Miami could be getting a whole lot more interconnected over the next few years.
Last month, a ballot measure in the Miami-Dade primary election asked voters what they needed from Miami-Dade County transit, and a whopping 80% said they wanted more options. In response, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava announced a proposal that will fully fund transit reserves, according to CBS News.
"The fact that the public has just given a clear message, we're going to find a way to move forward with those full reserves," Levine Cava said in the county's first public budget meeting this week. "That's the plan."
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Anyone who's spent time in Miami will tell you that our public transportation network is woefully lacking. Yes, ours might be the largest public transit system in Florida, but on a national level we rank as the 15th-largest, despite being the country's ninth-largest metropolitan area. So it's encouraging that a full quarter of the proposed budget (amounting to $1.164 billion) has been allocated to Transportation and Mobility.
The mayor's proposal specifically earmarks millions of dollars of funding that would expand Metrorail and Tri-Rail service into new corridors and alleviate congestion on the county's most congested roads. The six corridors (North, Northeast, East-West, Beach, Kendall and South) are part of a "comprehensive, proactive" program that "supports the future population and employment growth anticipated in our region," according to the 2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) report.
"It is the implementation of a vision for our region that is both strategic and farreaching, creating a system of multiple transportation options by leveraging existing infrastructure and integrating technology at the highest levels," the report states.
A few interesting highlights from the existing TIP plans include a 9.7-mile Beach corridor comprised of various "premium" transit options that would cross Biscayne Bay to link Downtown Miami to Miami Beach, and a BRT (bus rapid transit) system in the South corridor that would mimic rail transit and connect Florida City, City of Homestead, Town of Cutler Bay, Village of Palmetto Bay, and Village of Pinecrest, which represent the fastest population growth in Miami-Dade County.
Of course, this is all dependent on whether elected leaders follow through on their word and protect the funding they've promised. We won't keep our fingers crossed, but here's hoping we'll be hopping on an expanded Metrorail train car sometime in the next decade.
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