Miami transit goes from bad to worse (neighborhood, high school)

[valicky]

Somehow they have money for new metrorail cars. I'd rather see a rail line go west than new cars. I don't think the cars are so bad. As long as they keep them clean, they're fine.

[Bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by valicky

Somehow they have money for new metrorail cars. I'd rather see a rail line go west than new cars. I don't think the cars are so bad. As long as they keep them clean, they're fine.

The metrorail cars are over 33 years old now , are outdated and beyond their shelf life. The county used it half cent sales tax revenue to pay for the $300 million dollar cost for 136 new cars.

The cost of the new cars would barely get you 2 miles of a new rail line at that price.

Video : Miami-Dade County Unveils New Metrorail Cars, Set For Debut Next Year | NBC 6 South Florida

[valicky]

Hopefully the new cars will get more people on them. Bring the rail west and ridership would be increased greatly. Having to take a bus or drive to Metrorail parking out east defeats the purpose of taking the rail when the worst of the traffic is the east west commute. I love the new cars - but they need to get more people on the trains. The east/west issue should've been addressed decades ago. It keeps not happening and it keeps costing more and more. Miami is so shortsighted and horribly planned though. Not surprising at all.

[oronzous]

No wonder the ridershp is falling.

an experience from last week: I leave my office, check the app and rush to get the metromover so i could catch the northbound metrorail from Brickell to Palmetto.
the metromover arrives and it was particularly empty, being rush hour. when I boarded, I understood why: a homeless woman , completely soiled in her own excrement was laying on a corner. the stench was unbearable and i had to leave the car on the next station.
When i finally got to brickell, the train I was hoping to catch already left. The next green northbound train came 50 minute later, after a couple of oranges and an 'out of service' one. And this is rush hour service!
Long story short, it took me 2 hours to get home.

[valicky]

That's horrible oronzous!

[hurricaneMan1992]

MDT is entering in to a death spiral--service gets worse, fewer people ride, rinse and repeat. I'm glad I am getting out of town before things get really bad. But I hope it improves so I can come back and visit (sorry, but I'm not visiting if it means dealing with the traffic violence and road rage while on vacation--I know better!)

Only way for MDT to attract riders is to do what other successful transit cities to--consolidate the bus system into a FREQUENT bus network throughout the day connected to a regional rapid transit network that goes places. Start taking the SMART corridor lane space NOW and use it for dedicated bus lanes. And by frequent I mean reliably every 10 minutes or better not every 15-20 minutes on paper but often 30-45+ minutes on the ground.

[tallrick]

Yet there is seemingly endless money for White Elephants like a completely uneeded "signature" brige which will have the same play-doh like concrete rails as every other new bridge.

[CXT2000]

Originally Posted by tallrick

Yet there is seemingly endless money for White Elephants like a completely uneeded "signature" brige which will have the same play-doh like concrete rails as every other new bridge.

That bridge is a huge waste of money, you can use that what? almost $1B on improving transit, making it frequent for once, improvements on bike lanes, infrastructure, green space etc..

[OyCrumbler]

This is terrible. The city and the metropolitan area are both seeing an influx of new residents and commuter rail is finally about to see a stop in downtown with connections to Metromover and Metrorail, and they're now reducing hours? That's incredibly ridiculous.

[CXT2000]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

This is terrible. The city and the metropolitan area are both seeing an influx of new residents and commuter rail is finally about to see a stop in downtown with connections to Metromover and Metrorail, and they're now reducing hours? That's incredibly ridiculous.

I was hoping that transport would improve, and ever since I moved out of the city, every time I would visit it would just get worse and worse. And now that I'm back in MTL and got used to the great transit coverage, I get so impatient and never even use transit when I go back to Miami.