Archive for August, 2006

The Right Price

Published
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Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 4, 2006
in Uncategorized
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The following article was written by Ryan, The Sprawl Hater, as a contribution to my guest columns section. I hope this one stirs up some serious conversation about an idea I also proposed a while back on consolidating our regional transit agencies into one. I’m heading away for yet another one of my weekend getaways, I’ll be back Sunday evening to add some of my own thoughts. Until then, Enjoy…

How’s it going, Miami? It’s The Sprawl Hater back to spread the good news and offer some fresh perspectives. Well, it turns out that “high” prices at the pump have an upside after all. APTA, the American Public Transit Association, has recently reported a 4.25% increase in transit ridership nationwide for the first quarter of 2006. According to APTA officials, the increase in ridership has a strong correlation with rising gasoline prices, which are approaching the record high of $3.057/gallon in the wake of Hurricane Katrina last year. Perhaps Thomas Friedman wasn’t so crazy when he said that the sooner we get to $100/barrel oil, the sooner Americans will change their consumption habits.

*Noteworthy Transit Aside: APTA estimates that U.S. riders of public transit help save the county 855 million gallons of gasoline per year!

Moreover, nearly every metropolitan area in the U.S. has set forth initiatives to expand their mass transit services. Although this is good news nationally, it means less federal dollars will be available to help fund local projects here in South Florida. My suggestion: Miami-Dade Transit, MDX (Miami-Dade Expressway), and SFRTA (South Florida Regional Transportation Authority – the group that runs Tri-Rail) need to form a partnership similar to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in New York City, which would not only handle public transportation, but also tolls for bridges and expressways. I know this can be a parsimonious town, but seriously tolls here are pretty modest when compared to some of the major Northeastern cities. If tolls were raised to $3.00 - $3.50 in certain locations, there would be a ton of extra revenue leftover after road maintenance to help fund/expedite the expansion of our local and regional transit systems. If 100,000 cars per day passed through the new tolls at $3.50 a pop, that’s an extra $200,000 per day and as much as $70 million in additional revenues annually. I know this suggestion probably sounds radical to many South Floridians, but we’ve got to find a way to be more sustainable and less dependent on oil. This is especially important considering the University of Florida estimates an additional 1.8 million residents will reside in South Florida by 2020. This means that even with good urban planning (isn’t likely if history has told us anything) congestion is expected to triple over the next 15 years.

Scary.

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The REAL Issues of the Cuba Fiasco

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 3, 2006
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

It appears that e v e r y b o d y is busy writing and talking about Cuba lately; something that has nothing to do with Transit or development, most would think. However, the past few days have led me to some more stark realizations about our city: we severely lack a large, central, public location where people can come together to show their solidarity for any subject or reason. Just look at the focal point of this week’s celebrations: the parking lot of the Versailles Restaurant in little Havana. Good food, no doubt, but a parking lot? That’s the best we could come up with? I find it quite fitting considering our lives down here tend to revolve around the automobile and Cuba more than anything else, why not just combine the two. /> Union Square. No Champs Elysees. No Trafalgar Square. Nada! Celebrations instead are relegated to makeshift parades down bird road or awkwardly placed on the steps of the AA Arena. Even the Stephen P. Clark center with its near Brutalist appearance, abundant concrete area, and central train station lacks a common place where thousands could gather for celebrations, rallies, or protests (proves to be very beneficial for those on the county commission.) Heck, even the catastrophic and ridiculously hideous Boston City hall serves a better civic purpose for the people of that region. How can we begin to plan a city if we can’t define its center?

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The DMU is Coming to Orlando

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 2, 2006
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

It’s official. An unprecedented deal has been struck to bring commuter rail to a second city here in Florida, Orlando. The $500 Million commuter rail will operate much like Tri-rail, using the same Diesel Multiple Units (DMU) vehicles along 61 miles of CSX owned tracks. Trains should be moving from Debary into Orlando by late 2009 and to Osceola by 2013.

I find it shocking that Jeb would endorse such a progressive and innovative plan, especially after convincing voters to repeal the initiative to create a state-wide high-speed train network due to its “excessive” cost. Change of heart or did it take him a few years to finally realize that congestion can only be relieved by seeking alternate modes of transportation? Either way, it’s a win-win situation for Orlando commuters.

“Establishing commuter rail will ease congestion, which will improve the quality of life of people both on and off the road,” Bush said.

Enough Said… Congratulations to the residents who will benefit from the new commuter rail. I hope they look to South Florida to see how to not create a benefitial transportation network. I can see already that they are planning on using a downtown central lynx bus transfer station to create an intermodal center in the urban heart of their city. Good Planning, ours is miles away and most likely to open after theirs… />No word yet on any possible improvements for Tri-Rail out of the deal with CSX, I’ll keep you posted…

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CSX/Tri-Rail Update

Published
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Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 2, 2006
in Uncategorized
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Here is the Tri-rail update I promised you. The only supporting evidence I could find was in the press release issued by Gov. Jeb today…

The CSX/State deal will now enable the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority to control the dispatching of passenger and freight trains along the 81 mile Tri-Rail route. This should result in much smoother Tri-rail operations and will allow dispatchers to give the trains priority along the lines. The new agreement could also open up the CSX lines to further growth in Southern Miami-Dade County. This could prove to be very beneficial to Miami residents, however, part of the CSX lines travel west of the UDB boundary which means that our local politicians may try to open up that land for further sprawl once the trains get rolling…

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Air Utility Vehicle

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 1, 2006
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

In case you haven’t noticed, I added the comments highlight bar over on the left recently. I’d like to emphasize that as much as this is a blog, I also enjoy receiving your feedback via comments or e-mails to encourage further web discussions. />

Move over SUV, the age of the Very Light Jet is approaching quickly. What’s a Very Light Jet or VLJ for short? It’s the future of personal air travel for those of us unlike Philip Frost who can afford the new Airbus Corporate Jet. It’s priced such that it is becoming a very affordable commodity for many Americans at around $1.5 million. Not too bad for a jet capable of traveling at 360 knots (415 mph), at a maximum ceiling of 41,000 ft, and a range of 1,125 nautical miles. />

Family road trips cross country may soon be a thing of the past. New companies like Dayjet here in Florida are quickly springing up, ready to transport passengers via VLJ to many suburban general aviation airports. />

Eclipse Aviation was created purely on the hunch that it could one day build and sell these VLJs as easy as automobiles. Eclipse has also developed a training program in conjunction with United airlines to train customers who are also interested in piloting their new vehicle. They recently received FAA approval to do just that, however, competition isn’t that far behind them. Honda, the formidable foe to American automakers, has also been developing a VLJ of their own (after-market muffler upgrades are in development.) All jokes aside, it appears though that these new jets intend on revolutionizing the way we live and travel… />

In California something called “Residential Airparks” are springing up. The houses offer 2 car garages as well as personal hangars to park small aircraft. Pilots can taxi down the neighborhood streets to a private runway to commute to work from. It appears that some have gotten so fed up with daily traffic that they have simply decided to fly themselves regional airports instead. Not too practical, but, 12 of these residential airparks already exist…

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