Where There Were Once Many Lines Planned, Just One Opens in Miami

[M II A II R II K]

Where There Were Once Many Lines Planned, Just One Opens in Miami


August 5th, 2012

By Yonah Freemark



Read More: http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2...pens-in-miami/

Last week, Georgia voters overwhelmingly denied the passage of the T-SPLOST referendum, which, among other things, would have provided $7.2 billion for transportation over the next ten years to the Atlanta region thanks to income from a 1¢ sales tax.

- If anyone was paying attention to Miami, they might be especially skeptical of the tax’s value. There, voters passed a 1/2¢ sales tax increase in 2002 by a huge margin. They were promised an enormous expansion of rail transit service, with dozens of miles of new lines shooting out of the existing Metrorail system in virtually every direction. What they got in reality, however, was one project: The 2.4-mile, one-stop Orange Line extension to the Airport, which opened last weekend at a cost of $506 million. No other rail service is expected to be funded before 2035. Nonetheless, the Airport extension, which will bring downtown Miami within a 15-minute trip of the airport, is an impressive addition to the city’s transit network.

- Miami’s population density of more than 12,000 people per mile is now about the same as Chicago’s. Thus the argument back in 2002 that something needed to be done to significantly improve the rail system. The People’s Transportation Plan, as it was known, was supposed to have raised $17 billion over 25 years, enough to guarantee the completion of a 10.6 east-west Metrorail corridor and 9.5-mile north corridor by 2016. Several problems arose. The North Corridor, originally supposed to be the first project completed, repeatedly received poor ratings from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) thanks to low ridership estimates and poor management on the part of Miami-Dade transit. The FTA would have to contribute a significant portion of the project’s cost for it to be funded. At the same time, its projected price tag increased from $515 million to $1.63 billion. Similar problems plagued the East-West Corridor, of which the Airport Link was supposed to be the first phase. Indeed, the cost of this project doubled since initial estimates.

- While Metrorail service has been increased slightly to provide for a distribution of 10-minute peak services on the two branches (the Orange Line to the airport and the Green Line to Palmetto, the other, older terminus), at nights and weekends, trains will leave the airport only every 30 minutes. Nobody should be expected to wait half an hour for a train at the airport when arriving on Saturday at midday. And fewer people will ride as a result. How could the funding for this essential purpose not be available? It will be convenient for a large number of people to get easier access between Miami’s airport and its downtown without having to deal with traffic, and indeed, the city is one of many American cities prioritising airport rail links. Dallas has its own Orange Line light rail project currently under construction and planned to open in 2014* (Chicago coincidently also has an Orange Line to its Midway Airport). But how much value do these airport connections bring, anyhow?

.....

http://www.miamiherald.com/multimedi...1-graphic.html

Before the tax went before voters, the Miami-Dade County League of Cities cut a deal to 31 municipalities that existed at the time. The money is split among those municipalities based on population. Three newer cities -- Doral, Miami Gardens and Cutler Bay -- were shut out of the funds.

[JDRCRASH]

How are the NIMBYs down there? They can really influence the direction and, ultimately, the price of a major infrastructure project.

[brickell]

The problem is that there is/was just no money for it.
It was oversold and once passed, it was squandered. The Nimbys did their share, but very very little of this had a chance of getting built once County Hall got their hands on the money. It wasn't so much that the tax was bad, but that MDTA was consistently mismanaged and underfunded. So they used the money to plug holes instead of expand.

[bobdreamz]

^ What was needed at the time was a full cent tax instead of a half cent cover the cost of expansion & operations.

[eleven=11]

when this is done it will do big business.
MIA plus tri rail plus amtrak
broward & palm beach will be minutes away from miami ,
its not downtown miami but alot of people will use it.

[brickell]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

^ What was needed at the time was a full cent tax instead of a half cent cover the cost of expansion & operations.

I respectfully disagree. I supported it at the time, but the Citizens oversight council was quickly neutered and the rest was squandered. Miami really has no business expanding until they get their act together. I'm not blaming solely the transit department; there's little political will on the commission to properly fund the thing either.

All the new bus stops are nice though.

[bobdreamz]

^ Yes I was in Miami a few weeks ago and got to see all of the new bus shelters around the metro. As for my point about a full penny for transit , half could cover operations & the other half would have been dedicated solely to expansions. I kind of figured when I voted for the tax that a half penny wouldn't be enough & I agree with you regarding the Citizens oversight council.

[eleven=11]

what the deal with miami and bus shelters??
i live in palm beach/broward , didnt hear anything about this
is there a link for more info...

[brickell]

It's not that exciting, just the most visible part of the transportation improvements (and maybe the Coral Gables bus/trolley). I was being a little snarky.

[eleven=11]

actually I am intrested in these bus stops
did they build 20-30-90-120 of them
the one in the photo looks kinda boring..
I remember a couple of years ago (10) somebody
died because the electrity at a bus stop was
not wired corectly