Miami Metro Rail line to the airport

[Wild Style]

Originally Posted by FlyMIA

I understand the point of the video but its a pretty stupid video. The new station was not suppose to connect to Miami Beach. This was never really happening and it has much much more to do with the people running Miami Beach then the people running Miami-Dade. The station still connects right to Downtown which is certainly an up and coming spot for tourist and locals. And of course it connects down to the rest of the metrorail line. I know students at UM are very happy about the connection to the airport.

I agree as we have said in this thread we need a direct connecting to Miami Beach though. But that was never the point of this extention. We have known for years that rail to Miami Beach wasnt happening. Hopefully in the future. I guess you can say that is what the video is about, to maybe show their is a need to build one but I got the feeling that the point was that this train connecting to the airport is stupid and it does not really do much. But it does. It makes getting to MIA easier for many many people.

I see your point completely. However I think we are over thinking the video. He didn't seem to indicate anywhere in the video that the extension was "stupid".

The beginning of the video says and I quote:

According to the Greater Miami Convention & Vistors Bureau, in 2011, 41% of 13.4 million of our overnight visitors stayed in Miami Beach and spent billons of dollars

They are showing that South Beach is a VERY important part of Miami's economy. They are showing that it should not be hard for tourist to get to south beach via public transit (which most great cities around the WORLD have). He then talks about how you can get a rental car easily but you can't get out to the beach at low cost.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Originally Posted by perry335654

It is a bad idea to have metrorail in Miami Beach, what tourist wants to see an ugly hunk of concrete overhead up and down the street, with very few main thoroughfares to begin with, kudos to Miami Beach. The same would be for building it across Biscayne Bay, the causeway is fine where buses can transport the masses.

The buses have serious capacity issues and are often unreliable in heavy traffic areas, not only between downtown and SoBe but also up and down the beach. It would be obvious if you've ever actually stepped on to one of those buses. I can see that you wouldn't want to have a loud, ugly Metrorail going up Collins Ave. every 5 minutes, but to conclude that buses are good enough, that's a stretch! We have other options like light rail, monorail, and personal rapid transit. Remember any transportation system is more for residents than for tourists. Let's face it, most jobs on the Beach are low income and obviously don't pay enough to expect everyone to drive and pay for parking, yet without all these workers coming over to the beach, it would be just another sleepy bedroom community (yes, in that case, a bus would be adequate).

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by perry335654

It is a bad idea to have metrorail in Miami Beach, what tourist wants to see an ugly hunk of concrete overhead up and down the street, with very few main thoroughfares to begin with, kudos to Miami Beach. The same would be for building it across Biscayne Bay, the causeway is fine where buses can transport the masses.

Extending Metrorail to South Beach ( and I'm only advocating one stop on Fifth street) doesn't have to necessarily mean a "ugly hunk of concrete" crossing Biscayne Bay.
There are many beautiful railroad bridges that have spanned bodies of water all over the world so it doesn't have to be ugly. It just costs money.

[Wild Style]

Here is the full article to accompany the video I posted link