No Planes or Trains- Just Automobiles

As a New Yorker I must say I am disappointed in the public transportation Miami has to offer. Since trains and buses aren't really an option South Floridians take to the highways by the thousands each day to move at a snails pace and burn $3.40 per gallon for the privilege. Suffice to say, something must be done. I remember sitting in rush hour traffic for well over an hour to get from North Miami to the airport and longing for the easy, accessible, cheap, no-brainer transit system back home. No, it's not the cleanest in the world but it gets the job done. I would rather deal with an unpleasant smell every now and then, rather than sit in traffic for hours at a time with nothing but a dwindling gas tank to keep me company.

Speaking of which, why are there so many construction projects spread all over Miami? They only serve to make the traffic situation worse. Biscayne Blvd. becomes a nightmare after 96th Street. If you try cutting down any of those side streets you will run into construction site after construction site after construction site. Why would the City of Miami plan projects all around the same time in the same area, thus voiding Biscayne (AKA US-1, I-95s predecessor) as an alternative to the parking lot known as I-95? It bears mentioning that I have driven down I-95 in almost every state on the Eastern Seaboard and NO STRETCH of this interstate is as bad as it is in South Florida. Why is that?

I wonder if the meeting Miami-Dade Transit is having on Tuesday will make a difference. I can't go because I have a Hands On Miami meeting that I must attend. But I wish I could be there to voice my frustrations about the situation. If the trains ran up here in North Miami I would park and ride every day. Here's hoping something happens soon because this whole traffic thing makes me want to leave Miami on the first thing smoking. Obviously it would have to be Amtrak since who knows where the Miami trains are?

Please read the press release about the meeting below, and attend if you can. Let your voices be heard!

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On Tuesday, March 25, 2008 Miami-Dade County Transit will hold will hold a public meeting to present the current status of the Orange Line – Phase 1: Miami Intermodal Center (MIC)/Earlington Heights Connector Metrorail extension project and to discuss activities projected for the next phase.

The public meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 with an Open House at 6 p.m. and a Presentation at 7 p.m. at Miami-Dade Transit’s Sheila Winitzer Central Administration Building Auditorium, 3300 NW 32nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33142.

The 2.4-mile MIC/Earlington Heights Connector Metrorail extension will run from the existing Earlington Heights Metrorail station to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) adjacent to Miami International Airport (MIA) and includes a new Metrorail station and bus terminal plaza. Direct access between the MIC Metrorail station and the airport will be provided by an automated people mover operated by MIA.

For additional information on Metrorail’s Airport Extension, please call 786-469-5550 or email mdtoutreach@miamidade.gov.