Author Archive for Gabriel Lopez-Bernal

Two Steps Back: Surburbanizing the Urban Core

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 10, 2008
in Miami and Two Steps Back
. 13 Comments

This next segment is the beginning of a new series here on Transit Miami where we will look at certain actions or policies that will invariably counteract true urban progress.

This might be the ultimate mistake in zoning history; constructing a ½ billion-dollar opera/ballet house and later allowing a Wal-Mart to settle in next door.  On the way to the ballet, you can pick up some cheap shit foreign made goods, contribute to the massive trade deficit, and support the public financial burden caused by an employer who perennially underpays employees.  A Wal-Mart in the urban core continues the suburbanization mentality of building we have seen here in Miami – that is, tall, dense structures only accessible by car.  In a sense: Urban from far, but far from urban.

Now, it is not just the zoning that is the issue; imagine spending another billion dollars to rid the downtown of the majority of port-bound truck traffic, only to allow a retailer that will generate hundreds of weekly truck trips to nestle in that very same downtown core.  Seems a bit counterproductive, if you ask me, but then again this is Miami, why should we be surprised?

From the beginning, we were not against a mixed-use retail center rising alongside the performing arts center.  We viewed the complex, coupled with the PAC, as a formidable component to a thriving media-arts district, filled with nightlife, restaurants, hotels, and well, worthy destinations, not big-box retail.  A Wal-Mart anywhere in the downtown region automatically negates that key phrase every Miami politician loves to toss around wildly.  You know the one, it goes a little something like: “This _____ will put Miami on the map, this going to a real “world-class” _____.”  I guess you can fill in the blanks with Wal-Mart if there is such thing as a “world-class” Wal-Mart, perhaps third world class…

Commissioner Marc Sarnoff recently said it best:

“I thought the idea for that neighborhood was to create a walking neighborhood and not a big box for the Beach,”

Frankly, we envisioned something similar to Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, nothing revolutionary, just a proper mixed-use development complete with theaters (imax too), restaurants, hotels, and corporate businesses (DB HQ, Price Waterhouse offices, Sony, etc.)  From wikipedia:

…The rebuilt Potsdamer Platz now attracts around 70,000 visitors a day, rising to 100,000 at weekends, and some critics have been surprised by the success of the new quarter. Fears that the streets would be dead after 6pm have proven false. At almost any time of the day, the place is alive with people. It is a particularly popular attraction for visitors: the “Arkaden” shopping mall contains around 150 shops and restaurants on three levels, the lowest (basement) level being a food floor; there are also four major hotels, and Europe’s largest casino (the “Spielbank Berlin”)…

Note: in this last image the two large buildings on the bottom right is the home of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.  The situational resemblance is uncanny.

Mary Peters in Miami Today

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on August 1, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 2 Comments

Thanks to a tip from one of our dedicated readers, David, it has come to my attention that US Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters will be speaking at the Downtown Miami Hilton Today.  The event, A New Transportation Approach For America, is sponsored by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and will begin at 12:30 (Click here to register, $75 fee for non-members.)  I’m going to try my best to make it there and hope that despite the short notice some of you all can attend. You can find some of the emails SBH has shared with me concerning the subject here.

Like our friend over at Hallandale Beach Blog has noted, we too find it interesting that Mary Peters can make some time out of her busy schedule to speak about transportation in Miami, while FDOT director Stephanie Kopelousos remains MIA in the South Florda region.  Kopelousos recently held a transportation summit in Destin Florida to discuss the congestion issues of North Florida.  I guess a drive down to Miami would have been to difficult.

Here is what the Halladale Beach Blog has to say:

When federal public transit policy meets South Florida’s notoriously fickle apathy, who wins?

Oh, right.

Everyone loses!

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

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…

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…

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.

Transit Humor: The Duplex

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 20, 2008
in Transit Humor
. 1 Comment

- Via Go Comics

About That Funding…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 16, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 14 Comments

Consider the following excerpt from the Herald:

Miami-Dade voters strongly oppose spending tax dollars on a baseball stadium and other projects in a $3 billion public works plan, but would back spending on local schools, a new poll shows.

The survey of 800 Miami-Dade registered voters suggests the public is reluctant to spend local tax dollars for ”luxury items” during an economic slowdown, said Sergio Bendixen, whose Bendixen & Associates conducted the poll.

I’m going to go ahead nip this one in the bud before anyone grabs it and runs with it.  The money (Note: vast majority, not all) earmarked for the Miami Megaplan is allotted for the sole use of the intended individual projects.

If Miami does not utilize the $500 million FDOT is providing for the tunnel project, the funds cannot be diverted to education, healthcare, or any other sector.  FDOT will simply reallocate the funds to another or various transportation projects in other counties within the state.  Our loss.

Now about the stadium.  That funding, 90% of the county’s share according to County Manager George Burgess, is coming from the tourist and convention development taxes.  Tax money, which once again, can only be used for programs that will stimulate more tourism within the Miami-Dade County area.

CRA Money?  Care to take a guess?  Yep.  This money can only be used for the improvement of the redevelopment districts.

Now, before we start crying foul about the Miami Megaplan or any other infrastructure upgrades in these self imposed difficult economic times, perhaps we should stop and consider where this funding is coming from and what we are permitted to do with it in the first place.  I find it rather irresponsible of Bendixen & Associates to perform such a rash survey without considering the complex funding restrictions.

Bendixen noted that the poll didn’t ask voters’ opinions of the projects, just the funding mechanism. ”Voters aren’t saying they don’t like the ideas, they don’t think these projects are good investment for tax money,” he said.

And clearly failed to consider how exactly these funding sources work…

Voters were even more opposed to paying for construction of a new museum park at Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami. The poll found 66 percent of respondents found it a ”bad investment” for the county; while 29 percent considered it a “good investment.”

Guess what folks?  We had the chance to vote on this one already.  We approved the bond deal that enabled its funding.  Besides if we’re in such a dire need to improve our education, why not build these institutions of higher learning?  Every great city has large museums to compliment the classroom components of learning…

95 Express

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 15, 2008
in 95 express and HOT lanes
. 13 Comments

Last Wednesday, I had the chance to drive north along I-95 in Miami-Dade County where I snapped the pictures below of the then incomplete sections of 95 Express, the variable priced road pricing scheme program going into full effect by 2010.  Little did I know that just 2 days later, FDOT would be “completing” the first segment of 95 Express and opening the lanes up to the public.  Driving, I actually thought to myself “This should make for some interesting conversation on TM.”  In fact, had I known this, I likely would have driven north to Palm Beach instead of taking tri-rail this past Friday.

95 Express

95 Express’ opening day was a disaster.  I will tell you why.  This is the sort of outcome you should expect when our government blindly throws hundreds of millions of dollars at an unproven concept.  Not congestion pricing.  We are generally in favor of road pricing policies because of their effectiveness in reducing urban congestion and smog.  I am concerned with the urban partnerships program.  Essentially, this program threw $1 Billion dollars at five cities to “relieve congestion” in existing rights of ways while combining public transportation with road pricing.  Or in the preferred government alliteration speak:

The Department sought applicants to aggressively use four complementary and synergistic strategies (referred to as the “4Ts”) to relieve urban congestion: Tolling, Transit, Telecommuting, and Technology.

Now, how a transportation project can go from conception to construction in just over 1-year’s time is beyond me, this process is sure to be riddled with problems.  Note: In August 2007, the Secretary announced five final urban partners: Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, San Francisco, and Seattle.

I predict that most Miami drivers will have no problem mowing down the delineated candlestick markers, just as they managed to do along Dolphin Mall Blvd (see below), or Kendall Dr. (Note: here they raised the delineated markers onto a concrete curb after they had been plowed a few times, encouraging most Hummer sedan drivers to stray away.)

This is likely an issue which we’ll be writing on frequently and is the subject of much controversy (especially now) in South Florida.  Before I get to the transit aspect of 95 Express, let’s open this up for some conversation…

News Links

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 14, 2008
in Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

These are the issues and articles we’ll be addressing over the next week or two:

  • Braman Falls flat on his face in the opening arguments of his lawsuit against the Miami Mega Plan (Miami Herald)
  • Midtown Miami falls way short of its intended promises and scope but is still set to receive Millions in Taxpayer money.  This is the sort of scandal we should be raising lawsuits over, not streetcars and tunnels.  (Miami Herald)
  • 95 Express’ first day in quasi operation proved to be a disaster (Miami Herald)

Transit Humor: Shoe’s Carbon Footprint

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 14, 2008
in Transit Humor
. 0 Comments

Via: Go Comics

Pic o’ the Day: More Streetcars

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 9, 2008
in Photography, Pic o' the Day, Tram and Transit
. 4 Comments

Streetcars, Trams, Light Rails.  Call them what you may, but these devices resolve the simple task of effectively moving people around densely populated urban centers.  In the spirit of keeping the Miami streetcar alive (which I assure you will not resemble the picture below) this week with a swift defeat of Norm’s frivolous lawsuit against the Miami mega plan, we bring you today’s Pic o’ the Day.  Can anyone name this city?