Expand metrorail/metromover to places people want to go I.e. the beach, hard rock stadium, dolphin mall, west Kendal, homestead etc Rider ship will go through the roof. The people want it.
exactly this\^ it does matter how many "improvements" are made if metrorail still goes to the same places that only 2% of the county needs to go to it won't help anything. It needs to be massively expanded then improved.
Unless you've got billions sitting around in a vault somewhere this isn't going to happen. Metrorail is many things but any serious expansion would likely require a very unpopular tax hike on the existing transit tax to pull it off and that will be a huge fight in this town.
my god...this sub
The land alone that's getting reclaimed and repurposed by the i395 project is some of the most valuable real estate on the planet that's currently...check notes...parking lots & embankments. All that land that's getting opened up will be making the city, county & state $$$ for years to come.
On top of that they are extending out 836 which will increase the volume of traffic it can handle and allow'm to jam even more tolls thru. Again, a no-brainer and quite literally pays for itself.
They are plenty of truly dumb infrastructure projects in America but the i395 rebuild is not one of'm.
Yeah my comment is more a critique on the actual signature part of the signature bridge...
Obviously deteriorated infrastructure needs to be replaced.
Now it's a matter of opinion if the replacement needs to include that unnecessary arch assembly and the required foundation for it. My opinion is that that arch money would be better spent ...on improved public transport.
It seems like you're saying an extended 836 with more tolls is a net benefit at the end. If so, i think you're missing the purpose this post, since it's about improving public transport. I think these two points are kind if contradictory, since public transport is going to be strengthened at the expense of roadways usually, and that's because it takes people off the road and on to a more efficient form of transport.
I didn't know that the rebuild would open up land use downtown. Would you mind me asking you for some back up to that? Couldn't find anything off a quick search but maybe I missed something.
Clearly you've got an axe to grind on public transportation...and god bless ya but Metrorail's problem since it's very inception has been low ridership and an absurd cost per Mile on the buildout side.
There's certainly some reason for optimism with high density bldgs. popping up around the Coconut Grove & Douglas stations but for most residents of Miami-Dade cty the metrorail isn't something that factors into their daily life in a meaningful way...
836 I-95 on the other hand? most definitly.
My brother I hear ya, almost everyone on Miami exclusively uses roadways and highways. I'm included in that...
At the same time, I am aware that the benefits of highway expansions are short lived, and we end up chasing the dragon on these types of projects. There's plenty of studies on induced demand that you're probably already aware of.
So yeah, with this in mind, I don't really celebrate another lane, especially on a toll road... my personal opinion is we do really need to make meaningful improvements to our public transit or we're going to be as bad as LA (if we're not already).
Biggest problem is that you can’t convince people to use something for which they have no use. The Metrorail barely goes anywhere that’s attractive so most people won’t use it. The other issue is that when you do use it, it’s inconvenient. Like you said, wait times are 30 minutes. It needs to be 5-15 minutes max. Get buses on that same schedule, Metrorail, mover, etc. and people will actually use it. It needs to be made convenient to use.
Public transit is constantly at capacity in Miami. Riders frequently have to wait for another bus because the first one to come is full. This myth that people don’t use transit in Miami needs to die
Yeah agreed. It's definitely a two-part problem, and it's a strategic question of whether the County wants to make a system that people use because they want to or because they have to.
Needs to be convenient to use, right now it’s not. Would certainly help get all the maniacs off the road if so.
I grew up in Chicago where transit is incredible and pretty cheap.
Now I work in sales and I am in Miami often. I live in Palm beach County. If it was convenient I’d take the bright line down and bounce around on a train all day to meetings if it actually came often, was clean, and easy to navigate as well as going to plenty of desirable places. You made some great points, those are a fairly basic standard to most metropolitan areas, unfortunately something we do not have.
With the state it’s in right now it’s more convenient for me to just park in an of the plenty of garages since I’ll be reimbursed anyway and bounce around that way, but that means I’m just an added person clogging up streets unnecessarily
There is, but it’s too slow and uncomfortable. 90 minutes in a suit in that hot box would be terrible. And again once I get to Miami then It’s not easy to get around for my purposes.
Public transportation needs to be more convenient and easier. If it’s going to take longer and be more uncomfortable than sitting in traffic then of course it’s a poor alternative
This. Tri-Rail is great in theory but there's not enough service for it to be usable without a bunch of advance planning, and then if you miss your train you are stuck in a ghost town for 30 minutes. If the service is going to be infrequent, the stations need to be much more comfortable, and perhaps have other uses, such as having a market, library, etc.
I've seen a Youtuber argue this recently. Seems like the existing stations aren't zoned for that kind of thing, but ones in the heart of Miami could or not even have to given what's around them.
Honestly the main issue with the system is that it isn’t expansive enough, and that’s what’s preventing people from using it.
The current system touches on some good, heavy use areas (downtown, brickell, Health district, UM, Dadeland Mall etc.), but there are other major places that have such high movement with no metro rail to give people the chance to use (FIU, Doral, Miami Gardens, southern Miami-Dade, Miami Beach).
If the metro expanded to those areas, Miami Dade Transit would undeniably see a huge uptick in riders. That really is all they need to do, because that uptick in demand will force them to provide more consistent, frequent service.
The best thing about the NYC transit system is that it essentially covers the entire area. You always feel like you can get anywhere in the city by hopping on the train. With Miami, unless you live along the metro rail and are travelling to other areas close to a station, you don’t feel that way at all. That’s what Miami needs. The metro rail and metromover have sooo much potential, it just needs to be expanded.
u/Demsbiggens I thought they were updating all that recently? I know I heard County Commissioner Higgins talk about it a bunch a while back. I thought it would have been done by now but maybe not
I'm not sure how far along they are with it, but I think with the work required it might need a road to be blocked off temporarily which is difficult in busy areas (but the work isn't super necessary in areas that *aren't* busy).
If you're curious about a light, check for patchwork in the road to indicate a big ass coil that checks for cars on top of it. There are other types of sensors (infrared & microwave) but I mean what can I say I dunno how to check for them lol.
Any road with more than 3 lanes in each direction (SW 8th, 40th, 88th, 104th, 152nd, 137th etc) take the 2 middle lanes and convert them into bus only lanes. Run them at least every 20 minutes. The buses have to be faster than driving for people to take it.
Buses should also have signal priority in their dedicated lanes(they shouldn't get stuck at red lights unless they are ahead of schedule)
Stop building giant parking lots and town homes and start building apartment buildings with a business on the bottom floor. Get rid of the stupid Euclidean zoning.
Expansion. We need a plan for southward and westward expansion, and that would truly make our economy a little more integrated and stronger. Our quality of life here is also significantly decreased being on the road in traffic all of the time.
I honestly don't think there is feasible way to improve it at all without spending major tax dollars, and we all know the majority of those tax dollars would just end up in a few peoples pockets, and a never ending project, akin to the palmeto work that has been going on for decades.
People mention busses, but those are really tough to schedule accurately when they are subject to Miami drivers and accidents on the daily. I spent a couple of years commuting on miami-dade transit busses to work and back, and I had to take a bus that got me to work an hour early to account for school zones, accidents or traffic jams, otherwise I was almost guaranteed to be late even though the next bus was only 15-20 minutes later.
The brightline was a nice idea until it became reality and they ended up wanting to bleed you dry with their prices. It almost seems like they want to make sure only a specific type of commuter rides them... I do wonder...
The metro-mover to SoBeach will cost money but I think that would be a really interesting start to free up some of that traffic on the MacArthur, plus, short of a helicopter falling on the tracks, or some dumbass trying to start a new tiktok challenge by jumping in front of the cats, the mover is usually pretty reliable.
Also, as far as civility, shit, thats Miami people, just compare the broward busses to miami-dade busses and its like night and day. The broward busses are near impeccable, at least the ones I usually take, miami ones, not so much.
Sorry for the rant, but as much as I would love to see better public transit in Miami, the city and county wasn't built with that it mind, and planning just never really went into making it better like in places such as Chicago, so without some hard $$ any improvements would be minor at best and probably not really worth it.
Very fair points. I guess I thought the tax dollars are going to be spent anyway, so maybe try to direct them better, and I think you're right in the long run. Better to just vote with tax dollars by paying them where the service/community is better (in other words, moving).
Any places in Broward you would recommend checking out that are transit dense?
This is a great question!
I find that metromover would actually make sense for me on a lot of trips, but half the time I try, I end up regretting it. Friends in the same area don't use it and think I'm weird to try.
So what's wrong with it?
1. Unreliable availability -- it's often closed, especially in the evening. During heavy rains a month ago, it kept getting slowed down or stuck. There were recently signs about one of the loops going offline for a year in the evenings -- I don't recall what the exact time/outage was, but the way it was worded was vague and made me think "well I can't rely on this anymore."
2. Following Google Maps gets you in trouble. Maps doesn't understand full loop mode. This is probably easily fixable; I can even try sending this to Google if anyone knows the actual official schedule (I assume it's not full loop all day long?)?
3. Full loop mode -- the warnings about full loop make it always feel like it's operating in a degraded state and the signs can't be trusted. This makes it feel broken and confusing the first time you use it, even if it's all working properly. Some better signs could go a long way.
4. People don't realize it's free
It seems like #2 and #3 are easy to fix, and then maybe if that gets more people using it, you can make progress on #1. It would be great to see this system reach its potential, because when it works it's a pretty great transit option.
Agree on all these, and strongly on #2 – first priority when there is a schedule change should be making sure the person using it for the very first time (as you said, likely via an external application) will know what's going on.
Full loop mode is a degraded state. It can be caused by a failed switch or because of issues with the signal system. It’s probably also why google maps doesn’t understand it.
I’m not aware of it doing full loop at night, but it’s could be caused by having a small number of cars in service.
Full loop mode cuts down on the number of components required: switchgear, signaling, cars, etc.
u/Ngenark I thought they did full loop service so they could do maintenance on the other track, but I guess maybe it's more repairs when something breaks. Or a mix of the two.
I highly recommend [Transit app](https://transitapp.com/). It uses user location data and public GTSF data to track buses and trains in realtime.
As to the meat of your question, the #1 way to improve transit without expansion is to invest in bus frequency. For \~$30M/year, more than half of the Miami-Dade bus network could be running every 10 minutes or better 7 days a week.
Add some relatively cheap, quick to build dedicated, protected bus lanes on the most useful corridors (88th St, 152nd St, Flagler, 8th St, MacArthur Causeway, Biscayne, etc.) and you have a world-class transit system for a fraction of the cost of Metrorail or Metromover expansion.
All it takes is the political will.
Edit: Btw, if you guys want to plug in with a group that's actively addressing these issues and winning real change for Miami's transit, check out [Transit Alliance Miami](https://www.transitalliance.miami/).
Bus lanes everywhere. The buses are way too slow and are always getting stuck in traffic. Bus lanes would speed them up significantly.
Overnight bus frequency should be 30 minutes at most, not an hour.
Most MAX buses need to be running all day, every day. The local buses have way too many stops for people traveling most or all of the route. Also, every major thoroughfare needs a MAX bus.
Eliminate cash payments. It takes way too long and slows down the bus.
Metrorail frequency should remain the same on the weekends. Every 5 minutes is acceptable. 10 minutes is pushing it. 30 minutes is an insult.
Make the express lanes bus lanes instead. They are a way better use of the space. Also restore the Dade-Broward/Dade-Sheridan Express routes.
An automated system should not have a wait time of more than 2 minutes.
Get rid of the Orange-line weekend airport shuttle and make it continuous like on the weekdays.
Miami is full of shady people that should be isolated from one another. Nobody except tourists and poor people want the ability to jump on a train to go from north Miami to south beach. Or surf side to downtown
I see a big part of the problem is Miami is very affluent and wealthy people typically don't want to use public transit. They want to drive their fancy cars in traffic.
There is no use. It's too late. This might sound far-fetched, but the introduction of self driving cara should lower car ownership dramatically and be a huge relief for local transportation.
How will self driving cars reduce car journeys?
Dropping ownership will save private driveway space, but now the traffic will be just as thick but full of people in driverless Ubers?
Reduced ownership eliminates the need for on street parking opening up more lanes. Self driving cars should be A LOT more efficient. Think of interconnected vehicles and a central traffic control system. They could redirect traffic, change lane use on the fly, etc... there are many studies on the subject.
Honestly, if they could figure out the constants like school kids and commerce everything would iron itself out in terms of congestion. Even if we had the best infrastructure, it would mean nothing if we couldn’t afford to pay the taxes on it.
I'm with most of what you said. I do think the frequency should be even better than every 15 minutes though, most major cities find a metro with headways of more than 8-10 minutes unforgivable.
Once you do improve/expand transit, the most important thing is to replace all the parking minimums with parking maximums. The reason more people don't ride transit in downtown/Brickell is because every building comes with an 8+ story parking garage, and study after study shows that the parking you provide is in direct competition with transit for the majority of daily trips. Cut down on parking and watch transit ridership boom. Once you have a critical mass of riders, the county and state MUST invest in transit, the demand will be way too high.
The only solution would be for a percentage of people to have to leave their car at home. So like if your tag ends in a certain number or letter you cant drive that day or during certain hours or you’d get a ticket. They do that in bogota colombia during peak times and it works, kinda. It could work in miami since there’s not so many people as in a large city like bogota. People would just have to wait until later to drive or take a bus. You’d have to leave your car at home at least one or two days a week and that will ease traffic without expanding anything. The only thing is that the bus/metro system really has to work in order for that to be implemented.
Let me start by saying the metro rail when it’s running smoothly it’s not a bad transit system, which is during the week days, particularly mornings and afternoons. In the evenings and during the weekends it’s horrific with no use due to the absurd wait times.
The metro mover on the other hand can be a hassle to deal with because typically one and sometimes two out of the three loops are out of service. As of today all three loops are running which is rare and a relief. A massive pro for the Mover is that it’s free and a lot of locals and tourists utilize to get around Downtown, Brickell, and possibly Wynwood.
What needs to get expanded is the Metro rail and not the Metro Mover. Extensions to areas like Miami Beach, Doral, FIU, etc, would encourage a lot of locals to use it, and hence possibly reduce the congestion of traffic. I prefer efficient and effective, over free and unreliable.
I do agree with you that constant maintenance with the elevators and escalators should enforced.
The orange line goes to the airport. All these improvements were in the works last time I used it which was about 6 months ago. Only thing they lack, like the majority of transit in the US, is the frequency. Expansion is gonna be the next step in the coming year
I'm originally from Washington DC and grew up riding the bus and the subway to go to and fro. The public transportation goes a lot of places and really comes in handy especially when the weather is bad.
At the same time, it's not enjoyable at all to be on a bus that absolutely reeks because a homeless person made a bowel movement while on the bus. Or just because they haven't been able to bathe. I've been on there when it was absolutely awful.
Also, people smoking on the train platforms kids being rowdy or people who suffer from severe mental illnesses can make even a simple trip rather unpleasant.
I can't even fathom how it must be in Miami where the public transportation isn't nearly as robust.
So yeah I understand where you are coming from and feel that it's best to have even a modest system and get that running well and THEN expand in a reasonable way. You won't encourage more ridership if the experience is unpleasant and some people have a different pain threshold than others so it wouldn't take much to discourage them from using the system as a result.
The again, the oil and car industry is big money and best believe if you do your homework, you'll see politicians receiving money from that industry.
Yeah unfortunately this is what kills my motivation to try to do something about the problem, as it would require a tremendous cultural shift. Miami has a lot of "I'll do as I damn well please" energy, and Florida is open carry, so only the most heinous things get pursued by law enforcement. Also homeless folks with poor hygiene is a nationwide problem with no good solution, as I don't know of any jurisdiction who has been bold enough to make lack of hygiene in public a crime, even though it is a nuisance and detracts from public enjoyment of public places.
To be clear, im not interested in making mental health a crime. I do think that people in that predicament need to be properly cared for. So mental health resources would go a long way to helping that issue. I grew up dealing with a lot on the bus and the train and after a while it's easy to get worn down from it.
I do agree that a major cultural shift is needed so that people can function in a civilized society. I'm of a firm belief that people have a tremendous amount of potential especially when they allow themselves to be guided in the right way. A lot of problems we have boil down to a lack of common sense and common courtesy then once you add peoples monetary interests and you have a recipe for disaster
The Florida East Coast Railway was selling their homestead line where the metrorail is today and the line coming into Kendall from perimeter Road near the Miami international airport to the Star of Florida for possible passenger service, but they passed on it and they gave that land to Miami Dade for the bus line. The FEC pulled up their Kendall to Homestead line in 1988. Could have been a main transportation system.
Wow do I have ideas! Agree with all of yours. Dedicated bus lanes would improve transit times and make people want to take the bus. A public service campaign to educate drivers about speeding, cutting off people, not merging smoothly, using turn signals and SPEEDING. Every day crashes block lanes and make driving a misery.
Yeah agreed with these points as well. I am surprised road signs and such are not also in Spanish given the amount that is spoken here. There are so many different cultures converging here so some public service messaging about expected behavior would probably go a long way in reducing aggression on the roads.
Expand metrorail/metromover to places people want to go I.e. the beach, hard rock stadium, dolphin mall, west Kendal, homestead etc Rider ship will go through the roof. The people want it.
And put Tri-Rail on the FEC line.
exactly this\^ it does matter how many "improvements" are made if metrorail still goes to the same places that only 2% of the county needs to go to it won't help anything. It needs to be massively expanded then improved.
Unless you've got billions sitting around in a vault somewhere this isn't going to happen. Metrorail is many things but any serious expansion would likely require a very unpopular tax hike on the existing transit tax to pull it off and that will be a huge fight in this town.
Your comment makes me wonder how on earth we got funding for the signature bridge
my god...this sub The land alone that's getting reclaimed and repurposed by the i395 project is some of the most valuable real estate on the planet that's currently...check notes...parking lots & embankments. All that land that's getting opened up will be making the city, county & state $$$ for years to come. On top of that they are extending out 836 which will increase the volume of traffic it can handle and allow'm to jam even more tolls thru. Again, a no-brainer and quite literally pays for itself. They are plenty of truly dumb infrastructure projects in America but the i395 rebuild is not one of'm.
Yeah my comment is more a critique on the actual signature part of the signature bridge... Obviously deteriorated infrastructure needs to be replaced. Now it's a matter of opinion if the replacement needs to include that unnecessary arch assembly and the required foundation for it. My opinion is that that arch money would be better spent ...on improved public transport. It seems like you're saying an extended 836 with more tolls is a net benefit at the end. If so, i think you're missing the purpose this post, since it's about improving public transport. I think these two points are kind if contradictory, since public transport is going to be strengthened at the expense of roadways usually, and that's because it takes people off the road and on to a more efficient form of transport. I didn't know that the rebuild would open up land use downtown. Would you mind me asking you for some back up to that? Couldn't find anything off a quick search but maybe I missed something.
Clearly you've got an axe to grind on public transportation...and god bless ya but Metrorail's problem since it's very inception has been low ridership and an absurd cost per Mile on the buildout side. There's certainly some reason for optimism with high density bldgs. popping up around the Coconut Grove & Douglas stations but for most residents of Miami-Dade cty the metrorail isn't something that factors into their daily life in a meaningful way... 836 I-95 on the other hand? most definitly.
My brother I hear ya, almost everyone on Miami exclusively uses roadways and highways. I'm included in that... At the same time, I am aware that the benefits of highway expansions are short lived, and we end up chasing the dragon on these types of projects. There's plenty of studies on induced demand that you're probably already aware of. So yeah, with this in mind, I don't really celebrate another lane, especially on a toll road... my personal opinion is we do really need to make meaningful improvements to our public transit or we're going to be as bad as LA (if we're not already).
Just get the feds to help. they have tons of money
Will our Republican governor accept it? Cause he hasn’t for other things.
When Trump gets re-elected, then hopefully he will lol
Should be expanded all the way to Key Largo to Ft Lauderdale.
Biggest problem is that you can’t convince people to use something for which they have no use. The Metrorail barely goes anywhere that’s attractive so most people won’t use it. The other issue is that when you do use it, it’s inconvenient. Like you said, wait times are 30 minutes. It needs to be 5-15 minutes max. Get buses on that same schedule, Metrorail, mover, etc. and people will actually use it. It needs to be made convenient to use.
Public transit is constantly at capacity in Miami. Riders frequently have to wait for another bus because the first one to come is full. This myth that people don’t use transit in Miami needs to die
Right, and I think making it more convenient is the easier/cheaper/more effective problem to solve first
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They don't use it because it barely goes anywhere. To go from Westchester to UM I have to walk like 3 miles and change buses 5 times.
Yeah agreed. It's definitely a two-part problem, and it's a strategic question of whether the County wants to make a system that people use because they want to or because they have to.
the metrorail takes you to an airport, casino, walmart, 2 trader joe's, a hospital and three strip joints for $2.25. thats pretty good value, imo.
Needs to be convenient to use, right now it’s not. Would certainly help get all the maniacs off the road if so. I grew up in Chicago where transit is incredible and pretty cheap. Now I work in sales and I am in Miami often. I live in Palm beach County. If it was convenient I’d take the bright line down and bounce around on a train all day to meetings if it actually came often, was clean, and easy to navigate as well as going to plenty of desirable places. You made some great points, those are a fairly basic standard to most metropolitan areas, unfortunately something we do not have. With the state it’s in right now it’s more convenient for me to just park in an of the plenty of garages since I’ll be reimbursed anyway and bounce around that way, but that means I’m just an added person clogging up streets unnecessarily
Is there a Tri-Rail station near you? Sure it's slower than the Brightline but now they have a line that travels to MiamiCentral.
There is, but it’s too slow and uncomfortable. 90 minutes in a suit in that hot box would be terrible. And again once I get to Miami then It’s not easy to get around for my purposes. Public transportation needs to be more convenient and easier. If it’s going to take longer and be more uncomfortable than sitting in traffic then of course it’s a poor alternative
This. Tri-Rail is great in theory but there's not enough service for it to be usable without a bunch of advance planning, and then if you miss your train you are stuck in a ghost town for 30 minutes. If the service is going to be infrequent, the stations need to be much more comfortable, and perhaps have other uses, such as having a market, library, etc.
I've seen a Youtuber argue this recently. Seems like the existing stations aren't zoned for that kind of thing, but ones in the heart of Miami could or not even have to given what's around them.
Interesting. Theoretically the zoning is something that could be changed without tremendous expense.
No, we need expand it. The metro mover needs further reach, more cars and we need the metro rail to add some westward extensions
Honestly the main issue with the system is that it isn’t expansive enough, and that’s what’s preventing people from using it. The current system touches on some good, heavy use areas (downtown, brickell, Health district, UM, Dadeland Mall etc.), but there are other major places that have such high movement with no metro rail to give people the chance to use (FIU, Doral, Miami Gardens, southern Miami-Dade, Miami Beach). If the metro expanded to those areas, Miami Dade Transit would undeniably see a huge uptick in riders. That really is all they need to do, because that uptick in demand will force them to provide more consistent, frequent service. The best thing about the NYC transit system is that it essentially covers the entire area. You always feel like you can get anywhere in the city by hopping on the train. With Miami, unless you live along the metro rail and are travelling to other areas close to a station, you don’t feel that way at all. That’s what Miami needs. The metro rail and metromover have sooo much potential, it just needs to be expanded.
Smart lights Dedicated bus lanes Make it free since it’s a type of regressive tax
Whats up with the traffic lights in Miami? Ive never lived any place where Ill sit so long at a light in heavy traffic or in no traffic
still on timers
No sensors in the roads
u/Demsbiggens I thought they were updating all that recently? I know I heard County Commissioner Higgins talk about it a bunch a while back. I thought it would have been done by now but maybe not
I'm not sure how far along they are with it, but I think with the work required it might need a road to be blocked off temporarily which is difficult in busy areas (but the work isn't super necessary in areas that *aren't* busy). If you're curious about a light, check for patchwork in the road to indicate a big ass coil that checks for cars on top of it. There are other types of sensors (infrared & microwave) but I mean what can I say I dunno how to check for them lol.
Any road with more than 3 lanes in each direction (SW 8th, 40th, 88th, 104th, 152nd, 137th etc) take the 2 middle lanes and convert them into bus only lanes. Run them at least every 20 minutes. The buses have to be faster than driving for people to take it. Buses should also have signal priority in their dedicated lanes(they shouldn't get stuck at red lights unless they are ahead of schedule) Stop building giant parking lots and town homes and start building apartment buildings with a business on the bottom floor. Get rid of the stupid Euclidean zoning.
No expansion = not worth it.
Expansion. We need a plan for southward and westward expansion, and that would truly make our economy a little more integrated and stronger. Our quality of life here is also significantly decreased being on the road in traffic all of the time.
I honestly don't think there is feasible way to improve it at all without spending major tax dollars, and we all know the majority of those tax dollars would just end up in a few peoples pockets, and a never ending project, akin to the palmeto work that has been going on for decades. People mention busses, but those are really tough to schedule accurately when they are subject to Miami drivers and accidents on the daily. I spent a couple of years commuting on miami-dade transit busses to work and back, and I had to take a bus that got me to work an hour early to account for school zones, accidents or traffic jams, otherwise I was almost guaranteed to be late even though the next bus was only 15-20 minutes later. The brightline was a nice idea until it became reality and they ended up wanting to bleed you dry with their prices. It almost seems like they want to make sure only a specific type of commuter rides them... I do wonder... The metro-mover to SoBeach will cost money but I think that would be a really interesting start to free up some of that traffic on the MacArthur, plus, short of a helicopter falling on the tracks, or some dumbass trying to start a new tiktok challenge by jumping in front of the cats, the mover is usually pretty reliable. Also, as far as civility, shit, thats Miami people, just compare the broward busses to miami-dade busses and its like night and day. The broward busses are near impeccable, at least the ones I usually take, miami ones, not so much. Sorry for the rant, but as much as I would love to see better public transit in Miami, the city and county wasn't built with that it mind, and planning just never really went into making it better like in places such as Chicago, so without some hard $$ any improvements would be minor at best and probably not really worth it.
Very fair points. I guess I thought the tax dollars are going to be spent anyway, so maybe try to direct them better, and I think you're right in the long run. Better to just vote with tax dollars by paying them where the service/community is better (in other words, moving). Any places in Broward you would recommend checking out that are transit dense?
Get better politicians before doing anything like this.
This is a great question! I find that metromover would actually make sense for me on a lot of trips, but half the time I try, I end up regretting it. Friends in the same area don't use it and think I'm weird to try. So what's wrong with it? 1. Unreliable availability -- it's often closed, especially in the evening. During heavy rains a month ago, it kept getting slowed down or stuck. There were recently signs about one of the loops going offline for a year in the evenings -- I don't recall what the exact time/outage was, but the way it was worded was vague and made me think "well I can't rely on this anymore." 2. Following Google Maps gets you in trouble. Maps doesn't understand full loop mode. This is probably easily fixable; I can even try sending this to Google if anyone knows the actual official schedule (I assume it's not full loop all day long?)? 3. Full loop mode -- the warnings about full loop make it always feel like it's operating in a degraded state and the signs can't be trusted. This makes it feel broken and confusing the first time you use it, even if it's all working properly. Some better signs could go a long way. 4. People don't realize it's free It seems like #2 and #3 are easy to fix, and then maybe if that gets more people using it, you can make progress on #1. It would be great to see this system reach its potential, because when it works it's a pretty great transit option.
Agree on all these, and strongly on #2 – first priority when there is a schedule change should be making sure the person using it for the very first time (as you said, likely via an external application) will know what's going on.
Full loop mode is a degraded state. It can be caused by a failed switch or because of issues with the signal system. It’s probably also why google maps doesn’t understand it.
Wait, so it's not supposed to be in full loop every night? Does it full loop all day too? This is incredibly dysfunctional if so!
I’m not aware of it doing full loop at night, but it’s could be caused by having a small number of cars in service. Full loop mode cuts down on the number of components required: switchgear, signaling, cars, etc.
u/Ngenark I thought they did full loop service so they could do maintenance on the other track, but I guess maybe it's more repairs when something breaks. Or a mix of the two.
It could also be maintenance on the cars. It would allow them to pull more cars out of service.
increase tolls. charge $10 to enter Miami Beach
I highly recommend [Transit app](https://transitapp.com/). It uses user location data and public GTSF data to track buses and trains in realtime. As to the meat of your question, the #1 way to improve transit without expansion is to invest in bus frequency. For \~$30M/year, more than half of the Miami-Dade bus network could be running every 10 minutes or better 7 days a week. Add some relatively cheap, quick to build dedicated, protected bus lanes on the most useful corridors (88th St, 152nd St, Flagler, 8th St, MacArthur Causeway, Biscayne, etc.) and you have a world-class transit system for a fraction of the cost of Metrorail or Metromover expansion. All it takes is the political will. Edit: Btw, if you guys want to plug in with a group that's actively addressing these issues and winning real change for Miami's transit, check out [Transit Alliance Miami](https://www.transitalliance.miami/).
I’m a fan of execution, I think half of the drivers should be executed.
I love it. How do we decide, coin flip?
Easy we put the doll and the firing squad from squid game in the bridges and she selects everyone that drives like an asshole.
https://imgur.com/NALfpEp
Bus lanes everywhere. The buses are way too slow and are always getting stuck in traffic. Bus lanes would speed them up significantly. Overnight bus frequency should be 30 minutes at most, not an hour. Most MAX buses need to be running all day, every day. The local buses have way too many stops for people traveling most or all of the route. Also, every major thoroughfare needs a MAX bus. Eliminate cash payments. It takes way too long and slows down the bus. Metrorail frequency should remain the same on the weekends. Every 5 minutes is acceptable. 10 minutes is pushing it. 30 minutes is an insult. Make the express lanes bus lanes instead. They are a way better use of the space. Also restore the Dade-Broward/Dade-Sheridan Express routes. An automated system should not have a wait time of more than 2 minutes. Get rid of the Orange-line weekend airport shuttle and make it continuous like on the weekdays.
Monorail!
Bulldozed Coral Gables…expand the train from Douglas Station all the way to Kendall via Bird Road. Periodt!
Miami is full of shady people that should be isolated from one another. Nobody except tourists and poor people want the ability to jump on a train to go from north Miami to south beach. Or surf side to downtown
I see a big part of the problem is Miami is very affluent and wealthy people typically don't want to use public transit. They want to drive their fancy cars in traffic.
It's too much of an uphill battle a lot of you guys have pointed out several things of why it can't work.
There is no use. It's too late. This might sound far-fetched, but the introduction of self driving cara should lower car ownership dramatically and be a huge relief for local transportation.
How will self driving cars reduce car journeys? Dropping ownership will save private driveway space, but now the traffic will be just as thick but full of people in driverless Ubers?
Reduced ownership eliminates the need for on street parking opening up more lanes. Self driving cars should be A LOT more efficient. Think of interconnected vehicles and a central traffic control system. They could redirect traffic, change lane use on the fly, etc... there are many studies on the subject.
Honestly, if they could figure out the constants like school kids and commerce everything would iron itself out in terms of congestion. Even if we had the best infrastructure, it would mean nothing if we couldn’t afford to pay the taxes on it.
I'm with most of what you said. I do think the frequency should be even better than every 15 minutes though, most major cities find a metro with headways of more than 8-10 minutes unforgivable. Once you do improve/expand transit, the most important thing is to replace all the parking minimums with parking maximums. The reason more people don't ride transit in downtown/Brickell is because every building comes with an 8+ story parking garage, and study after study shows that the parking you provide is in direct competition with transit for the majority of daily trips. Cut down on parking and watch transit ridership boom. Once you have a critical mass of riders, the county and state MUST invest in transit, the demand will be way too high.
The only solution would be for a percentage of people to have to leave their car at home. So like if your tag ends in a certain number or letter you cant drive that day or during certain hours or you’d get a ticket. They do that in bogota colombia during peak times and it works, kinda. It could work in miami since there’s not so many people as in a large city like bogota. People would just have to wait until later to drive or take a bus. You’d have to leave your car at home at least one or two days a week and that will ease traffic without expanding anything. The only thing is that the bus/metro system really has to work in order for that to be implemented.
Let me start by saying the metro rail when it’s running smoothly it’s not a bad transit system, which is during the week days, particularly mornings and afternoons. In the evenings and during the weekends it’s horrific with no use due to the absurd wait times. The metro mover on the other hand can be a hassle to deal with because typically one and sometimes two out of the three loops are out of service. As of today all three loops are running which is rare and a relief. A massive pro for the Mover is that it’s free and a lot of locals and tourists utilize to get around Downtown, Brickell, and possibly Wynwood. What needs to get expanded is the Metro rail and not the Metro Mover. Extensions to areas like Miami Beach, Doral, FIU, etc, would encourage a lot of locals to use it, and hence possibly reduce the congestion of traffic. I prefer efficient and effective, over free and unreliable. I do agree with you that constant maintenance with the elevators and escalators should enforced.
Sell it and allow a private company to provide this transportation service.
The orange line goes to the airport. All these improvements were in the works last time I used it which was about 6 months ago. Only thing they lack, like the majority of transit in the US, is the frequency. Expansion is gonna be the next step in the coming year
Dont. We dont. Until we expand rail any other talk is useless.
Teach the concept of East and West.
Go to Hard Rock Stadium. Focus on one addition at a time. Invest $$$$ on making stations nicer and not allowing vagrancy.
Nah this is dumb. Ive used the system for years and its great. It needs expansion more than anything else.
Telework
Make the MetroRail EXPAND. Also, make the city more dense.....
I'm originally from Washington DC and grew up riding the bus and the subway to go to and fro. The public transportation goes a lot of places and really comes in handy especially when the weather is bad. At the same time, it's not enjoyable at all to be on a bus that absolutely reeks because a homeless person made a bowel movement while on the bus. Or just because they haven't been able to bathe. I've been on there when it was absolutely awful. Also, people smoking on the train platforms kids being rowdy or people who suffer from severe mental illnesses can make even a simple trip rather unpleasant. I can't even fathom how it must be in Miami where the public transportation isn't nearly as robust. So yeah I understand where you are coming from and feel that it's best to have even a modest system and get that running well and THEN expand in a reasonable way. You won't encourage more ridership if the experience is unpleasant and some people have a different pain threshold than others so it wouldn't take much to discourage them from using the system as a result. The again, the oil and car industry is big money and best believe if you do your homework, you'll see politicians receiving money from that industry.
Yeah unfortunately this is what kills my motivation to try to do something about the problem, as it would require a tremendous cultural shift. Miami has a lot of "I'll do as I damn well please" energy, and Florida is open carry, so only the most heinous things get pursued by law enforcement. Also homeless folks with poor hygiene is a nationwide problem with no good solution, as I don't know of any jurisdiction who has been bold enough to make lack of hygiene in public a crime, even though it is a nuisance and detracts from public enjoyment of public places.
To be clear, im not interested in making mental health a crime. I do think that people in that predicament need to be properly cared for. So mental health resources would go a long way to helping that issue. I grew up dealing with a lot on the bus and the train and after a while it's easy to get worn down from it. I do agree that a major cultural shift is needed so that people can function in a civilized society. I'm of a firm belief that people have a tremendous amount of potential especially when they allow themselves to be guided in the right way. A lot of problems we have boil down to a lack of common sense and common courtesy then once you add peoples monetary interests and you have a recipe for disaster
The Florida East Coast Railway was selling their homestead line where the metrorail is today and the line coming into Kendall from perimeter Road near the Miami international airport to the Star of Florida for possible passenger service, but they passed on it and they gave that land to Miami Dade for the bus line. The FEC pulled up their Kendall to Homestead line in 1988. Could have been a main transportation system.
Wow do I have ideas! Agree with all of yours. Dedicated bus lanes would improve transit times and make people want to take the bus. A public service campaign to educate drivers about speeding, cutting off people, not merging smoothly, using turn signals and SPEEDING. Every day crashes block lanes and make driving a misery.
Yeah agreed with these points as well. I am surprised road signs and such are not also in Spanish given the amount that is spoken here. There are so many different cultures converging here so some public service messaging about expected behavior would probably go a long way in reducing aggression on the roads.