Transit Miami

Commuter trains in Kendall? The tri-rail of the South can and should be a reality, if you ask me. But, gathering support for such an easy solution to the congestion in southern Dade may prove to be more challenging than just retrofitting some old cargo tracks for passenger DMUs. A potential firefight will likely evolve, as residents living along the corridor fight to keep the tracks in their backyards as underutilized as possible to benefit their pocketbooks.

As this saga begins to unfold, a reoccurring question keeps arising: At what point does community involvement in planning become a limiting factor for the benefits said project can deliver to the community? Or in laymen terms, how much community involvement is too much? We’ve seen it countless times; Baylink, West Corridor meetings in Sweetwater, Miami streetcar, etc. The list goes on and on. Countless projects cease to provide benefits to a majority of the population for the sake of pleasing a few. Who will finally step up and lead transportation initiatives in the right direction? MDT has proven to be ineffective in pushing projects into the community (evidence: Baylink, which was despised initially by Miami Beach residents, although this project would have likely improved the county’s transit system the greatest economically and in passenger figures.) Local politicians are too feeble to take a politically incorrect stance which could hurt their reelection bids (Metrorail, west corridor, Transit Oriented Development in the Grove and Pinecrest.)

Going back to what seems like the impending argument against a southern extension of tri-rail; why should homeowners along the railroad tracks have the right to deny a greater portion of the population an easier logical route for public transit? The tracks were likely there before anyone moved into the area, heck, the FEC corridor has existed as longer than any municipalities have, did it not occur that these tracks might be used once again? Will property values decrease? Well, perhaps, but probably not as much as if we continue to build westward, without accounting for public transit needs.

The problems lie in one of my main underlying causes: lack of vision. MDT doesn’t know where we’re headed. City planning is inexistent. Politicians could care less. Development runs rampant. Chaos ensues. There isn’t a uniform plan on how to redevelop the county. There isn’t a plan to reduce congestion. And there certainly isn’t a plan to control our county’s growth, just a mobilized and politically connected group of developers, eager to continue adding to the mess which initially placed single family developments alongside a rail corridor…