Archive for the 'bus' Category

MIC: Regional Transit Hub

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 10, 2007
in FDOT, Florida, GMG, Greyhound, MIC, Mall of the Americas, Metrorail, Miami Bus Service, Miami Intermodal Center, Regional Transit, Spain, Tri-Rail and bus
. 8 Comments
This article has been brewing in my mind for quite some time; however, I kept putting off until I saw some sort of definite progress occurring over at the Miami Intermodal Center. With their new website up and running (finally!) we can get some better insight to some of my more pressing concerns, particularly the Florida regional transportation service.

The Miami Intermodal Center concept is fairly forward thinking for such an automobile dependent area such as Miami. It will link local transit (MDT, Tri-Rail, Taxi, etc.) with regional transit (Greyhound, Amtrak, etc.) with the international destinations serviced by MIA in a centralized, modern facility. I’ve had a growing concern, however, with regards to the regional transportation service which will be offered at the MIC and the efforts of the state (or county) to unify regional transportation links within Miami-Dade County. Given that Florida currently lacks a dependent and reliable statewide rail network, I have decided to concentrate on the interaction between the MIC and statewide bus service.

(Does anyone else find the amount of surface parking in the above two renderings alarming? There shouldn’t be such a need for surface parking in such a central multi-modal transit facility…)

Intercity buses provide transportation between cities and rural areas, be it short or long distance. They usually offer limited stops making service faster and more efficient.

Greyhound is an example of a national intercity bus line, but regionally, all of South Florida’s transit systems have come together to offer intercity service to all major cities and towns in the area, as well as the smaller communities that do not have accessible rail service via Tri-rail or Metrorail. It is envisioned that the MIC’s Miami Central Station will accommodate intercity buses offering service into Miami-Dade County. Until then, visit the South Florida Regional Transit Trip Planner for more information.

Via Milliped’s Flickr…

The excerpt above comes from the intercity bus page on the MIC website. While the site places great emphasis on bringing Greyhound into the facility, I could only hope (as a regular intercity bus user myself) that provisions were made to include space for competing intercity bus services. La Cubana, providing Miami-NYC and Atlanta service easily comes to mind. The popular bus service currently operates from its strip shopping center headquarters on 11 St and NW 22 Ave.

Florida bus services GMG, Miami Bus Service, and TMT, servicing the colleges in Gainesville, Tallahassee, and Orlando could also benefit from access to the centralized terminal. Currently these bus services transport passengers from a parking lot on the respective college campuses to the parking lot of the Mall of the Americas. This “parking lot transit” is a fitting representation of American culture and Urban Planning, we spend our lives commuting to and from parking lots in our own vehicles so it’s only natural that when a successful “mass transit” operation appears, we lack the infrastructure for it to ferry us to anything other than shopping malls. Hopefully the Key-West Shuttle and Jet-Set bus service, both of which already operate from the airport terminals, will be offered space in the new facility as well.

While touring through Spain I marveled at the efficiency and popularity of the bus network in that country. It goes to show that despite the widespread efficient rail system in Spain, alternatives are needed to offer citizens a greater variety of choices and competitive prices for land-based regional transit. We arrived in the central city bus terminal of Toledo, purchased tickets for any of the buses traveling between the small city and Madrid every half hour and were well on our way within a few minutes of boarding (fully booked too, no doubt.) Spain is entwined in a vast web of rail and bus networks, all of which terminate in the central city stations accessible by public transit, pedestrians, cyclists, etc.

Bottom Picture Via Robert A1’s Flickr…

Regional public transit corridors are imperative to creating sustainable cities across Florida and the United States. The Miami Intermodal Center takes us a few steps closer to unifying our regional and local transit, making both systems accessible to a wider group of people and more importantly, accessible via local modes of public transit. I hope the necessary parties work to bring our regional bus and eventually rail transit into the Miami Intermodal Center to fully realize the potential the center has to offer…

News Briefs

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 19, 2007
in Advertising Trucks, Billboards, Busway, Illegal Advertising, Killian Kat, MDT, News, Sprawl, Sunpass, Tri-Rail and bus
. 3 Comments
  • MDT’s Buses on the shoulder program is going well. With 50% fewer late buses the pilot program is looking good thus far along the Killian routes.
  • Last year’s fastest growing Transit System, Tri-Rail, is working the kinks out of its latest “service enhancements.” The agency is still struggling to gain dispatch control from CSX and last week experienced a dismal on time performance between 50-60%…
  • Remember those stupid trucks with billboards which drive around and cause congestion, pollute, and obstruct your view? Here are the people responsible…
  • Sunpass will be selling at half price to placate 13,000 people who live in sprawl-land, or something of the sort…What I’d like to know is when we’re going to wake up and start using toll money to finance real transit projects… (Via SOTP)

The 7 Day Metropass has Arrived!

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 29, 2007
in BCT, MDT, MetroCard, Metropass, Metrorail, Miami Beach, Miami-Dade Transit, Palm Tran, Tourism and bus
. 6 Comments
That’s right folks, today MDT unveiled their new 7 day metropass geared to Miami’s tourist market:
The $19 pass will come with a countywide transit system map including detailed maps of Miami Beach and downtown Miami showing visitors how to get to numerous tourist attractions and destinations using Metrobus, Metrorail and Metromover. A scratch-off calendar will let passengers choose the seven consecutive days they wish to use the pass.

Now, if only we could accelerate plans to unify the tri-county transit systems and implement system wide technology which would enable the use of credit cards, we’ll really be making some logical progress…

The pass will initially be sold at Miami International Airport, four visitor centers, select hotels and businesses and MDT’s transit service centers. For exact pass sales locations and hours of operation, call 305-770-3131 or visit www.miamidade.gov/transit. Online sales of the pass will begin in the fall on MDT’s website as well as a number of international travel websites.

Understanding Street Capacity

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on May 28, 2007
in Hong Kong, Land Use, Miami, Street Capacity, Streetcar, Transit, Transportation and bus
. 6 Comments
Below is a series of pictures that I just love. I think they do an excellent job illustrating the concept of street capacity, making clear how much valuable urban street space is wasted by private automobile travel.
This first picture above shows 24 cars on a block in some town. It’s amazing how much space is taken up just so a couple dozen people can move around (or store their vehicles if the outside columns of cars are “parked” in this picture).

The second picture below clearly shows how much street space is wasted by all these private, single- occupant vehicles.

The third picture below clearly shows how much street space is preserved when mass transportation such as streetcars or buses are used to transport the same number of people through uniform space.

The last picture below illustrates just how small a space is used by the same number of people when they are pedestrians.
All of these pictures help us to see the intrinsic link between land use (e.g. density, urban design, parking requirements, etc) and transportation. In turn, it helps us understand how high quality urban land uses that emphasize density, pedestrian-oriented design, and transit instead of automobiles actually make for more sustainable environments than less dense or more sprawling locales which facilitate private automobile usage.

When you can to begin to grasp this concept, you will have begun to understand how unsustainable the auto-centric city is even with an unlimited supply of the cleanest, greenest fuel technology.

Photos courtesy of terrian.org and streetsblog.com

Wednesday Headlines

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 23, 2007
in Accident, American Airlines, Bikes, California, Floating Condos, Ford, GE, HSR, Holland Tunnel, Hybrid Bus, MIA, Miami, Orlando, Parsons/Odebrecht, People Mover and bus
. 3 Comments
  • MIA is experiencing a sudden surge of International Flights. American Airline’s recent announcement of 14 additional round trip flights to Colombian destinations (Baraquilla, Medellin, and Bogota) and year round, non-stop flights to Montevideo, Uruguay, further solidified the carrier’s position in Miami and Latin American. Meanwhile, South African Airways is also considering adding daily non-stop flights between Miami and Johannesburg and Brazil’s TAM is adding daily non-stop flights to Rio de Janeiro. There are also preliminary talks of Virgin America coming into the market within the next five years. Hopefully the recent surge of interest in MIA will justify the half billion dollars commissioners recently approved to complete the North Terminal project. The North Terminal, as we’ve discussed in the past, is about 1 billion dollars over budget, 393 days behind schedule, and the cause of our humiliating “exercising” train in Japan. I’d like to know how the Parsons/Odebrecht Joint Venture Contractor can justify a Billion dollars of cost overruns and more than a year in delays…Note: Parsons/Odebrecht is currently the contractor managing the MIA South Terminal (Over budget, Behind Schedule), Miami Intermodal Center (Over budget, Behind Schedule), MIA North Terminal (Over budget, Behind Schedule), MIA People Mover (Behind Schedule), and Odebrecht was the contractor in charge of the construction of the Carnival Center (Over budget and behind schedule, to say the least.) Anyone else see a worrisome trend evolving here? There’s a common denominator with Odebrecht: the County. The Question then becomes who’s responsible? The joint venture also placed a bid for the contract to build the Port of Miami Tunnel, however, a Spanish firm was granted that contract (that is unless some crazy idea that the firm should not be granted the job because of it’s own legal ties to Cuba becomes part of someone’s political agenda…)
  • In Eco News, Orlando will become the first city in the United States to operate a fleet of Hydrogen powered buses built by Ford. The city will use the 8 hydrogen buses to ferry passengers around the airport and convention center. Meanwhile GE today unveiled the first ever Hybrid Road locomotive…
  • Speaking of Buses, an MDTA bus plowed through a little Havana Church before sunrise today…
  • Floating Condos? Man, I hope this doesn’t catch on…
  • Good news for the California HSR initiative: A senate subcommittee has approved a 45-point, 2 Million Dollar initial budget…
  • The Holland Tunnel is facing 30+ minute delays at 5:30 on a Friday evening, how did this guy get through in 5 minutes? Watch the video to see…
  • Three Cents off each Gallon of Gas? Oh, you shouldn’t have! No, Really…

Update: Courtesy of Mark, in the Comments Below:

  • American Airlines will start daily flights to Valencia, Venezuela pending Venezuelan government approval this fall.
  • American Airlines will start four weekly flights each to Recife and Salvador da Bahia, in Brazil, later this year pending Brazilian government approval.
  • American Airlines is set to announce in a few weeks the launch of the only non-stop service between South Florida and Austin, Texas this fall.
  • American Airlines just launched new non-stops to Fayetteville, Arkansas and in June adds additional service to Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Cozumel, Freeport, Jacksonville, Key West, Nassau, and Rio de Janeiro.
  • VARIG will resume service to Miami this December, with daily non-stop service to Rio de Janeiro.
  • AeroSur will increase service between Miami and Bolivia in June from 3x to 4x a week.
  • El Al just increased service between Miami and Tel Aviv last month, from 2x to 3x a week.
  • Aerolineas Argentinas will begin 5x weekly non-stop service between Miami and Sao Paulo on 1 September 2007.
  • AirTran will launch the only non-stop service between Miami and Kansas City on 7 November 2007. On the same day, they will launch the only low-fare non-stop service between Miami and Baltimore.
  • Ecuador’s AEROGAL has applied with the US DOT to fly to Miami, and is awaiting US approval to begin scheduled service later this year.
  • Iberia just increased Miami-Madrid service from daily to 10x weekly.
  • Air Plus Comet is planning to start four weekly flights between Miami and Madrid in November.
  • German airline LTU more than doubled MIA service last week. They now serve Miami 5x a week, instead of 2x. They have three flights a week from Dusseldorf, Germany and two flights a week from Munich, Germany.

Simply Remarkable…

Quick News Links

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on May 9, 2007
in Bacardi, Berkeley, Bikes, Congestion Pricing, Coral Gables, FDOT, Green Miami, I-395, I-95, Mc Mansions, Parking, Sustainability and bus
. 1 Comment

5th and Alton’s Intelligent Planning Measures

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on April 16, 2007
in Miami 21, Miami Beach, Parking, Pedestrians, Public Transit, Retail, Transit Oriented Development, Urban Design, Urban Planning and bus
. 5 Comments
I got some of the latest shots of the proposed retail center slated to rise on 5th street and Alton Rd. on Miami beach, just across from the up and coming Vitri Lofts. The retail center will feature some of the principles I am always advocating for the buildings rising in the design district and other parts of Miami. If just some of these concepts were required on all of the buildings in Miami, I guarantee we would have a far better pedestrian friendly atmosphere and a much easier time implementing public transit infrastructure and use. For example, a bus station will be integrated into the project, bringing the beach’s many transit users right into the front doors of the complex:Covered sidewalks and tree landscaping are an integral part of creating and maintaining vibrant pedestrian activity, particularly in Miami due to the heat and frequent summer showers. 5th and Alton will feature cover porticoes, palms, and public artwork, similar to that of many of the buildings on Miami Beach:Some of you think we’re against vehicles, which simply isn’t true. We’re against planning for vehicles as the priority of any project. Buildings should be designed to primarily interact with people rather than cars. 5th and Alton will likely feature enough parking for most of its visitors, but the parking garage won’t be the focal point of the structure and neither will its’ unsightly entrance. The entrance is relegated to a back street, Lenox Ave, where the traffic impact will be minimal and the pedestrian and transit entrances will remain uninhibited:
Update: Fifth and Alton is being developed by the Berkowitz group in conjunction with the Potamkin Family. The project is slated to be 170,000 square feet and will contain a Staples, Best Buy, and Publix among others. The City of Miami Beach will be purchasing parking spaces from the retail center for public use at a cost of $9.5 Million. The Berkowitz group created the Dadeland Station mall in Kendall as well as the Kendall Village Shopping complex in west Kendall, which both also featured large Romero Britto sculptures…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on March 20, 2007
in Broward, Transit and bus
. 0 Comments

Broward Commissioners approved a plan to buy 200 NABI buses over the next five years to replace aging vehicles and add to their existing fleet. Flexible buses similar to the one pictured above, will begin running along the US 441 route this week…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on February 27, 2007
in Broward, Transit and bus
. 0 Comments
BCT Mechanic Pay raise is in the works…

MDT Honors Rosa Parks

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on February 18, 2007
in Miami, Miami-Dade County, Transit and bus
. 0 Comments

Miami-Dade Transit Honors Rosa Parks for Black History Month:

“A permanent memorial to Rosa Parks will be on display above a designated seat behind the bus driver’s position, to honor Park’s refusal to give up her seat to another person. The decal reads, “Seat dedicated in honor of Rosa Parks” and is written in three languages.”

The Metrobus Blues

Published
by
Ryan Sharp
on February 13, 2007
in Metrorail, Miami, Streetcar, Transit, bus, metrobus and rail
. 9 Comments
Here’s another reason why rail transit expansion should take precedent over bus-favored alternatives. This afternoon I hopped on the #11 bus FIU-bound from Government Center via Flagler St at approximately 4:20pm; at 6:53pm, I arrived at FIU. It took the bus two and a half hours to go about 12 miles. If you’re counting at home, that’s an average speed around 5MPH. To put that into perspective, the average human walking speed is about 3.5MPH, meaning at a fairly brisk pace I could have rivaled the bus on foot. Furthermore, Metrorail travels its entire 22 miles in roughly 45 minutes, for an average speed of about 30MPH, or 600% faster than the bus. You would think Sweetwater would be begging for a Metrorail station (or two).

People talk about buses being advantageous to rail because of “flexible” routes, but nearly all routes are placed along arterial and connector roads that are the most susceptible to congestion (which, as we all should know, is expected to get much worse than it already is). Moreover, as we’ve mentioned a hundred times before, buses do relatively nothing to enhance the pedestrian realm, which is a major goal of the City of Miami, as well as Transit Miami. As Gabe said earlier, streetcars may not be guaranteed to significantly lessen traffic congestion, at least not immediately, but they are much more likely to do so than buses and they facilitate pedestrian-oriented surroundings so people have alternatives to driving everywhere.

Manhattan has the most comprehensive subway system in the world, but if you’ve ever driven there, you know that doesn’t preclude the borough from heavy congestion. The point is, they have many alternatives and we don’t - which is partly why NYC is a world-class city and Miami is still a far cry away.

"Fan Mail" Part Two

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 13, 2006
in Baylink, Miami Beach, Transit and bus
. 0 Comments

The Transit Miami Summer Transit Challenge continues with the story of G. Williams of Miami Beach:

…I’ve been living on South Beach and working downtown for the last 13 years or so and have not owned a car in all that time. The A bus is a delight (and stops 2 blocks from my apartment). Our household (my partner and I) earns 6 figures, so it’s not like we’re poor. I have not the least interest in owning an automobile in South Florida. I have arranged my life so that I don’t need one. And I have saved A LOT OF MONEY over the course of that time that would otherwise have gone towards the “joy of automobile ownership.” No thanks. Keep up the good work.

Excellent story and true example of just how vital a rail link such as baylink could be to both cities. G. Williams is incredibly lucky that his office has remained in downtown for the past 13 years and hasn’t up and left for blue lagoon or doral (A popular trend among major employers.)

Keep the stories coming…Lets also discuss what you Transit users see wrong with the current system (Particulary Buses)…I’ll be doing a little bit of my own investigating the next time I ride a bus (Next week, or this weekend) when I plan on interviewing some of the fellow riders and transit officials…

Photo From: This Site

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Pimp my Bus: The LA Solution to Shallow Riders

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 10, 2006
in Commuting, Los Angeles and bus
. 0 Comments

Mariel Garza of the Los Angeles Daily News recently conducted her own personal Transit Challenge, where she depended solely on the Public Transportation in Los Angeles for a Month straight, Impressive. All in all, her experience flat out sucked (from her perspective.) Her daily commute (50 Miles) aboard public buses took around 3.5 hours a day (this is what Sprawl will do to Miami eventually, especially if we keep expanding the UDB to build lame, poor-planned suburban developments.) She neglected to talk about how much money she saved from not having to fill her gas tank, but, harped about the $75/Month bus pass she purchased.


However, to ride the L.A. DOT’s commuter express past a few miles say, to or from the San Fernando Valley you must purchase an extra stamp for $17 a pop. A bus pass for $75 a month hardly seems like a big incentive.

The LA system seems to be as well planned as the independent, extremely non-interconnected, tri county transit authorities. I wonder if their monthly passes are as difficult as ours to attain, where you have to travel to strip shopping centers to purchase one. All in all, Garza, learned about the problems of Public Transportation in her neighborhood, but provided little insight as to what could be done to improve it or make it efficient enough to improve her commute. Maybe “tricking” out the buses on Pimp My Ride, would entice a few of the more materialistic LA riders. LA’s problem is similar to Miami’s in the sense that it’s extremely difficult to coerce anyone to abandon their vehicular dependency, to a certain extent at least. Inching along independently in thousands of cars along the highways is some how more efficient to everyone than working to seek an alternative.

But the most important thing I learned from my bus experiment is that it is both humbling and humiliating to be dependent on the bus. When you drive, you are in control of your destination and thus, in a way, your destiny. When you ride the bus, you give up control to the bus driver, to the other passengers and to chance itself

My car certainly isn’t taking me to destiny, I’m headed to work. Humiliation should never be a feeling evoked by using public transportation and thus here lies one of our fundamental issues in openly adopting transportation use. I guess it just isn’t “cool” anymore to ride the bus to work, or it must that we are so concerned with how others will perceive us if we did so…


Just a Reminder: Transit Miami’s Summer Transit Challenge is still going on, so send me your latest Transit story…

The Bus Hog…

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on July 5, 2006
in Miami-Dade Transit, Traffic and bus
. 0 Comments
I received an interesting digital telegram today, which, upon reading it required me to trump the piece I was working on for today. I figured I’d share it with you all and offer the anonymous author some better insight to why increased Public Transportation use would be more beneficial to all of us, including his own daily needs. It reads:

I can’t believe you’re still doing this. I’m going to say this just once: using public transportation is a challenge, in and of itself, for a great many of us living in Miami that HAVE NO CHOICE. OK? We have to use public transportation to get to work. And guess what? It’s not a matter of whether it’s bad or good, whether it’s convenient or not, whether it’s going to make us feel like bright shiny citizens, it’s a matter of our day to day lives. Why are you trying to get people to not drive to work and take a bus? They’ll try to take a bus and it will suck and they’ll be really unhappy and they’ll never do it again. It’s not like” trying” a new restaurant or “trying” a really fabulous new merlot. What’s next? You want to “try” eating ramen 3 nights a week? You want to “try” bouncing a rent check? Please. You know what? The bus is already full. We don’t need anyone else getting on. We don’t need you taking up one of the bike racks just so you can blog about it.

The purpose of TransitMiami.com is not to make me or any of my readers “bright shiny citizens” as we gleefully ride around on public transportation like a bunch of kids on carnival rides. I encourage the use of Public transportation, to make Miami a better, more accessible city for all of us. All world-class cities are built upon transportation networks which can suit the needs of all citizens and visitors. Our city is growing at an unprecedented pace and with that growth comes an increased level of traffic congestion. Roads cannot continue to be expanded due to the inefficiency of the process and alternatives such as the buses you rely on to get to work and the upcoming streetcar or metrorail expansions must be sought for all of our use. Logically, people and goods can travel more efficiently and effectively if we traveled together in buses and trains (more efficiently than individual cars, that is.) With greater use, you too will see the benefits of an improved transit system which will receive a greater portion of our public dollars for improvements. Better services for you to make it to work on time, more reliable schedules, and more buses to relieve the current overcrowding you have spoken of.

I know you would like to think that our experiences will “suck” but so far that has not been the case for me, Rebecca Carter, or various other people which have given it a chance this summer. I don’t relate it to trying a new restaurant, its more of a lifestyle change, a necessary change we must all face in order to continue to be a mobile and progressive community.


I’m looking to hear about the experiences of people like you on Miami’s public transportation system in order to help create a better system for all users. If anyone would like to contribute a beneficial story about their own experiences, troubles, or areas which you believe could be improved, feel free to send me an e-mail (movemiami@gmail.com.) Until then, I’ll keep promoting public transportation as the logical solution for the clogged roadways of our community…

My Chronicles of Transit (Part II)

Published
by
Gabriel Lopez-Bernal
on June 9, 2006
in Lejeune, Miami, Public Transit, Transit and bus
. 0 Comments

3 minutes. That is how little I had to wait yesterday for the J route bus to arrive. The ride home was flawless, quick, and just as efficient as if I had driven myself. The bus flowed as quickly as the traffic on LeJeune during the 5 pm crunch. The effectiveness of the whole ride home was a surprise to me; I never thought it could rival driving.
The bus was nearly full to seated capacity. The assortment of people riding the bus home included a couple of flight attendants (Delta and American Airlines), old folks, kids attending summer school at Coral Gables Senior high, and people who looked like they were just running errands.

All of the buses and trains were very clean, well air-conditioned, and for all practical purposes comfortable. The metrorail stations themselves need some help in that department, but in all fairness, they do see a considerably more traffic.

I took the metrorail down to South Miami to run some errands (Post-office mainly) before heading to back home. Having to depend on public transit, required me to plan my day accordingly and made my day go by much more smoothly. I felt better and more energized because of the added walking and saved time and money by planning my day ahead of time.

I now plan to make busses a part of my weekly routine in getting to and from work and other places (aside from my usual use of metrorail on weekends.) My next plan is to try a longer distance (maybe the beach on a Saturday.) I regret that Ryan had such a miserable experience in his attempt to get to FIU but I hope that doesn’t discourage some of you from taking the Transit Miami Summer Transit Challenge. I did and it worked…