The State of Miami Transit

Published
by
Tony Garcia
on May 22, 2008
in MDTA, MetroCard, Metromover, Metrorail, Miami 21, Miami Commission, Miami-Dade County, Miami-Dade Transit, Mobility, Uncategorized and metrobus
. 2 Comments

The County Commission decided to delay its vote Tuesday on the proposed transit hikes. I commend Carlos Jimenez and others for seeing that the issue had to be reconsidered. As Gabe mentioned earlier in the week, the monthly pass really needs to be consistent with the size/reach of our transit system (not higher than NYC). Not to mention that the last thing you want to do when ridership is up is to increase fares, but the fact is that the system needs to be funded. Unfortunately I think that this discussion is just the latest in a series of bad management and planning decisions that keep our holding our transit back.

It has been a tumultuous time for Miami-Dade transit recently. The result of poor vision, bad management, and professional incompitance, the transit system is currently on life support. (This all with record high transit ridership on Tri-Rail reported today!).

The recent allocation of PTP tax dollars for the refurbishment of existing cars (and purchase of new ones) is indicative of the state of our transit. If the Trust hadn’t stepped in and bailed out MDT there would not have been anywhere to get the money from. In other words once the metro cars reached their lifespan they would have been tossed and we would have a really expensive piece of civic art. By not rehab-ing the cars some time back (as Baltimore did with its metro cars) the Commission basically put itself in a position where they had to buy new cars or close up shop. Not to mention the message it sends to Washington: that we aren’t serious about competing for transit dollars.  As if the Orange Line didn’t have enough funding problems, this just adds to how disorganized the MDT is. When the feds look at our existing system and see that it is mismanaged, what incentive do they have to give us money when there are plenty of other cities out there that are serious about mass transit.

The Orange Line debacle is yet another indication of how flawed our system is. We are eligible for lots of free money to help build this line, and we are at risk of losing it because we don’t know if we can maintain the line for the next 30 years? Really?? Lets not even mention that the Feds are already miffed that we are going to downgrade our Tri-Rail service after giving us nearly half a billion dollars for track upgrades.

Whew. Where does that leave us with oil closing in on $150/barrel (and soon thereafter $200, and $250. and $300…)? We need our transit system more than ever. We need a successful transit system now, not under the 50 year plan, but the five year plan.

Truth is if our planners and elected officials were as serious about transit as they were about highway and road building we would already have a really great transit system. I think it would be a surprise to many here in our car-centered culture that plenty of other post-war suburban cities have developed amazing transit systems over the past fifteen years.

Incidentally, I had lunch with a buddy of mine named Dave who happily takes the bus everyday from his house in Kendall to work in Coral Gables. He tried to explain to me why transit works for him but not for his dad (who won’t take the bus to save his life). “Its really easy for me. It’s mostly a straight shot with one transfer. But my dad works five minutes away from his house. It’s easier for him to just get in the car and go. Transit can’t take us everywhere.” Now Dave is my friend so I didn’t reach over the table and smack him around, but that’s exactly the attitude that pervades our culture and is bred from policy decisions made at the top.

Our elected officials need to understand:

We NEED transit alternatives to the car.

We DESERVE multiple forms of transit that are safe, frequent, and far reaching without having to get into the car.

We need transit NOW.

Mid-Week News Briefs

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 21, 2008
in News
. 1 Comment
  • A Judge has thrown out part of Norman Braman’s lawsuit against the inter-local agreement which among other things enabled the construction of the Marlins’ Ballpark, funded the Port of Miami Tunnel, and expanded the Omni/Overtown CRA district.  Hopefully now the Sunpost will stop touting Braman as a local hero…  It’s no surprise that a car salesman would be against a plan that would enable urban life and create viable public transportation.
  • What goes up, must come down: The Miami Skylift has filed for bankruptcy.  Really?  Now can we please stop turning Bayfront Park into a cheap carnival?  What’s wrong with some usable green space?
  • Michael Lewis hits this one dead on:

But out past Northwest 22nd Avenue, the Miami River is far different — it’s a fast-paced economic engine that carries ships from 26 international terminals out to the Caribbean and back again, floating $4 billion worth of goods a year on its narrow, twisting back.
Much of that river, which handles as much shipping as the busy Port of Tampa and is Florida’s fourth largest seaport, lies within the district of Miami Commissioner Angel Gonzalez.
“That river is dead,” Mr. Gonzalez told the commission last week as he voted to remove marine industry protections along the river from the city’s land-use plan. He’d rather develop condos and mixed-use projects there to help the area’s economy.
What is it about $4 billion a year that Mr. Gonzalez doesn’t understand?
Does he think developers will pump that much into condo towers and dump enough jobs into his district to replace all those that river shipping supports?
Does he think banks will scramble to finance towers while tens of thousands of condo units are still rising and planned projects near the river are handing their land over to lenders because they can’t repay their loans?
Does he think that removing the “Port of Miami River” designation from city plans won’t push marine terminals to sell out to future high-rises that might never get built, killing river shipping in the process?
Does he care? Do his fellow commissioners?
Anyone paying attention knows that the Miami River is a working river — even though the commission refused to allow that phrase in its plans.

Bicyclists, It Is Time To Be Heard

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on May 21, 2008
in Bikes, bike lanes, bike-sharing and biking
. 4 Comments

Are you frustrated with your bicycle commute? Is there a location sorely in need of bicycling parking? Are you discouraged by even the idea of bicycling in Miami? Do you want to know what the City and County are doing to become more bicycle-friendly?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, by all means come out on June 3rd or June 7 and raise your voice!

Two public workshops are being organized for early June to help update Miami-Dade County’s 2001 bicycle and pedestrian plans. You’ll find maps and experts on hand to inform you about the paths and other facilities already in place or in various stages of design. The planners want public input, so mark one of these dates and make your own arrangements to be there:

Thanks to Spokes n’ Folks for the announcement.

Miami BAC - Get Involved!

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 20, 2008
in Bicycle Boulevard, Bicycle Parking, Bicycle Sharing, bike lanes, bike-sharing and bikeway
. 0 Comments

As some of you might know, Mike and I serve advisory roles in Miami’s newly created Bicycle Action Committee (BAC).  The BAC is working on drafting a city of Miami Bicycle Master plan and is looking for any input our citizens wish to provide.  You can download this city map, draw on it, and send back your ideas to us (movemiami@gmail.com) for committee review.  You can also leave us comments or email us lists of potential bicycle routes, needed improvements, or any other suggestions.  Here is your chance to shape a masterplan which will guide all bicycle related planning for years to come.  I’m currently working on my version, which I will publish when complete and will finally get around to creating the Bicycle Rental plan I suggested to Alesh a while ago…

Pic o’ the Day: Transit in the Urban Center

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 20, 2008
in Photography and Pic o' the Day
. 6 Comments

This is what our downtown streets should look like.  Compact, connected by transit, and very pedestrian accessible.  Can anyone name this city?

Flawed Funding Mentality

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 19, 2008
in Farecard
. 15 Comments

Well, the Miami-Dade County Commission did it again – they continued the mentality that rising fuel costs should amount to higher transit fares. As much as I would like to agree that transit fares were well below the point they should have been, I cannot justify anyone spending $100 for a monthly metropass.

Let us compare similar monthly passes across America:

Atlanta $52.50
Boston $59
Chicago $75
Dallas $50 or $80
LA $62 - $98
New York $81
Seattle $54-$108
Portland $76

Are we oblivious to what happens elsewhere around this country? Most cities have a zonal system of affixing prices to their tickets, charging more for longer distance trips. These long distance routes, service suburbia, places where transit really should not be servicing unless the area population density is well above 8 people/acre.

There is also the logical answer to the funding dilemma; charge drivers. Congestion pricing and parking pricing encourages greater transit ridership while reducing congestion (see London.) Those whose travel habits cost the greatest societal burden (drivers) pay the most for their services.

I could go on for hours on this subject (I assure you, I will) but the underlying message here is that we are continuing the flawed mentality regarding our automobile habits and transit funding.

Metro Monday: Austin’s New Metrorail

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 19, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Transit Ridership is Up - Duh… - Now Lets Kill Transit

Published
by
Sean Bossinger
on May 18, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

Tri-Rail DMU Car 703
Photo from Jack M. Turner at trainweb.org

As reported on CNN.COM, mass transit ridership is up, especially in the more transit-averse areas of the country (Seattle - 15%, Miami - 13%, even in Dallas and Denver). According to the video, ten billion trips were taken on mass transit in this country in the 2007 calendar year. There is no surprise that this current increase being discussed has much to do with the recent and steady climb of gas to the over-$4-per-gallon mark. However, there is something else at work here methinks, and it’s that something I suspect has transit budgets being cut (or fares being raised) nationwide.

You see, transit is a public good, usually subsidized heavily by the taxpayers. Now that ridership is up, there seems to be a belief that revenues at the fare box should cover more of the cost (capital and operational) of these transit systems. Politicians make the false argument that precisely because ridership is up, public subsidy of public transit should be slashed (witness the current threatened cuts in funding of Tri-Rail, and of Metrobus routes here in Miami-Dade County). Road, highway, and even AIR transport, however, appear to be held to a different standard: funding to those gets increased when there is an increase in demand for these services.

What, pray tell, is behind this difference in standards? More importantly, what action should we, as a community, take to alter this difference?

One alternative to transit…

Published
by
Sean Bossinger
on May 16, 2008
in FIU and Gas Prices
. 4 Comments

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The Miami Herald’s website is reporting that Florida International University is adopting four-day work weeks for most of its employees this summer, in order to save money on electricity by closing many of its buildings one day per week.  Employees will still be required to work the requisite 40 hours each week, but will do so over four days, rather than five, thus allowing buildings to idle for three consecutive days rather than two.  The move, Modesto Maidique, FIU’s president suggests, will save the university $250,000.

Because they are my employer, I can state unequivocally that not all employees are happy with this arrangement; however, many of us are happy that we won’t be spending some of our hard-earned money on gas for our commute for that fifth day of the week. 

It would be interesting to see what might happen to the price of gasoline if this work calendar were adopted by employers across the board.  To be sure, the resulting price drop wouldn’t be 20% (the theoretical amount of gas saved, if everyone were to merely stay home on that day), but it would be interesting, would it not, to see what the oil companies would do were the typical commuter’s consumption reduced instantaneously by 20%?

Transitography: Integrating Rail with our Surroundings

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 16, 2008
in Transit Oriented Development
. 1 Comment

Today’s post is inspired by an article I read on The Overhead Wire, republished below. The successes and failures of our transit systems can be determined by the attempts we make to integrate them with the urban spaces which surround them. I typically make the distinction that our failures with metrorail has nothing to do with the transit system itself but rather with what we have done in the immediate vicinity of its 22 stations. VTA’s LRT in San Jose, is a perfect example of the type of transit we should be pressing for within the county, instead of Heavy Rail like metrorail. The at-grade train is versatile enough to move passengers quickly and efficiently but small enough to integrate into urban spaces such as the city’s downtown pedestrian mall:San Jose, LRT, Transit Mall

Imagine an LRT similar to this one connecting every major city on our eastern coast through the FEC railroad…

Here is the article from The Overhead wire, illustrating how we should orient our urban structures to transit:

What happens when we orient buildings to transit? It saves space. It creates more value from the land. It creates more opportunities for walking. Here is an exercise I did with that employment sprawl photo from the post below.

1. The Sprawl Way - What San Jose Looks Like

San Jose LRT

2. Sprawl Rearranged - What the same amount of development would look Like if the development were organized around the station. I outlined the buildings and rearranged them in a more compact way.

San Jose LRT

3. Sprawl Rearranged x2 - Doubling the amount of buildings, using the same footprint for each original building.

San Jose LRT

Report: Widening Highways Increases Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on May 15, 2008
in Climate Change and Highway Expansion
. 0 Comments

Traffic on 826

There are several reasons why widening highways is usually a futile strategy to combat traffic congestion. For one, highway widening projects are costly and time consuming. It has also been well documented that adding new capacity to highways creates induced demand, which essentially means it will generate more traffic on the road. Consequently, over time the widened highway gradually fills up with additional traffic until it reaches a threshold, and is congested again. Of course, just the principle of widening highways is flawed because it encourages driving, it’s unsustainable, and it raids funds for other major transportation projects that are much more sustainable, such as transit. However, research from the Sightline Institute points out that widening highways also leads to substantial increases in GHG emissions in the mid-to-long term.

Conventional dogma preached by road-widening enthusiasts claims that additional capacity will decrease GHG emissions by easing traffic congestion. According to Sightline, this limited benefit only holds true in the short term, if at all. In the medium-to-long term, however, adding one mile of new highway lane will result in an increase in CO2 emission by more then 100,000 tons over 50 years. To quantify that, at current rates of emissions, 100,000 tons of CO2 equals the 50-year climate footprint of about 100 typical U.S. residents.

Image: Sightline Institute

Reporting Live From Somewhere

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on May 14, 2008
in Regional Transit
. 2 Comments

Bolt Bus

I’m currently blogging live from the Bolt Bus en route to Boston from New York City to watch Game 5 of the Celtics-Cavs series. Bolt Bus has free wireless access on all its regional buses, which makes this blogger’s day. I’ll be reporting more about the service later.

Miami-Dade Commissioner has an ‘idea’

Published
by
Tony Garcia
on May 14, 2008
in Bruno Barreiro, Miami-Dade County, Smart Growth, Sprawl, Transit Oriented Development and UDB
. 3 Comments

Miami-Dade Commission Charmain Bruno Barreiro woke up this morning and decided that he wanted to see a permanent development boundary somewhere west of the UDB (and east of Naples). Matthew Pinzur writes about Barreiro’s big idea in the Herald. He wants to rethink the boundary so that there is a buffer between the Everglades and the UDB. What?? He wants to hire a consultant to decide where that line should be. Pinzur points out though that “Barreiro’s idea of hiring experts has been tried and ended up stymied by politics. Most recently, the county spent six years and $3 million on the South Miami-Dade Watershed Study, an attempt to protect water supplies that evolved into a complex 40-year plan for growth management.” You go Pinzur!

I took a stab at studying the Watershed Study expecting bad planning policy and a series of platitudes about parks and birds and butterfly’s being important. I was surprised to find an intelligent, well thought out document. The report describes that Dade County’s “two major policy choices for the future can be characterized as either a Sprawl Scenario or a Smart Growth Scenario. The long-term consequences of a sprawl scenario are enormous. This is the path that the County is on today. The Smart Growth choice will require the County to take some bold, but achievable, policy steps. The benefits of choosing a Smart Growth policy are substantiated by the Study and supported by the literature.” Sounds good, right? It gets better. The study makes policy recommendations based on the current stock of housing, along with projected population growth:

Specific Watershed Policy Guidelines:

2007 through 2025: Allocation of 100 percent of the required 102,000 dwelling units inside the existing Urban Development Boundary (UDB) through 2025;

2026 through 2050: Allocation of a minimum of 60 percent (61,000) of the required 102,000 dwelling units inside the existing UDB between 2026 and 2050″


How much more clear does this issue have to be? If you have a chance read through the document. It has a lot of great graphics and data that support land use changes within the boundary that increase density along transit corridors (new and existing). We need another UDB like we need another 8 years of George Bush. Lets try implementing the policy recommendations that have already been made. The more these commissioners talk the more irrelevant they become.

In other UDB related news, the West Kendall Community Council delayed a meeting last week to discuss a project called ‘Parkland 2014′, a Lennar development that encompasses over nine hundred acres outside the UDB. “According to the completed plans filed with the county earlier this year, the developer is proposing 1,257 single-family homes, 2,436 townhomes, 3,248 condos, and about 200,000 square feet of retail space off Southwest 152nd Street and Southwest 162nd Avenue.” Oh Jeez.

Mid-Week News and Notes

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 13, 2008
in News
. 2 Comments
  • PAB supports the Marine Industry.  So do we.  The unofficial Port along the Miami River is critical economic engine for our community and should be working to unify into an official entity (Say: a Miami-Dade Port Authority?)  in order to maximize the potential of all of our resources.
  • The PTP is a mess and the CITT doesn’t have a real budget.  I’ve got to commend Miles Moss for his work thus far as the Chairman of the Trust, too bad the County Commission stripped the trust of its teeth…Miami SunPost Header
  • This headline is precisely why I stopped reading the Sunpost (plus all the attention they give to Norman Braman): “County Eliminates 600 Bus Routes” Oh really?  600?  So much for that “The Story Matters Slogan” because facts sure as heck don’t…
  • Arthur Teele Park; has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?  Never mind all the corruption and bribery allegations, let alone the most dramatic suicide in Miami’s History…
  • Miami Beach Commissioners are looking to remove the Bike lanes from a reconstruction plan for Alton Road.  Anyone else see a lawsuit coming?

FDOT is obligated by state statue to include bike accommodations where possible. They were recently sued by a Boca Raton bicycling group for refusing to put bike lanes on A1A. They lost - a decision which we hope will scare FDOT into taking bicyclists more seriously.

  • This CGG headline is fitting: “There’s always something to complain about”  That just about sums up their mission, doesn’t it?

Bus Stop Blues

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on May 13, 2008
in Bay Link, Bus Stations, Miami-Dade Transit, New York City and bus
. 2 Comments

Below is an excerpt from an email I received this morning from my friend, an occasional bus commuter from Miami Beach to Downtown Miami.

Dude,

I took the bus this morning. Let me bore you with the details. Because my parking permit at Miami-Dade Community College expired (the court provides no parking for clerks), and I have to re-register for a summer class (that I do not need to take) to get access to the world’s crappiest parking lot, I took the bus. I missed the bus, waited 20 minutes, and finally caught the C.

When i got on the bus, i sat in the back, and guy with long hair covered in tattoos sitting on a bag of crushed cans began grooming his hair. He untied his ponytail and ran his fingers through his hair. It smelled like a barn. Hair went everywhere. Naturally, I moved to where a spot had opened up in the front row. As soon as I sat down I noticed the guy in front of me, a guy probably in his 30s who hadn’t paid to get on the bus (I heard the driver yelling at him when he got on, but she still let him on) took up 4 seats, lying sideways in handicap accessible row, with his legs and arms splayed. He had a crumpled 20 dollar bill in his hand, which he took out and put away in his pocket several times, and he smelled like Monday’s booze. He tried talking to me a few times. I ignored him for a while and eventually said, “I’m listening to my headphones, sorry” which was true, in a pissed off voice with my sunglasses still on. In response, or so it seemed, he took out a comb and began scrubbing his head like a brillo pad in front of everyone. The bus stopped every 30 seconds, and he never moved for anyone, and everyone accommodated him trying to pretend that all was normal because no one wanted to have to talk to him. The bus driver did nothing, naturally. Finally we got to the other side of the McCarthur Causeway and I’d had enough, so I got off right at the base of the exit ramp. I’ll walk 15 minutes to the office, I thought, just let me off. Also, I hate how the bus goes to the bus stop (Omni Station), which is a stupid mandatory detour for anyone commuting to downtown. Of course, my new friend decided to get off with me, then proceeded to follow me for about 5 blocks until he couldn’t keep up, at which point he fell behind and eventually out of my sight. I thought about turning and just popping him as hard as I could, but he was about 20 feet behind me the entire time so there was no need, and also, that’s not something I typically do.

I finally traverse my way through the streets of Miami, where cars zoom past me, where I see billboards and trucks but not one one coffee shop, restaurant, store, or habitable dwelling. Finally, as I get to the MDCC campus, which is right across the street from the courts, I see my same C bus pulling up. It’s the same speed as walking! Not on the causeway, but once you’re in Miami it moves at the same pace as a pedestrian (or at least, someone like me who walks rather fast).

The system is designed in such a way that people like me (i.e. employed, kind of a yuppie) give up because the mass transit is so inconvenient, slow, and disgusting. This is coming from someone who LOVED the subway system in NY and DC. In Miami, I’d rather wait in traffic, spend 20 minutes parking, and burn gas (btw, there’s no way it costs $3/day in gas to drive from SoBe to work and back - if they really wanted people to take the bus, they might want to make it cost effective), than have to deal with the bus situation each day.

OK, thanks for listening to my rant. I actually feel a bit better.

Yikes. Lucky for him, he won’t be enduring this much longer. He heads back to New York City towards the end of “summer.” I also suggested he try joining me in the bicycle commute sometimes soon. Unfortunately, his place of employment offers no showers and no reasonable place to change/store his clothes. Makes you wonder when that Bay Link might show up, huh?