possible to live in Miami w/o a car? (Miami Beach: house, versus)

[clean_polo]

Lol @ how much different the comments are from now in 2010 as compared to the ones in 2007. The city really has a changed a lot in the last couple of years.

[hurricaneMan1992]

It's feasible to get back and forth from work and get groceries and go to the beach without a car, in a few select locations, especially South Beach and Brickell/Downtown. Even transportation between Downtown and South Beach is usable and runs late, all night if you include the "night owl" bus.

It's too bad we don't have car share programs which you can use to rent by the hour for Target/Walmart/Ikea runs, craigs list pickups, going to a doctor/dentist and not getting ripped off and/or waiting 2 months for appointment, or if it's raining or just simply getting out of Miami for a day. If Zipcar moved in to downtown Miami, I'd seriously consider moving back there. Right now we only have Zipcar at the University of Miami, a 15-minute Metrorail ride away from downtown.

BTW I would NOT recommend bicycling around Downtown/Brickell though South Beach is doable IF you keep to the minor streets.

[doom1001]

In a few select areas,sure you might get by without a car,but in 80% of the city if you don't have a car it'll take you 1 hour plus to go somewhere that would take you 10-15 minutes by car.Also many bus routes seem to have the routes discontinued or the operating hours shortened pretty much every year,for example 2-3 years ago the route that runs near me had shorter more limited buses on Sunday,then it became Saturday and Sunday,then on weekdays except for rush hour they went from buses every 30 minutes to every hour just like weekends.Also I don't care what anyone says if you take public transportation between April and October you will sweat,A LOT,as well as get rained on A LOT!!Lately I've been occasionally been giving a ride to a co-worker who's without a car right now and there are days that he chooses to ride his bike over 5 miles to work since he can get to work in 30-40 minutes versus the 1.5 hours it takes him to take the 2 buses to work.He comes in drenched in sweat but he says it's not as much as when he rides his bike back home when he can ride his bike faster since he doesn't have to worry about sweating.

[JohnLee1]

Originally Posted by doom1001

He comes in drenched in sweat but he says it's not as much as when he rides his bike back home when he can ride his bike faster since he doesn't have to worry about sweating.

That seems highly unlikely but like I said, there's a few people out there that do sweat easily, or that certain elements make them sweat.

From every single time I rode the bus, metrorail, and metromover, I have never sweated and only once have I felt hot that sweat could come. I have only been caught once in rain waiting for a bus but of course no worries as I was protected from the rain. The majority of the time, if not all the time, I never have to worry about the sun because I'm under shade. Maybe in some suburbs you have to worry because there isn't much shade, but in Miami, the sun almost never hits me.

[JohnLee1]

Originally Posted by hurricaneMan1992

It's feasible to get back and forth from work and get groceries and go to the beach without a car, in a few select locations, especially South Beach and Brickell/Downtown. Even transportation between Downtown and South Beach is usable and runs late, all night if you include the "night owl" bus.

It's too bad we don't have car share programs which you can use to rent by the hour for Target/Walmart/Ikea runs, craigs list pickups, going to a doctor/dentist and not getting ripped off and/or waiting 2 months for appointment, or if it's raining or just simply getting out of Miami for a day. If Zipcar moved in to downtown Miami, I'd seriously consider moving back there. Right now we only have Zipcar at the University of Miami, a 15-minute Metrorail ride away from downtown.

BTW I would NOT recommend bicycling around Downtown/Brickell though South Beach is doable IF you keep to the minor streets.

I do recommend bicycling in Downtown/Brickell, BUT from all the accidents that have been happening to cyclists (of course under 5, but they didn't happen to far from each other) I would say be careful and try not to ride where on the street where the cars are driving especially when it's on heavy traffic.

[harrycrat]

Bicycles are dangerous & should be banned...from major roads
Also,bikes without protective canopy should be restricted use only...
They are a nuisance to us,the normal people, who drive cars...

[gixxer1000]

Having taken the metro to work in both DC and NY I find this argument laughable. During the rainy season it rains just as much as in Miami. During the summer it's just as hot as Miami. During the winter its A LOT colder than Miami and you have march through the slush and snow.

So here is a novel ideal in the northeast we simply take better shoes to walk in and then change them when we get to work. We take umbrellas and rain coast so we don't get soaked. And the profuse sweater actually use there umbrellas in the summer time so the sun isn't beating down on them making them hotter.

To complain that weather is a reason you can't take public transportation in a place that has one of the best assortments of weather in the US is pretty ridiculous and just goes to show that most people complaining here just complain for no reason.

I feel like a lot of people in Miami need to go on one of those intervention shows where they take the young spoiled kids to another country so they can really see how it is in other places and appreciate what they have.

[JohnLee1]

Originally Posted by doom1001

In a few select areas,sure you might get by without a car,but in 80% of the city if you don't have a car it'll take you 1 hour plus to go somewhere that would take you 10-15 minutes by car.Also many bus routes seem to have the routes discontinued or the operating hours shortened pretty much every year,for example 2-3 years ago the route that runs near me had shorter more limited buses on Sunday,then it became Saturday and Sunday,then on weekdays except for rush hour they went from buses every 30 minutes to every hour just like weekends.

That acutally isn't true and it depends from where and to where yo are trying to go. Remember that these are buses not space ships, so I hope you aren't trying to make it seem that not getting to your FAR destination in under 1 minute is just a Miami thing, it's the same for every place in the United States. And I have researched on what you said of discontinued buses, and you exaggerated your comments on it. Every year? not even close to accurate. And actually if you must know, the operating hours have increased AND there's buses that run from 12 AM to 5 AM, soooooo...

[JohnLee1]

Originally Posted by harrymiafl

Bicycles are dangerous & should be banned...from major roads

Well, yes, they shouldn't really be in major roads, but what the city should do is, since people do ride bikes and would prefer to ride their bike to where ever it may be to save money and a plethora of other reasons, they should step their game up in the whole bike lanes thing. I have been following this website for a while now, it has a lot of everything on transit in Miami. Really good site with a whole bunch of everything you should know.

Transit Miami

I really think the city will have to step their game up in a lot of things, they can try to ignore it, but as time goes by, they will have to.

[doom1001]

Originally Posted by JohnLee1

That acutally isn't true and it depends from where and to where yo are trying to go. Remember that these are buses not space ships, so I hope you aren't trying to make it seem that not getting to your FAR destination in under 1 minute is just a Miami thing, it's the same for every place in the United States. And I have researched on what you said of discontinued buses, and you exaggerated your comments on it. Every year? not even close to accurate. And actually if you must know, the operating hours have increased AND there's buses that run from 12 AM to 5 AM, soooooo...

Miami-Dade Transit adjusting bus routes

Changes take effect June 15


(Miami-Dade County, FL) -- Effective Sunday, June 15, Miami-Dade Transit will discontinue nine underperforming bus routes and adjust service to 58 other routes.

The following nine routes will be discontinued due to low ridership: 68 Gratigny Connection, 82, V, 147, 216 Goulds Connection, 241 North Dade Connection, 242 Doral Connection, 245 Okeechobee Connection, and 278 Flagami Connection.

Midday service on the 95 Express to downtown Miami and the Civic Center will be discontinued. The last morning trip to downtown Miami will leave the Golden Glades Park & Ride lot at 9:30 a.m. and the first afternoon trip from downtown Miami will leave the downtown courthouse at 3:10 p.m. The first afternoon trip from the Civic Center will leave at 3:30 p.m. Alternate midday service is available on Route 77 to/from downtown Miami.

Bus Routes 10, K, and the 51 Flagler Max will end their route at the Omni Metromover Station/Bus Terminal.

Several other routes will undergo schedule and route alignment changes. Passengers should plan on getting to their bus stop a few minutes earlier than usual the week of June 15 to ensure they arrive on time.

Miami-Dade Transit adjusts its bus routes at least twice a year in response to changes in ridership and customer demand and in order to improve systemwide efficiency.


This info is from 2008 and states the routes that were discontinued.It doesn't mention how the 58 routes that were adjusted were adjusted,but look up route 252,that route is one I know FOR A FACT that every year has the schedule adjusted with LESS SCHEDULED BUSES all the time.I don't know exactly what you mean that it's incorrect when I say it takes 1 hour to go to a destination that takes 15 minutes by car,yeas it does,try taking the 137 from Dolphin mall to Coral Reef drive,that bus literally stops every 8 blocks and can take 1.5 hours during rush hour versus 30 minutes or so driving.And when you talk about not sweating in this 95 degree heat,all I can say is go get yourself checked out cause not sweating is not normal.