Author Archive for Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
I recently had the chance to spend a whole day riding Tri-Rail (Fully Work Related) and finally got a good glimpse at the quantity of commuters who depend on this rather primitive commuter rail system daily. Last week, Tri-Rail averted a major financial crisis that would have slashed daily service from 50 to 20 trains and completely eliminated weekend service, thanks to only a 10% budget reduction by Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Another year of near optimal operation should allow the former fastest growing transit agency in the nation (2006) to continue to attract riders, in a time when public transit infrastructure is of paramount importance.
Ridership is up already 45% over June 2007. May saw a 25% increase, April 28% and March 22%. More than 157 companies signed up for the authority’s employer discount program in May — about 881 riders.
While travelining along the line, I noticed a few key areas where tri-rail could drastically improve its bottom line and service:
TOD: Currently Inexistent. This is my major focus in Regional Planning studies. Often times, I find that our problems are not necessarily the fault of poor transit policy but rather what we choose to do with the land around our transit centers. In Miami, this usually equates to fences, poor access, and inappropriate uses.
Parking: Currently free and very limited. Potential revenue source? There are several reasons why free parking poses many problems, even at transit stations.
Employee Parking: Seriously? This parking is largely unused and unnecessary.
Tri-Rail has received a year reprieve in which it must continue to attract a larger share of riders while working to better integrate itself with the South Florida Landscape. Most of the land use issues are largely out of the control of the agency but must still be addressed regionaly if we ever hope to make a sliver of change in our very autocentric lifestyles.
I was fortunate enough to have been invited to attend part of the Mayor’s Hemispheric Forum by Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. The hemispheric forum occurred prior to the US conference of Mayors, also here in Miami, which officially began yesterday. Mayor Diaz is being inducted as the President of the Mayors Conference. I’ll cover this critical event in some more detail next week.
Related Articles:
Apparently today was Dump the Pump Day - the annual transit day, where people are encouraged to try using public transportation for all or part of their daily commutes. We didn’t get the memo. Why are these things so poorly publicized?
From 7 am to 1 pm on August 9, 16, and 23, New York’s Park Avenue will partially resemble it’s earlier form when a municipal park actually occupied the right of way. A nod to the successful Ciclovia events in Bogota, Colombia, “Summer Streets” will ban all vehicular and bus traffic on the bustling thoroughfare from the Brooklyn Bridge to 72nd Street into central Park, giving way to pedestrians and cyclists only.
Image Via: Aaron Naparstek…
Today:
Image Via: MikeyNYC’s Flickr…
Last week I decided to go cycling along the M-Path and was taken aback by the hostility and fragmentation of Miami’s only main Bicycle route. I was even more shocked when last weekend I visited Cambridge again and witnessed first hand the disparity between Miami’s and Cambridge’s cycling facilities. We have a long way to go.
Cambridge is by far one of the friendliest cities in the United States for cycling. Click here for a full citywide map of routes. Most city streets look like the image below and the bike lanes provide a consistent network for area residents.
The M-Path, our “premier” cycling facility is a fragmented trail of hostility. As the M-Path to Enlightenment points out, if you aren’t paying attention and are traveling too fast, you’ll end up in the Miami River along the path’s northern terminus in Downtown Miami. I was taken aback most by the lovely “No Trespassing” signs along the very public right-of-way. A little misleading, isn’t it?
Forgive me for my absence recently, as Ryan mentioned, we have all been extremely busy. I’m heading up to Boston for the weekend…
“People have always lived on streets. They have been the places where children first learned about the world, where neighbors met, the social centers of towns and cities, the rallying points for revolts, the scenes of repression… The street has always been the scene of this conflict, between living and access, between resident and traveler, between street life and the threat of death.”
-Donald Appleyard
We’re pleased to announce the addition of a very talented transportation advocate from Miami Beach, Ms. Gabrielle Redfern. Her efforts to bring the first bike lanes to the city of Miami Beach (the infamous 3 block section on 42nd street) spurned her interest in other opportunities to increase mobility throughout Miami Beach. She is a member of the Miami Beach Design & Review Board, a member of the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Bikeways on Miami Beach, and a former member of the BPAC. Gabrielle is a self proclaimed “transit junkie” and a welcomed addition to our staff. Her first article will be appearing by the end of the week.
There are certain critical factors which create a functional street. This street, exemplifies what the urban center of a small town should resemble. Let’s get interactive and discuss some of the qualities which make this such a functional urban space.
Also, Can anyone name the town?
Tonight was the Miami-Dade MPO BPAC committee meeting in Miami’s City Hall. For those of you who didn’t make it, you didn’t miss anything earth shattering except that we all agreed that we have a long way to go before we have a sensible bicycle network in this county. If you have any suggestions, comments, or ideas for possible bike related projects, feel free to email them over to us (Movemiami@gmail.com) and we’ll be sure to get them over to David Henderson (Pictured above giving the main presentation of the night…)
- Today: June 3, 2008 from 6-8pm there will be a Miami-Dade Bicycle/Pedestrian Action Committee Meeting in Miami’s City Hall…
- Tomorrow: June 4, 2008 there will be a Miami River Commission meeting at 10 AM in the Miami River Inn (118 South River Drive.)
This video provides us with a glimpse of Miami’s first Transit Oriented Development, conceived in the 80s at the Kendall Station of the southern terminus of the metrorail system. This video kicks off a series of articles which will be aimed at discussing TOD…
Three Great articles I highly recommend.
- A Fountain on Every Corner (New York Times)
An entire generation of Americans has grown up thinking public faucets equal filth, and the only water fit to drink comes in plastic, factory sealed. It’s time to change that perception with public fountains in the city’s busiest quadrants, pristine bubblers that celebrate the virtues of our public water supply, remind us of our connection to upstate watersheds and reinforce our commitment to clean water for all.
- After Bingeing on Oil, the Country Has a Hangover (Washington Post)
Oil fueled our ambitions and dreams. The more we drank, the happier we felt, the bolder we acted. We believed in the eternity of oil, the everlasting cheapness of it; we looked askance at anyone who questioned our faith.
In all of this, we had enablers, politicians who supported our habit, told us not to worry, that there was more cheap oil to be found somewhere — in another country, perhaps, if not our own. They said they would fix whatever needed fixing.
- Getting on board with Amtrak’s needs (Boston Globe)
It is one thing to meet with an Amtrak worker for a photo-op. It is another to get on board for the rail service America needs for a green economy, less urban congestion, and a more civilized future. Obama says, ‘‘Detroit won’t find a better partner than me in the White House.’’ In the past, that has also meant making a pariah out of Amtrak. Nothing would symbolize a break from this past more than a whistlestop tour in the presidential campaign, to promote trains themselves.
Bikways and Busways fit in with even the grandest of streets…
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