August 30 will be a significant day for the Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and for the people of Miami-Dade County, especially the fastest growing area of the county Southwest Miami-Dade along the US1/transitway corridor all the way to Homestead and Florida City.
At issue is whether the TPO will take a significant first step to begin implementing the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) by adopting the recommendation of the consultant working for the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation & Public Works (DTPW), after more than two years studying and looking at all options and deciding a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is the best solution to relieving traffic congestion on US1. This recommendation is supported by the countys transportation and public works department, Mayor Carlos Gimenez and three of the five municipalities situated along the route – Pinecrest, Homestead and Florida City. Opponents of BRT want Metrorail extended either to Cutler Bay or all the way to Homestead and base their support on promises made almost two decades ago by politicians, whom for the most part are no longer in office, and to a population that has grown exponentially since then and is suffering due to the lack of a viable rapid transit system.
From the discussion at the July meeting of the TPO, it seems that body is taking a careful look at the underlying facts and funding available and leaning toward a compromise that provides for building an all new BRT system with state-of-the-art vehicles that act and look like trains, except with rubber wheels, stations fully covered with prepay level boarding, just like Metrorail, and those new stations designed to be retrofitted for rail when ridership increases to a level to support the cost of rail.
A BRT system is affordable, roughly $350 million as opposed to a Metrorail extension that would be anywhere from $1 billion to $1.5 billion and importantly, BRT can be up and running in approximately three years as opposed to a rail extension that will take at least seven to 10 years. Additionally, as was stated by TPO chairman Esteban Bovo, the TPO is prepared to support BRT with a proviso when ridership reaches a level that meets federal guidelines for rail, there will be an automatic “trigger” to require the county to begin the conversion to Metrorail. The TPO should consider incorporating language in its resolution to instruct the county administration, when designing the new BRT stations, to lay the rails for future conversion to Metrorail at the new BRT stations, with a covering for the BRT vehicles to travel over those rails. The laying of rails in the new stations would demonstrate the commitment to convert to rail at the appropriate time in the future and would also avoid future construction and disruption at those stations.
It is important the TPO members remember they are charged with dealing with our traffic congestion problems on a county-wide basis. The south corridor is one of six corridors. Over the coming years there will be approximately $8 billion available for new transit projects under the half-penny sales surtax. If that $8 billion is converted to net present value the amount becomes approximately $2.7 billion. By going with a BRT system for the south corridor at approximately $300 million, the TPO can bring relief to South Miami-Dade in the near term using only $100 million of the half-penny revenues, as opposed to waiting perhaps eight more years until rail could be built, if ever, assuming additional federal and state funding would then be available. Its not realistic to expect the TPO will commit to spending a significant portion of available rapid transit funding for one corridor, especially when there is a viable option that is more affordable and doable in the near term.
BRT, as proposed for the transit way, is a train on rubber wheels that will provide rapid transit relief for the people of South Miami-Dade in the near term as opposed to Metrorail a decade in the future. BRT will spur economic development along its route, as BRT has done in many cities across the U.S. and world. A BRT system will help to reduce traffic in many of our neighborhoods and can be the first concrete step in implementing the SMART Plan in a comprehensive transit system for the entire county!
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