Archive for July, 2008

Change in Commuting Habits

Published
by
JM Palacios
on July 30, 2008
in Bicycles, Commuting, Uncategorized and biking
. 5 Comments

An article in the Sun-Sentinel focuses on the shift in commuting habits that has occurred and will continue to occur with our ridiculously high gas prices. We’ve seen this clearly for some time now, so it’s good to see someone other than us transit freaks recognize that solo driving is unsustainable. Some of us will be dragged kicking and screaming into this “brave new world,” but there’s no sense in trying to stay in the last century.

Do you hear that, Mary Peters? Transit needs more money, not less!

Read the print copy if you can, where you can see the above photo on the front page of the local section (at least for Broward County). Yours truly in the picture, riding to work last Friday.

Update 8/1/08: Found the online version of the photo here after some digging around the Sun-Sentinel’s website. It wasn’t connected with the article like it was in the paper.

Transit User Profile: Robertson Adams

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 30, 2008
in Summer Transit Challenge
. 1 Comment

I know it may not fully “count” for the Challenge, but I rode my commuter bike today to the South Miami Metrorail station. I ordinarily ride Metrorail to work downtown daily.  Since I typically wait in a long line of cars at Red Road to cross (southbound) U.S. 1 and drop off my daughter, today’s commute was actually a little bit FASTER than driving!  The July heat, however, did a number on the freshness of my business attire.  I hadn’t ever noticed they have really good bike parking at this station - it’s under constant observation by the Wackenhut dudes.  I wouldn’t envy those of you who had to find buses out to Doral though, much less having to cross the street or walk a block in what was practically a swamp just 10 years ago.

-Robertson Adams

As Highway Trust Fund Shrinks, Bush Administration Wants to Rob Transit

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on July 29, 2008
in Funding, Highway Expansion and Transit
. 3 Comments

Image: John Darkow, The Columbia Daily Tribune, Missouri

With gas tax revenue falling fast the federal government fears that it may not be able to meet its commitment to states for road projects currently under way. So what does Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters suggest? Simply “borrow” money from the mass transit fund. According to the New York Times article, such a measure would “balance the accounts as highway travel declines and mass transit increases.”

However, such a transfer of money would require Congress’ approval.

American Public Transportation Association president, William W. Millar added this:

The administration proposal is shortsighted and would mean that the mass transit account would be reduced to the point where there would not be enough money to fund the federal transit program in 2010, even at the current level.

If this doesn’t illustrate how broken our federal transportation funding system is, I don’t know what does. Despite runaway gas prices, climate change, and the prospect of funding petro-dictators, the Bush administration is still desperate to fund highways at a significantly greater clip than transit. The sad thing is that the Bush admin wants to borrow from what is already a scant fund. The transit fund is but a tiny fraction of the highway fund.

Intelligent Traffic Lights

Published
by
JM Palacios
on July 28, 2008
in Traffic Lights and VII
. 3 Comments

Forget red light cameras like Fort Lauderdale and many other Florida cities want to install. If anything, evidence has shown that they make traffic lights worse, as the cities or the contractors decrease yellow time to hand out more tickets. No, we want to see useful technology come to our traffic lights.

Thankfully, Germany has some innovation to offer in this area. As reported on Kicking Tires, Audi has partnered with the local government of their hometown Ingolstadt to make their traffic signals smarter. The signals themselves will adapt to traffic patterns to maximize the efficiency of the network. You know how cars seem to move in bunches, or platoons, from one red light to the next? I assume this system would give a green light for the platoon and wait until a gap to switch to red.

The signals are actually communicating with the cars, so they provide the optimal speed at which the cars should be driving to catch the light on green. Unfortunately, at this time it seems to just display the speed on a screen in the dash. The driver is ultimately responsible for whether or not he will follow the suggested speed. We anxiously await the day the vehicles and the traffic signals control the speeds independently. Just bringing the technology as is to this side of the pond wouldn’t hurt, though.

Photo from Kicking Tires.

Streetfoolish

Published
by
Tony Garcia
on July 28, 2008
in Miami-Dade Transit and Orange Line
. 11 Comments

The County Commission was busy recently as it tried to finish up important business before the August recess. Several key votes relevant to our ongoing discussions about transit, planning and the Home Rule Charter were made (or delayed) at the July 17th and 18th meetings. Larry L. hit the nail on the head this morning in his assessment of what is going on.  I know there are a precious few of us nerds who actually go to the meetings or watch them on TV, so here is a little more info on what is being discussed.

The Commission was given a budget by the Mayor that outlined the finances of MDT and the Metrorail expansion that included certain assumptions about fare increases and other new revenue streams that the board has not yet approved. The board balked at this and said that they want a basic pro-forma that does not make any assumptions, after which they will choose what they want to do. Most of this is political posturing. The fare increases and other measures are not drastic at all, and help show the FTA that we are working in good faith. I’m going to take the unpopular stance that commissioners Jordon and Barreiro really do care about this issue and are not only thinking about re-election. If this budget had not passed to the FTA then we would have certainly lost any chance of getting Quick Start funding for the Orange Line.

The real issue here, as repeated by Assistant Manager Ysela Llort, is whether the Orange Line is a priority of the Commission. Between Joe Martinez being against more gas tax and Sally Heyman against raising fares, one wonders whether these people understand that their constituents are the ones who lose by not making these decisions. It is disingenuous for these people to continue to posture like they give a damn about their consitituents when in fact all they do is pussyfoot around the issue, and mismanage billions of taxpayer dollars. As Commissioner Javier Souto said, “If this were a private business, everyone would be fired.” I agree Senator Souto, we should start with you.

The most sobering assessment of the situation is laid out in County Manager Burgess’ letter to the board. The one big recommendation that I have been against so far, but am changing my position is regarding the PTP dollars. As you see in the letter, the use of PTP dollars exclusively for new projects is hurting us in the long run. We need to allow the money to be used for our existing system. Whether that is what we intended in the first place or not is no longer the issue. Lets be smart about the money we have so that our system can grow at a strategic pace, and for god’s sake don’t repeal the 1/2 cent tax. If studying this situation has shown us anything it is that repealing the tax would kill our system, and send us back twenty years. Looking at other transit systems across the county, the norm for transit funding is equivalent to a 1 cent sales tax. That is part of the answer. We cannot advocate for more transit without wanting to pay for it. There is no one solution to this problem. As Commissioner Dorin Rolle said at the meeting, “We didn’t get here overnight. We have been asleep while this problem has grown.” I couldn’t agree more. I urge everyone who cares about this issue to write to your Commissioner and let them know what you think.

Below are some of the proposed resolutions currently on the table for discussion. If anyone has any other ideas, post them so that they can be considered. It is clear that the commission is useless and relies on other people to do their work for them. Let’s help them out.

  • RESOLUTION MODIFYING THE SCHEDULE OF TRANSIT FARES, RATES AND CHARGES TO INCREASE THE METRORAIL PARKING PERMIT FEE FROM $6.25 TO $10.00, PER MONTH
  • RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DISTANCE BASED AND/OR PEAK/NON-PEAK TRANSIT FARE RATES
  • RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE MAYOR TO STUDY THE FEASIBILITY OF RESTORING TWO CENTS TO THE 1993 FIVE CENTS CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS LOCAL OPTION GAS TAX LEVIED ON MOTOR FUEL
  • RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE COUNTY MAYOR TO STUDY AND TO SUBMIT A WRITTEN REPORT AS TO THE ADDITIONAL REVENUES TO BE EARNED BY INCREASING THE FARES FOR THE DADE-MONROE EXPRESS BUS ROUTE
  • MODIFYING THE SCHEDULE OF TRANSIT FARES, RATES AND CHARGES BY INCREASING THE FARES BY FIFTY CENTS FOR METROBUS AND METRORAIL AND BY ESTABLISHING AUTOMATIC FARE ADJUSTMENT EVERY THREE YEARS CONSISTENT WITH MIAMI-DADE TRANSIT’S OPERATING COST INDEX (OCI) [SEE ORIGINAL ITEM UNDER FILE NO. 081541]

My big idea is to float GOB type bonds for individual Metrorail projects. We could put four proposed Metrorail lines on the ballot, each with a different cost and schedule. Let the people vote on where they want their money to go. That way the line that would get voted for would have a dedicated source of funding (without having to go to the FTA), and our system would grow. After three years, if we see that this is working, we could float another bond, and so on. (Keep in mind that the Commission is sending another GOB type bond to the ballot this November for more capital improvement projects. If they can do this for capital improvements, they can do it for transit!)

What do you think?

Counting Bicyclists

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on July 25, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 3 Comments

After a recent Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting I agreed to help Miami-Dade County MPO Bike/ped coordinator, Dave Henderson, count bicyclists. Dave has been doing his annual bicycle count all around downtown Miami recently and I decided to help  him out with the Venetian Causeway portion.

The task was simple: find out how many bicyclists are using the Venetian Causeway between 7am and 9am on weekday mornings. By tallying these users on an annual basis the County will better understand how and where bicyclists are riding, especially as it relates to commuting.  I conducted my survey last Tuesday.

Certainly no single day bicyclist count can determine average daily use numbers. Nonetheless, randomly tallying users on any given day provides us with an idea of how often bicyclists are using the streets and/or the few existing bicycle facilities that do exist. While counting I did my best to not double count. That is, to not include those bicycling past me east bound, only to whiz by me 20 minutes later heading west bound.  This happened frequently, demonstrating that many people use the Venetian Causeway for exercise, not one-way morning commutes.

What I discovered is instructive. Overall, I counted 90 bicyclists. Interestingly,  I saw no children, kids, or teens.  About 60% of the riders were headed east, while another 40% were heading west. Those readily identifiable as recreational bicyclists were doing loops, while the rest, with their backpacks, saddle bags, and lack of spandex, were probably on their way to or from work.

Men outnumbered women by 40%, which says something about users, safety and preference.

As it relates to bicycle behavior, 100% of users were using the on-street bicycle lanes, opting to stay away from the sidewalks. What is more, 100% of bicyclists were riding with traffic. Almost anywhere else in Miami these impressive percentages would surely diminish. Indeed, when I bicycle downtown, west on SW 7th Street, Eastward on calle ocho, or all over the Grove, I typically see 50% of riders on the sidewalks or going against traffic in the wrong direction.

One can only attribute these virtuous behaviors to the presence of a bicycle lane (despite its shortcomings) clear and consistent signage, directional on-pavement arrows, and an ingrained bicyclist culture where riders know what is expected of them on the Causeway. To be sure, I do see bicyclists along the Venetian exhibiting less than safe behavior. Nonetheless, they are few and far between. What is worrisome, however, is that 46% of bicyclists were not wearing helmets. One must remember that a bicycle lane does not always mean you are safe.

Overall, the corridor is very active and relatively safe. It is just unfortunate that so many recreational bicyclists do not carry on into the the City of Miami. This is probably because the bicycle lane simply stops on the Miami side of the Causeway. Further more,  it seems the general perception of downtown Miami and many of its inner neighborhoods is that of an unsafe and unattractive place for recreation. Sometime in the future the baywalk may coax recreational bicyclists further into the city, but for now efforts should concentrate on street facilities that help non-commuting or non-expert riders explore their city safely and without being  isolated inside a hulking metal carapace.

Transit User Profile: Richard Halluk

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 25, 2008
in Summer Transit Challenge
. 0 Comments
My experience today was much like every other work day:
  • 7:55 drive one mile to the South Miami metrorail station
  • 8:00 park & catch a train as I reach the top of the stairs
  • 8:12 depart to Brickell metrorail station
  • 8:20 catch the Metro Mover to Financial district
  • 8:25 first to arrive in the offce - unlock the office door
All in all, a stress free commute to work.
Listened to NPR on my IPOD during the commute.
Didn’t spend a lot on gas (1 mile drive to the train station) or contribute to global warming.
Didn’t spend any time stuck in traffic, being stressed out.
(My wife is jealous of my commute.)

Bomb Threat at Douglas Station

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Apparently there is some sort of suspicious package that has shut down the douglas road metro station.  I twittered the whole thing but apparently there was some sort of error…  This was the best shot I could get from the bus on my way home and those were all the details the bus driver could share at the time:

Morning Commute

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 6 Comments

One Hour and forty minutes – that is how long my commute was this morning from Coral Gables/Coconut Grove to my office in Doral.  Utilizing the 37, 36A, and 41 buses, I seamlessly (for the most part) was able to get to work before the 9 AM arrival time goal.

My day began at 7 AM with a 17-minute walk to catch the 37 bus in Coconut Grove.  The morning was cool and the lush shade trees in the grove provided a wonderful canopy that shaded much of the walk (Really, walking Miami would not be terrible if we had an adequate canopy cover.)  Standing, waiting for the bus to arrive, I watched as car after car of single occupant vehicles began their daily commutes while joggers utilized the main highway multi-use path.  The 37 bus arrived about 3 minutes behind schedule.  Once aboard, I began to realize the biggest downfall of the entire MDT system; route alignment.  Route 37 meandered in and out of the Douglas Road Metro station, Tri-Rail station, and all of the concourses of Miami International before finally reaching my stop at NW 36th Street about 40 minutes after I had boarded.

The transfer to the 36A was perfect.  The bus had pulled up behind the 37 as I was disembarking.  The 36A was standing room only and one of the passengers was a fellow coworker of mine who was also attempting to go car-free for the day from Miami Beach.  The 36A was filled with Doral employees including some Carnival and city employees.  The 36A transported us to the Doral Center on NW 53rd street where we (and nearly everyone else on the bus) transferred (yet again) to the 41.

As we boarded the 41, the bus operator immediately warned us not to photograph her or her bus, after she spotted us snapping a couple of pictures before getting on.  The route dropped us off just across the street from our offices on 97th avenue, leaving us to cross the treacherous 41st  intersection that lacks pedestrian signals.

From my experience this morning, the biggest flaw with MDT’s system is the route alignment and unnecessary transfers.  The MIC-MIA connector will alleviate some of the problems for many of these buses, eliminating the junket to the terminals for several routes.  MDT also needs to introduce a cross-county route that transports passengers across Doral, rather then leaving us at its doorstep and expecting us to transfer to another route.

The whole point of this experiment was to illustrate how difficult it is get to the second largest employment district in the County, Doral.  As I shared with my coworkers, this type of on-hands research is critical to understanding what types of problems we face in the planning industry (from transit to land use.)  Disturbingly, I know of several transportation planners who have never stepped foot on a public bus, let alone walked across a busy street and yet these are the people we designate to design our public spaces.

I cannot wait for my ride home – on paper it should only take an hour, if all goes well…

More Surveys

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on July 24, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

For what it is worth, the Miami-Dade MPO is updating their Long Range Transportation Plan. Do your civic duty and follow this link to tell them you want more funding and emphasis on bicycles, pedestrians, and transit!

You can also catch up with their work to date here.

Summer Transit Challenge

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 24, 2008
in Public Transit
. 1 Comment

Check out the Twitter sidebar for updates on my progress in tomorrow’s Summer Transit Challenge.

If you or someone you know would like to share their transit story with us, feel free to comment or send us an email: movemiami@gmail.com

Summer Transit Challenge

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 22, 2008
in Public Transit
. 17 Comments

That’s right Miami, we are doing it again.  The Transit Miami Summer Transit Challenge is back and we are looking for participants.  This Thursday I along with several coworkers will go car-free to experience Miami-Dade Transit at its finest.  We will be commuting from our homes (Coral Gables, Miami Beach, and West Kendall) to our Doral offices solely using public transportation.  We will be documenting the whole trip (Twitter, hopefully) and discussing the difficulties we encountered along the way.We want to hear from you too.  We invite our readers to participate and send us their stories and images.  All feedback will be transmitted over to MDT.

To make our commute even more challenging, we have imposed a 9 AM arrival time as our deadline, at which point we will convene to discuss the problems we each encountered.

To plan your commute we recommend Google Transit…

NIMBYs Fear Bicycle Path

Published
by
JM Palacios
on July 21, 2008
in Greenway, I-595 and greenways
. 5 Comments

Artist Rendering of SR 84 Greenway

The Not-In-My-BackYard syndrome rages on in Broward County. If there is one facility that seems calm, sedate, and most likely to be desired in one’s backyard, it would be a shared use path for bicycles and pedestrians. No engine noise, no fumes, no rushing traffic. Just some neighbors going for a leisurely stroll or a quiet bike ride. It sounds pretty relaxing, right? Apparently residents in Plantation Acres don’t think so.

The Sun-Sentinel reported last week that some residents near a proposed multi-use path that is part of Broward County’s Greenways fear it will cause a rise in crime. One resident even offered a long list of things that were recently stolen from cars in his neighborhood. The article points out some data supporting that bicycle paths do not cause rises in crime, but fails to point out common sense.

First, if there’s crime now, that doesn’t mean a shared-use path will increase the level of crime. If crime went up after a path was put in, it would be a post hoc fallacy to assume that because of the path the crime went up. But the residents’ reasoning doesn’t even go that far! The residents are talking about a future project and doing nothing more than expressing their paranoia. They are seeing a rise in crime in their neighborhood now. Naturally, this is creating a little nervousness for them. They happen to see a project that might bring outsiders into their neighborhood, so their nervousness increases. Normally there might be something to it, but not so if you stop to think about it.

How are crimes committed? How do criminals get away with the loot? Generally, not by bicycle or on foot. If they want to steal electronics and weapons from cars or houses, they will need a vehicle to stash the goods. It ensures a quicker getaway without attracting attention. So where could anyone even get the idea in their head that a path for bicycles and pedestrians will make it easier for criminals to enter their neighborhood?

I honestly cannot figure out why the Sun-Sentinel even bothered to publish an article based on the opinion of a few paranoid people! To make it even more ironic, they point out that Plantation Acres is an equestrian community. Broward County’s Greenways page makes it clear that the paths are for equestrian use as well as bicycle use. These people will have a chance to ride their horses across the county on this and connecting trails, yet they still rise up against it.

It looks like FDOT will be installing fences to quell the fears of these residents. If the residents have any sense, they will take the time to install their own fences now to avoid the crime issues that are happening now. Their crime problems are happening now, and they have no reason to take out their frustration on one of FDOT’s better projects.

Commuter Profile: Ellen Haas

Published
by
Mike Lydon
on July 21, 2008
in Bicycles, Downtown, Little Havana, Miami and bike lanes
. 10 Comments

Miami, meet Ellen Haas, a 45-year old commuter bicyclist who lives on 8th Street and 62nd Avenue. Citing fitness, economic, environmental and personal reasons, Ellen recently started bicycling 6.5 miles to work downtown. Transit Miami has asked her a few questions about her commute.

Transit Miami: What was the impetus to start commuting by bicycle?

Ellen Haas: I promised myself that when gas reached $4 a gallon for the lowest octane, I would search for an alternate form of commuting. I decided on bicycling after doing some Internet research on public transit, carpooling and bicycling. Bicycling won out because I keep my independence.

TM: How was the first experience?

EH: The first experience was exhilarating. I rode like a bat out of hell, terrified, almost full speed the whole way thinking that I was going to be maimed or killed by a big dump truck or Metrobus, leaving my daughter with no mother. I was amazed when I arrived downtown intact. Riding home that first day was much more difficult, more traffic, intense sun, exhaust fumes, thunderstorms. Every day when I get home, I feel like I have summited Mt. Everest.

TM: Where do you ride and what is your route of choice?

EH: I head east on Eighth Street [Calle Ocho] at 62nd Avenue. I merge left onto Beacom Blvd. in Little Havana at 22nd Avenue. Then I merge onto Southwest First Street and head all the way downtown. I think it’s about 6.5 miles one way. My route of choice would be Coral Way east/west if it had designated bike lanes. It is a lovely shady street and not as manic as Eighth Street SW or Flagler.

TM: What are the challenges to bicycle commuting?

EH: The biggest challenge by far is car drivers ignorance of laws regarding bicycles and their aggression accordingly on the streets of South Florida. Another thing I didn’t realize is how bumpy poorly maintained roads are on a bike with no shock absorbers. The poorer the neighborhood, the less maintained the streets.

TM: What are the joys?

EH: There are many more joys than challenges. I am saving a lot of money on gas and will save more when I give up my parking space that I will surrender to a poor, deserving, still driving co-worker August 1st. I will also notify my auto insurance carrier that I drive a fraction of what I used to. I am also getting into good shape cardiovascularly.

TM: What type of bicycle do you ride?

EH: I ride a Trek 21 speed track bike. I’m not at all technical, so I don’t know the model or whatever.

TM: Do you have showers at work?

EH: There are showers at work but I would be able to deal with a sink and a washcloth if I had to.

TM: How about safe and reliable bicycle parking?

EH: No. I park over at the public library. I have approached the building management people but they look at me as if I have two heads and cite “security” concerns.” Soon I will ask a superior in the building with more “pull” than me to contact building management.

TM: What advice do you have for people who may be considering commuting by bicycle, but have not yet made the leap?

EH: Like Nike says, “Just Do It”. I am an overweight asthmatic 45 year old single parent. If I can ride 6-7 miles to work, ANYONE can. If you live further than that, consider biking part of the way and using MetroRail or Metro Bus for part of your commute. Everybody I talk to who is still driving has an excuse as to why they can’t.

TM: You have a daughter. What type of values do you think you are instilling in her by bicycling to work?

EH: I hope to instill in her a sense of strong individualism. When the new school year begins next month, I would like for us to bike commute together and I am quite sure no other student in her school rides a bicycle to school. We are becoming active in city, county, state and federal politics; carefully noting candidates’ stands on bike lanes and alternative forms of energy. She also has asthma so I want us both commited to improved health.

TM: What does Miami need to do to become more bicycle friendly?

EH: I could go on for paragraphs about how Miami-Dade County needs designated bike lanes with accompanying signage. Drivers need to be educated via “public service announcements” on television and radio to be broadcast in English/Spanish/Kreole about bicycle [e.g. the "Steer Clear" law] safety. I’ve noticed abandoned train tracks, perfect areas for bike paths. We each need to contact our elected officials and start making ourselves known, on the streets and off.

Metro Monday: Making the Morning Train

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 21, 2008
in Metro Monday
. 3 Comments

This video is of a subway station in Venezuela when the doors are opened for the first train of the morning.