a big number.

Last year, around late summer, the Florida Department of Transportation started the Florida Rail Safety Coalition, and it' bringing everyone to the table, public, private, government leaders to talk about safety, to look at the technology that's out there.

Are we going to see success if we put cameras kind of like red light cameras?

At crossings, will we see success with, quad gates where you physicall cannot in a vehicle get around?

They're looking at everything.

They meet quarterly here in Orlando and hopefully we see some progress on that.

>>On the roads.

I wanted to get an update from you on some work that you've been reporting on along I-4, and not just because I was recently stuck in a massive traffic jam at Champions Gate.

I will say there are plans for accelerating work right on that really busy, stretch of I-4, I think, from what World Drive to to 27, any of us that have used that know how busy that is, what have you learned about the timetable there?

>>They are committed t getting it done by year's end.

I asked that questio maybe three different ways in a recent interview I just did with FDOT leaders, and they're committe to getting this done, by the end of the year.

It's a massive lift.

Essentially, they are th current shoulder that's there.

They're making it a lane and then adding another shoulder.

So they're essentially adding an additional lane in both directions there on that seven and a half mile stretch.

It's busy any time of day.

So that is going to alleviate traffic immensely.

Daily that area in particular sees 140,000 drivers.

>>It's amazing amount.

Catherine, a lot of this traffic, right, that we keep talking about, is down to the fact that this region is growin very fast as a result of that, Orange County voters of course, at the last election passed a rural boundary similar to the one we've seen in Seminole County.

Legislators have got their eye on that, right.

Currently in Tallahassee You've been reporting on that.

What are the moves in that on the state level that might affect that rural boundary?

>>Well, there is a lot of concern in both Orange and Seminole County about the current versio of SB 1118 that's making its way through the legislature righ now, particularly because there's languag in that bill that would roll back vote referendums dating back to 2011.

So that would boil down to Orange County's rural boundary essentially being erased and Seminole County's becoming irrelevant.

So people are wondering what will happen if decisions about development are now made in Tallahassee rather than here locally, because we know if there is a bunch of new development that's unchecked, we don't have any sort of smart growth initiatives in place.

We all see the impact of that not only traffic, but utilities, stormwater.

I mean, it's everythin that we see in our daily lives.

>>Yeah there's been a lot of preemption efforts, in Tallahassee.

And certainly those growth in transportation issues are so intertwined here in our community.

For sure.

A reminde you can find us on social media.

We're at WUC TV, on Facebook and Instagram.

We're also @NewsNightWUCF on X.

Finally, we mentioned Universal's Epic Universe in our previous segmen on the Sunshine Corridor.

Well, that park is set to ope on May 22nd, the first new major theme park in Central Florid in nearly a quarter century.

Universal recently released pictures from inside the five world that will make up Epic Universe.

They include Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon: Isle of Berk, Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Ministry of Magic, and Dark Universe.

It's a major development for Central Florida's tourism industry, but it's been controversial over the years since its announcement in 2019, including Orange County's allocation of $12 million of public money to help pay for an extension of Kirkman Road to Epic Universe.

But local officials expect the economic impact to be significant, including a major boost in tourism development tax revenues.

Really interesting to see those, pictures of, what's forthcomin for visitors to Epic Universe.

James, let me start with you on this one.

Your outlets been covering the the potential economic impact of Epic Universe.

What are you guys hearing?

>>Yeah.

I think most of what we've dug into is, the impact to, hotels.

I know that, hotel occupancy rates is something that we've looked at at the Sentinel and that we've seen that at least for last year, that hotel occupancy rates were actually down.

But a lot of that has to do with the increased capacity of hotels.

There's been a lot of hotels, constructed-- >>There's several hotel there.

Yeah.

>>Yeah, absolutely.

To kind of anticipation of Epic Universe.

And so while we're seeing, you know, basically static numbers of tourists visiting, we're seeing more hotel room, hotel, hotel rooms so that occupancy rate has gone down.

But as, Epic Universe opens her in the next couple of months, where I think a lot of people are expecting to see those occupancy rates go up and, drive, the tourism and hospitality industries.

>>So occupancy has gone down because there are more hotel rooms.

And currently they're empty.

But the plans are that they won't be, what have you guys been hearing about potential economic impacts, Catherine?

>>Well, I mean, we can't understate how big of a deal this is for our area.

I mean, the last time that w had a completely new theme park that was built was Animal Kingdom.

It's it's been a considerabl amount of time since we've seen a fully new park.

And the Orange County Comptroller track tourist tax dollars when Animal Kingdom opened and they saw an 8% increase when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened, they also saw a significant increase.

So if history repeats itself, we should see a huge boost with Epic.

And of course, it's really not even history repeating itself because this is a fully new concept that we've never seen before.

>>And of course, with that additional hotel capacity that is, it's hoped local leaders hope will increase, tourism development tax revenues.

Of course, an important part of our, tax base.

What are the plans for dealing with all this traffic that could be generated by Epic Universe?

I presume, given the traffic that the other theme parks generate, that it could be considerable.

>>Yeah.

If you've been in that area, you see the construction happening constantly.

There's construction on Sand Lake on I-4.

And then we're focusing on the focal point of the project, really, which is the Kirkman Extension project.

Orange County and Universal working together to extend the Kirkman Road 1.7 miles from Carrier Drive through Sand Lake down to Universal Boulevard.

So that's really going to help local traffic.

But for theme park traffic, there's an elevated traffic circle where above will be theme park traffic for people going into the park For busses going into the park.

And below will be local traffic.

And it's quite-- >>It' a raised highway, but, but a... >>Essentially.

>>Traffic circle.

>>Correct and it's quite the site.

A lot of people, within Universal and within Orange County, believe this is going to sort of become a regional landmark.

That's, something that they've been talking about now for months.

And just before coming in here today, I was messaging with Publi Works in Orange County saying, are we open yet?

What's the Kirkman project looking like?

We're two months out.

And they said, we're checking off items.

We're getting close, but not there yet.

>>Of course, that Kirkman extension, you know, that was agreed to, I guess, the funding, at least for it before the pandemic That was controversial, right?

In Orange County.

>>It was.

And they essentially have been wanting to extend Kirkman for decades, but didn't have the funding to do it.

And then they got the partner within Universal to help get that ball rolling.

So you'll talk to some people say it's controversial.

Yeah.

Other people who say whoever's going to give the money to make my drive easier, I'm all about it.

>>Well, it'll be interesting to see what happens when Epic Universe, finally gets here.

And a lot of people locally will be, impatient to see, what it holds.

Before we go, we wanted to let you know that we'll be at the Orlando Science Center for a taping of NewsNight Conversations this coming Wednesday, April 2nd at 6 p.m.

I'll be joined by a panel of local arts and cultural leaders to dive into issues affecting the arts in Central Florida, and you'll be able to join the conversation as well.

It's free to attend.

Be sure to head on over to our websit wucf.org/newsnight to register.

But that is all the time we have for this week.

My thanks to Catherine Silva WKMG News 6.

Thanks so much for coming in, Catherine.

James Wilkins from the Orlando Sentinel, Alexa Lorenzo from WFTV Channel 9, thanks so much for coming in, guys.

Really appreciate the conversation today.

We'll see you next Friday night at 8:30 here on WUCF.

From all of us here at NewsNight, take care and have a great week.