subway in miami? (Hialeah, Pace, North Bay Village: car rental, rentals, condos)

[clean_polo]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Speaking from experience with flooded tunnels, an underground system in Miami is just not a good idea. We had a tunnel flood here during a hurricane and it impacted the city for months (not Miami). Can you imagine if the subway tunnels got flooded out, what that would do for the city? Not good.

The elevated trains are also like a reminder, especially when you're sitting in traffic and you see a train go whizzing by you.

I actually like that about elevated trains, its cool to see them come by on a track overhead, it gives it a real city feel.

4 train going by the old Yankee Stadium:


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/68/19...9348be60c3.jpg

Chicago EL train going through the city:


http://osumaterials.files.wordpress....chicago-el.jpg

Miami Metrorail train going through South Miami:


http://macsystems.com/Jul18-2009.jpg

Just a few examples, I actually think I like elevated trains more than underground trains .

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by clean_polo

I really don't mind that Metrorail is all elevated. Atleast it IS elevated, the point of rapid transit is to either be underground or elevated staying away from regular traffic to ease it up a little bit. If they improve the system I'm sure they will see more ridership.

The current expansion to the Airport/ MIC station should help boost ridership tremendously.

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

The current expansion to the Airport/ MIC station should help boost ridership tremendously.

I think it will, too.

I'm still on a crusade for the Midtown corridor as well.

Connecting the airport and all of the urban core (Midtown, Downtown and Brickell) will really start shaping the city even more than it is today.

Nice pics of the Metros, clean.

Raised trains are also good for repairs. Much easier to do when you can get larger equipment in there as opposed to having to find something that fits in a dark tunnel.

[clean_polo]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

The current expansion to the Airport/ MIC station should help boost ridership tremendously.

I agree, now if they could get something that connects from maybe Government Center Station to Miami Beach would be awesome.

[clean_polo]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

I think it will, too.

I'm still on a crusade for the Midtown corridor as well.

Connecting the airport and all of the urban core (Midtown, Downtown and Brickell) will really start shaping the city even more than it is today.

Nice pics of the Metros, clean.

Raised trains are also good for repairs. Much easier to do when you can get larger equipment in there as opposed to having to find something that fits in a dark tunnel.

Thanks, and you made some very good points .

[JohnLee1]

Heyyyy all the positive posts. Good job guys .

[MiamiRob]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

I think it will, too.

I'm still on a crusade for the Midtown corridor as well.

Connecting the airport and all of the urban core (Midtown, Downtown and Brickell) will really start shaping the city even more than it is today.

Nice pics of the Metros, clean.

Raised trains are also good for repairs. Much easier to do when you can get larger equipment in there as opposed to having to find something that fits in a dark tunnel.

You know Metrorail can create a eastern spur where the line leaves the Allapattah station before turning west that parallels SR 112 and head east instead to the Midtown Miami/Design district area. This extension would only be about 1 & 1/2 miles to Biscayne Blvd.
It could also be built without Federal funding like what was done with the Airport/MIC extension. The state of Florida & Miami Dade's transit tax paid for that and that was longer by about a mile.
Same thing was done with the Palmetto station. It's doable!

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by MiamiRob

You know Metrorail can create a eastern spur where the line leaves the Allapattah station before turning west that parallels SR 112 and head east instead to the Midtown Miami/Design district area. This extension would only be about 1 & 1/2 miles to Biscayne Blvd.
It could also be built without Federal funding like what was done with the Airport/MIC extension. The state of Florida & Miami Dade's transit tax paid for that and that was longer by about a mile.
Same thing was done with the Palmetto station. It's doable!

Hmm, you're right. That's a good idea. It's about 1.75 miles according to Google.

That would also set it up well to take the line across to Miami Beach and to Downtown.

[gixxer1000]

Just thought I'd mention that today is Dump the Pump day when everyone is encouraged to take public transit.

Public Transportation Takes Us There - Dump the Pump (http://www.publictransportation.org/contact/stories/ - broken link)

[gixxer1000]

I hate to be the Debbie downer here but I thought I'd let most people know what the actual proposed plans are.

First off there are no plans for any new metrorail lines east of where they currently are. Because of the density and cost to build you should only expect new metrorail lines going west (for example to the airport and FIU).

Instead the plans are for a street car system that starts downtown and then heads up NE 2nd ave then turns on NE 29th st and then heads up midtown blvd and into the design district where it turns around and heads the same way back downtown.

This would also be supplemented by a rubber tire trolley that would run from south Brickell all the way up to Midtown via Brickell ave and Biscayne blvd.

The reason for the streetcars is two-fold.

1. Its cost prohibitive to move the metrorail into the extremely dense locations of downtown. This is one of the main reasons when they first created metrorail the line runs to the west of downtown.

2. The mobility of the metrorail is very limited. Unlike a system in NY where you have multiple tracks the metrorail only has one track and therefore to be efficient there needs to be a significant distance between stops. The street car on the hand is more efficient for shorter trips within downtown. Much like the metromover but again in general the metromover is a cost prohibitive option.

You have to look at the planning and direction of downtown. The metrorail serves as a way to bring people who don't live downtown into downtown. Most of the people who don't live downtown will be coming to see attractions in the downtown area and not Midtown.

However people living in Midtown will most frequently need to go between Midtown and downtown and all the restaurants and bars along the way.

A metrorail expansion to the airport and FIU makes sense because the area's west are less dense and land values are cheaper making expansion more affordable. And again the main function would be to bring the people into the core of downtown where the majority of them are traveling. They could then switch to other options to go to Midtown, Brickell, the Beach, etc.

Downtown will essentially be the hub. All the different forms of transit will connect downtown so you can transfer between them. There is also plans for a sort of "Union Station" where busses, metrorail, streetcars, trolleys, and tri-rail out of the city all converge.