While Miami’s political attention is on County charter changes, Miami-Dade County residents should consider a change that would reduce our second-largest cost of living: transportation.
Our largest cost of living, housing – at least the portion directly determined by County government, i.e. property taxes – is overseen by an official that we recently decided that we should elect. Now any Property Appraiser must improve the lives of a majority of County residents in the area of property taxes in order to be re-elected.
This technique should by applied to the area of transportation, changing the County charter to create an elected County Transportation Director with the power and responsibility over all modes of transportation. This would insert into County government one person whose sole political interest is to move as many County residents to destinations that matter to us.
Any candidate for County Transportation Director would have to convince a majority of voters that he or she is best able to come up with plans, and implement them, for saving us time and money by extending facilities, increasing capacity, and reducing waste. An elected County Transportation Director would have to improve the lives of a majority of County residents in the area of transportation in order to be re-elected.
Creating an elected County Transportation Director would also address issues with the current system in which certain modes of transportation, or certain facilities, are overseen by separate County departments. For example, the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, because it only deals with toll highways, has an interest in not losing revenue to rail or buses. Separate departments may act against such interests out of benevolence, but it would be better to remove temptation.
Transportation investment and maintenance decisions should be made on the basis of how many people could benefit, regardless of mode or facility. An elected County Transportation Director would have every incentive to make decisions in such a way, improving mobility for all County residents and reducing our cost of living.
Submitted by Andrew Frey.
3 Responses to Key to Better Mobility in Miami-Dade: Elect County Transportation Director
Leave a Reply
Contact Us!
Planetizen- Cities May Be Back, But Don't Forget About the Burbs May 22, 2013A review of June Williamson's new book reminds us that the need to retrofit suburbia is as urgent as ever, despite the ascendance of cities. Amanda Kolson Hurley explores the top five reasons 'why the suburbs are shaping up as the new frontier.' […]
- Is Congestion Pricing the Solution to San Francisco’s Traffic Woes? May 22, 2013A new report paints a grim picture of San Francisco’s traffic future. Without radical reductions in auto usage, the city’s downtown will be ‘mired in gridlock.’ Is a controversial congestion pricing scheme the solution? […]
- Why Is it Hard to Find Places to Ride Out a Tornado in Oklahoma? May 22, 2013You might be surprised to learn that in the area famously known as 'Tornado Alley', underground shelters and safe rooms are relatively rare. Several reasons, from physical to financial to cultural constraints, conspire to leave residents vulnerable. […]
- Will New Mayor Seize the Opportunity to Build a 'Truly Urban' L.A.? May 22, 2013The new mayor of Los Angeles is young, charismatic, and a champion of urbanism and smart growth. He should start using all these assets immediately to transform Los Angeles into the vibrant, transit-oriented city it can become, says Bill Fulton. […]
- New Jersey Drops VMT Fee for EV Fee May 22, 2013NJ legislation highlights the need to ensure that those who drive EVs pay their fair share of taxes to keep roads in good repair. A bill that would have charged a mileage fee for all vehicles was scrapped for a $50 flat registration fee for EVs. […]
- Envisioning a LEED-like Ratings System for Infrastructure May 22, 2013Bob Graves discusses the concept behind Envision, "a holistic framework for evaluating and rating the community, environmental, and economic benefits of all types and sizes of infrastructure projects." […]
- The Ups and Downs of the Bike Sharing Economy May 22, 2013What makes Capital Bikeshare, the largest such program in the U.S. with nearly 2000 bikes, a success? What are its shortcomings? Mohana Ravindranath investigates. […]
- Can Signage Change Perceptions About Disabilities? May 22, 2013With New York City's embrace, the dream of revamping the iconic blue-and-white handicapped symbol is becoming a reality. As NYC adopts "a more active representation of people with physical limitations," activists hope the change has a broader effect. […]
- To Stretch Strained Municipal Budgets, Build Smart May 22, 2013Utilizing 17 case studies, a new report from Smart Growth America examines the costs and benefits of competing development strategies. Any way you slice it, smart growth strategies are more financially prudent than building sprawl. […]
- Obama Could Tackle Climate Change on His Own; But Will He? May 22, 2013With a reluctant Congress unwilling to act, and the signs of a warming planet multiplying, the Editorial Board of The New York Times urges President Obama to utilize executive actions to address climate change. […]
- Cities May Be Back, But Don't Forget About the Burbs May 22, 2013
- Green Mobility Network
- An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.
Here Here.
Not a bad idea. But I think the real answer is to have an independent transportation authority that is completely separate from the county. (Since county government has proven lately that it is not capable of running anything, let alone one of the country’s largest transit systems) I don’t care if this authority would be under the regional Tri-Rail body or something entirely new, but it’s obvious the current Miami-Dade transit structure = FAIL.
No question that there would be an independant transportation authority. Andrew’s commentary is about the governance structure – which should be an elected transportation professional. This person should have credentials in the field of transportation or plannning.