South Florida Transportation Part II

[brickell]

The plan for Kendall adopted by MPO was the Diesel light rail that would have taken the CSX tracks up to Kendall and then east to Dadeland. It was the Kendall Community groups and HOAs led by this fishy guy that put the quash on it.

This is HIS alternative, not one proposed by the county. The fact that it got good reviews (according to the article at least) disturbs me however.

[spellbound]

Originally Posted by brickell

This is HIS alternative, not one proposed by the county. The fact that it got good reviews (according to the article at least) disturbs me however.

Correct, but MDTA has made busway proposals in the past and the South Dade busway, in fact, runs along what was once planned as a southern Metrorail extension long ago.

You'd hate to see a future where they consider this kind of feeble response a viable solution but at the rate things are going....

[jamesinclair]

Can someone explain the HOT lanes for me?

-Carpools still get to ride free, how does the system tell? Lets say I rent a car, and me and two friend are driving down 1-95. How do the cameras know there are 3 or 4 of us?

-The HOV lane has a portion where it breaks away from the 1-95 and is suspended above the highway for a mile or so. Its one lane each way, how are they making it two?


As for the bus proposal, buses are in fact cheaper and work just as well as trains, and as an added bonus do not have to comply with strict railways laws. Try to get trains running at 15 second intervals in this country, youd be lucky to get 3 minutes legally, even after expensive ATO systems. And they can be expanded like trains (either articulated or connected)

[Paul305]

This might be slightly off topic but I just bought a Prius and found out that I can use any HOV lanes in Florida for only $5/month because my car is a hybrid and I'm assuming that I can take the HOT lanes as well but there are no good sources for this type of info.

Also, the HOV overpass at the Golden Glades interchange has one of the best views of Miami's skyline. Every time I drive on it I want to pull over and take a picture but I would almost definitely get killed in the process.

[kevinkagy]

Finally a little bit of good news on the Miami transit front. They're going to operate a circulator within the Civic Center from Civic Center Station Mon-Fri. Finally a line that's actually useful. According to the article, this will help 27,000 commuters to the area. Also, nice to read that the streetcar from Downtown to Design District is still on.

Plan for 'circulator' buses on right track
http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stori...ry/595805.html

[Endeavor305]

Originally Posted by jamesinclair

Can someone explain the HOT lanes for me?

-Carpools still get to ride free, how does the system tell? Lets say I rent a car, and me and two friend are driving down 1-95. How do the cameras know there are 3 or 4 of us?

I remember once on the news they busted some guy driving in the HOV lane with a mannequin in the passenger seat lol.

[AddictedToSpace]

I-95 toll lanes cause chaos, crashes

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/601761.html

BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
llebowitz@MiamiHerald.com

Chaos and confusion reigned on northbound Interstate 95 in Miami-Dade County on Friday as drivers struggled -- or refused -- to adjust to the new configuration created by the still-under-construction variably priced toll lanes experiment.

''It's a mess out there,'' said Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Pat Santangelo. ``People are getting seriously hurt. We've had one accident after another.''

One driver, trying to get out of the express lane area at its southernmost beginning, rolled his SUV near downtown Miami during the morning rush hour, blocking the entire express lane area for more than an hour.

Two people were airlifted to area hospitals with serious injuries right before lunchtime after another major accident, at the northernmost end of the express lanes, between Northwest 151st Street and the Golden Glades interchange.

A few minutes later, a driver who must have really wanted to get into the far left-hand lanes ran over the just-erected orange candlesticks near Northwest 103rd Street and sideswiped another vehicle in the express lanes.

Five minutes after that, another car overturned near Northwest 110th Street.

Television news helicopter crews captured tractor-trailer drivers dodging in and out of the new lanes, driving right over the new candlesticks like errant skiers knocking over gates on a slalom course.

The Florida Department of Transportation was urging local drivers to use extra caution when approaching the recently restriped and newly reconfigured express lane area.

The state, with a push from the Bush administration, is trying to relieve congestion by converting the underused and poorly enforced HOV lanes into High Occupancy Toll or HOT lanes. The concept is to offer a free ride for transit buses, hybrid vehicles, motorcycles and registered carpools with three or more passengers and then ''sell'' the excess capacity to solo drivers willing to pay a premium.

Using cameras and computers, the state will monitor the traffic flow to guarantee a 50 mph trip in the express area. The idea is pure supply-and-demand economics: As more vehicles enter the lanes, the price will rise. When it is flowing freely, it might only cost a quarter to get from downtown Miami to the Golden Glades.

The contractor, MCM Construction, erected the orange candlesticks that separate the two variably-priced express lanes from the four ''free'' general purpose lane, overnight Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Friday marked the first day the new configuration was completely defined.

This led to more accidents as a number of drivers tried to enter or exit the express lane area between downtown and Golden Glades, leading to the rash of accidents and near-misses.

Even though the tolls are not being charged yet, anyone who wants to exit northbound I-95 between downtown Miami and the Golden Glades interchange must stay out of the express lanes, said FDOT spokeswoman Tish Burgher.

Once you are in the express lanes, there is no way to exit before Golden Glades, Burgher said. Many drivers were confused -- or refused to abide -- by the changes.



I really hope this turns into a case of Natural Selection and population control. People like to do what ever they want, whenever they want and how ever they want to do it; with no regards to rules. Just take away their licenses and put them in jail if you must. "Many drivers were confused -- or refused to abide -- by the changes." Get these people off the streets. Driving is NOT a right it is a privilege.

[kevinkagy]

The I-95 "express" lanes are stupid and nobody wants them! Bush can test his stupid taxes/tolls concepts elsewhere. We don't need more tolls!

[Vitruvius09]

i seriously hope they do away with this STUPID STUPID STUPID IDEA... we dont need tolls and those hov lanes where never underused to begin with.

[AddictedToSpace]

Originally Posted by Vitruvius09

i seriously hope they do away with this STUPID STUPID STUPID IDEA... we dont need tolls and those hov lanes where never underused to begin with.

They were not underused, they were abused!

[Vitruvius09]

i think charging people to ride down a federal highway is abusive

[BornInTheGrove]

whats more abusive, charging to drive down a federal highway, or charging to eat on a plane?

[Hurricanes2010]

those I-95 express lanes are all over the news, everyone seems to hate them. it's causing a lot of confusion right now which i can understand, they need to post clearer signs. Because even if you buy the sun pass, it's still confusing because you can only use the lanes if you're going from downtown to beyond golden glades without getting off. For example, if you want to get off at 79th street you can't use those lanes because they have them completely blocked off. Because of this i don't really think they will get that much use and will probably be a failure in the end.


One observation i noticed today, I was riding on the Metro Rail from Hialeah to Kendall....and the patterns of ridership were interesting....the ridership was pretty good overall, for most of the time the train was pretty much full. A pretty good amount of people get on in the stations in Hialeah and other parts at the northwestern part of the line. Then a lot get on at the Tri-rail transfer station. Northside gets a few people. Then, every station between the MLK plaza and Santa Clara gets absolutely nobody going on or off except for a few poverty-stricken black people (I'm not being racist, but it's true....those areas are ghettos and nobody else wants to get off there). Then Civic Center gets TONS of people (mostly who work around there in the health district), Culmer and overtown some, and then at Government center, the metromover-metrorail transfer station, there is the most getting on and off of the trains. Brickell station also gets a lot of people. The train is a lot more crowded from there to Dadeland South then it is north of downtown. All the stations from there south get a pretty good amount of riders.

I'm just saying this as to future expansion, it seems like the areas that are middle class and upper class as well as the business district areas get a lot more ridership than the ghettos. I'm starting to think that they should just scrap the whole idea of the North corridor metrorail for good because most of that area along N.W. 27th avenue is full of ghettos. The E-W corridor goes through more middle class areas and near FIU which i think would get a lot more ridership than an area that isn't very dense, such as the 27th avenue corridor in northern Miami-Dade (opa locka, miami gardens, etc). Does anyone else get what i'm talking about here? I'm sure most of you metrorail riders have seen this before how certain stations get like 1000x more ridership than some others.....

[spellbound]

Originally Posted by Hurricanes2010

I'm just saying this as to future expansion, it seems like the areas that are middle class and upper class as well as the business district areas get a lot more ridership than the ghettos. I'm starting to think that they should just scrap the whole idea of the North corridor metrorail for good because most of that area along N.W. 27th avenue is full of ghettos. The E-W corridor goes through more middle class areas and near FIU which i think would get a lot more ridership than an area that isn't very dense, such as the 27th avenue corridor in northern Miami-Dade (opa locka, miami gardens, etc). Does anyone else get what i'm talking about here? I'm sure most of you metrorail riders have seen this before how certain stations get like 1000x more ridership than some others.....

I know what you mean and totally agree but the issue we're faced with is that NO expansion is on the table---regardless of how much sense an E/W corridor would have been the right move rather than the silly and costly North extension (itself now with a hazy and unsure future).

Honestly, these are mistakes that MDTA made five years ago or more...back before the feds had totally written them off (even though they were hardly doling out big bucks to anybody). Metrorail currently is in a bad alignment of poor management/fiscal irresponsibility/federal resistance. There's little chance of those dynamics changing anytime soon.

IF they had pushed E/W we might be seeing actual movement but that moment in time is gone now. Everything has changed. They MUST start thinking light-rail or we're going to be seeing a lot more posts like the ones about busways and giant parking lots at the new ballpark and "express" lanes on I-95. MDTA has to get their heads out of their butts on this stuff and start prioritizing things that actually might have a shot at happening. Big-time Metrorail expansion is no longer one of those things.

[Songoten2554]

i know and its sad about that i mean Metrorail is in dire need of a major expansion program but i don't see it happening which is sad because this is the united states where its one of the most powerful nations in the world and its transportation system is whacked out non existant i mean by public Transport.

i was hoping about the Expansion about the metrorail but it seems its not going to happen.

Light Rail is the only choose we have left and i hope they won't screw it up i hope maybe they can look at the Tyne and Wear Metro because thats Light Rail and yet it functions like a Metrorail like way and such and that is successful.

maybe Miami will have its own Tyne and Wear Metro style of Transport soon?

[Hurricanes2010]

spellbound, you say no expansion. But isn't the MIC-earlington heights expansion still definitely going to happen? i hope you were just referring to the e/w and north corridors.

[spellbound]

Originally Posted by Hurricanes2010

spellbound, you say no expansion. But isn't the MIC-earlington heights expansion still definitely going to happen? i hope you were just referring to the e/w and north corridors.

Yes...I'm just talking about those components. The MIC link isn't dependant on federal funding and should definitely be built despite seemingly taking forever to actually start construction.

[dave8721]

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/606509.html

Miami-Dade introduces transit changes

BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
llebowitz@MiamiHerald.com

Miami-Dade Transit will unveil its new Easy Card fare-collection system and Google Transit trip planner on Wednesday.

The new Easy Card is part of an $80 million program to introduce an automated fare collection technology that will make it easier for passengers to use the rail and bus system and for the agency to track ridership patterns and alter routes, said Transit Director Harpal Kapoor.

The new cards, which are tentatively scheduled to be introduced on Metrobuses early next year, will automatically deduct fares at Metrorail gates and on bus fareboxes. Riders will be able to reload the cards at ATM-style machines located at stations and other public kiosks.

Transit will be providing hands-on demonstrations of the new farecards from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through July 29 in the lobby at Government Center.

Miami-Dade becomes the latest in a string of large transit agencies worldwide that have teamed up with Google Maps to provide online trip planning information.

Regular riders should bookmark the site at www.google.com/transit and then click on the Miami-Dade link. Users can plug in their departure and intended arrival points and the times they wish to travel and will receive an array of route options, including walking distances, waiting times and transfer locations. Broward County Transit recently posted its schedule information on the site.

The partnership with the world's largest search engine site comes after Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and the authority that runs Tri-Rail had spent years, and millions of dollars, developing a South Florida Regional Trip Planner. That site continues to exist at http://sfrtp.cinrtosfl.com/

Tri-Rail is working with Google to post its schedule and connections to other transit systems later this year.

[AddictedToSpace]

Miami-Dade introduces transit changes

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/606509.html

BY LARRY LEBOWITZ
llebowitz@MiamiHerald.com

Miami-Dade Transit will unveil its new Easy Card fare-collection system and Google Transit trip planner on Wednesday.

The new Easy Card is part of an $80 million program to introduce an automated fare collection technology that will make it easier for passengers to use the rail and bus system and for the agency to track ridership patterns and alter routes, said Transit Director Harpal Kapoor.

The new cards, which are tentatively scheduled to be introduced on Metrobuses early next year, will automatically deduct fares at Metrorail gates and on bus fareboxes. Riders will be able to reload the cards at ATM-style machines located at stations and other public kiosks.

Transit will be providing hands-on demonstrations of the new farecards from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through July 29 in the lobby at Government Center.

Miami-Dade becomes the latest in a string of large transit agencies worldwide that have teamed up with Google Maps to provide online trip planning information.

Regular riders should bookmark the site at www.google.com/transit and then click on the Miami-Dade link. Users can plug in their departure and intended arrival points and the times they wish to travel and will receive an array of route options, including walking distances, waiting times and transfer locations. Broward County Transit recently posted its schedule information on the site.

The partnership with the world's largest search engine site comes after Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and the authority that runs Tri-Rail had spent years, and millions of dollars, developing a South Florida Regional Trip Planner. That site continues to exist at http://sfrtp.cinrtosfl.com/

Tri-Rail is working with Google to post its schedule and connections to other transit systems later this year.

[kevinkagy]

Good news on the Miami transit front. MDT will begin introducing an Easy Card fare-collecting system and has implemented its schedules and routes onto Google Transit. Finally, something useful we can all use. It may not be news that the North line has begun construction, but it is something.

I wonder if the Miami Herald watchdog articles on the MDT corruption has created some pressure on their behalf to step it up. I'd like to think so.

Edit: As soon as I posted this, I realized more people had posted this, wow, such fast responses lol.

Miami-Dade introduces transit changes
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/brea...ry/606509.html

Miami-Dade Transit will unveil its new Easy Card fare-collection system and Google Transit trip planner on Wednesday.

The new Easy Card is part of an $80 million program to introduce an automated fare collection technology that will make it easier for passengers to use the rail and bus system and for the agency to track ridership patterns and alter routes, said Transit Director Harpal Kapoor.

The new cards, which are tentatively scheduled to be introduced on Metrobuses early next year, will automatically deduct fares at Metrorail gates and on bus fareboxes. Riders will be able to reload the cards at ATM-style machines located at stations and other public kiosks.

Transit will be providing hands-on demonstrations of the new farecards from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays through July 29 in the lobby at Government Center.

Miami-Dade becomes the latest in a string of large transit agencies worldwide that have teamed up with Google Maps to provide online trip planning information.

Regular riders should bookmark the site at www.google.com/transit and then click on the Miami-Dade link. Users can plug in their departure and intended arrival points and the times they wish to travel and will receive an array of route options, including walking distances, waiting times and transfer locations. Broward County Transit recently posted its schedule information on the site.

The partnership with the world's largest search engine site comes after Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and the authority that runs Tri-Rail had spent years, and millions of dollars, developing a South Florida Regional Trip Planner. That site continues to exist at http://sfrtp.cinrtosfl.com/

Tri-Rail is working with Google to post its schedule and connections to other transit systems later this year.