{"id":159546,"date":"2026-02-18T09:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159546\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T09:32:10","slug":"its-time-to-turn-our-dead-studies-into-cross-bay-water-transit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/159546\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s\u00a0time to turn\u00a0our\u00a0dead\u00a0studies into\u00a0cross-bay\u00a0water transit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tWritten by Michael Lewis<\/a> on February 18, 2026<\/p>\n

\"www.miamitodaynews.com\"\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"It\u2019s\u00a0time<\/p>\n

Could\u00a0the\u00a0newly floated\u00a0water taxi\u00a0linking\u00a0Miami Beach and downtown Miami become\u00a0The Little Engine\u00a0That Could\u00a0of transit across Biscayne Bay?\u00a0<\/p>\n

For decades,\u00a0some\u00a0have\u00a0sought\u00a0ferries or taxis on the bay\u00a0and\u00a0rivers\u00a0to move better and more\u00a0calmly\u00a0as\u00a0road traffic has\u00a0multiplied\u00a0and\u00a0mass\u00a0transit\u00a0failed\u00a0to\u00a0keep pace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now,\u00a0as Miami Today reported\u00a0last week,\u00a0a free water taxi\u00a0launched by Miami Beach is\u00a0ferrying almost 900 people\u00a0daily\u00a0between the Beach and downtown Miami, proving that water transit can work here. Bravo!\u00a0<\/p>\n

Imagine relaxing\u00a0aboard a\u00a0boat instead of battling\u00a0traffic and\u00a0then finding\u00a0costly\u00a0parking.\u00a0It can be a dream instead of\u00a0nightmare. And who knows how long it will be,\u00a0if ever,\u00a0until\u00a0we get the\u00a0Baylink\u00a0transit that\u00a0our\u00a010-year-old Smart Plan promised us? A water taxi\u00a0could\u00a0help\u00a0us go with the flow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But is this\u00a0a one-off success, a\u00a0novelty? It\u00a0plies the bay\u00a0only\u00a0between two\u00a0points\u00a0with\u00a0few\u00a0vessels and has already had too many people\u00a0awaiting\u00a0too few\u00a0boats\u00a0to become\u00a0on its own\u00a0a permanent transit solution.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0not to say\u00a0bay transit\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0surge.\u00a0Water taxis\u00a0last year\u00a0were\u00a0a\u00a0$21\u00a0billion\u00a0global business\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0expected\u00a0to hit\u00a0$25 billion\u00a0by 2030.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0far bigger abroad than in the U.S., but\u00a0water taxis and ferries\u00a0do work here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I know \u2013 I\u00a0once\u00a0commuted\u00a0by ferry and water taxi\u00a0multiple times a\u00a0week\u00a0on my job\u00a0for three summers, with three separate\u00a0lines\u00a0competing for my\u00a0fares.\u00a0Combined, they carried\u00a0600,000 passengers\u00a0in a two-month span\u00a0in\u00a0sparsely populated\u00a0Northern Michigan.\u00a0Imagine\u00a0how such services could\u00a0do\u00a0in\u00a0this metro area,\u00a0where residents could commute while visitors boarded\u00a0water\u00a0taxis as novelties.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While\u00a0I\u00a0applaud the early success of today\u2019s\u00a0service\u00a0for\u00a0which Miami Beach and\u00a0the Florida Department of Transportation\u00a0split costs, they alone\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0fund the network of watercraft\u00a0we need to turn\u00a0this\u00a0into permanent and reliable transit.\u00a0Beach Mayor Steven Meiner has already called\u00a0on\u00a0other cities to pitch in\u00a0to make\u00a0the service\u00a0a fixture.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But beyond\u00a0broader funding\u00a0is a stark reality:\u00a0any long-term water transit\u00a0success\u00a0will\u00a0require fares. Otherwise,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a free and fun boat\u00a0ride.\u00a0Users are going to have to pay a share of the costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In fact, unlike most mass transit, water transportation\u00a0actually\u00a0can\u00a0pay\u00a0own way. The\u00a0owner of the\u00a0newspaper\u00a0for which\u00a0I worked\u00a0long ago\u00a0on Mackinac Island, MI, in fact,\u00a0has\u00a0bought some of those ferry lines\u00a0I used to ride\u00a0and\u00a0operates\u00a0them\u00a0as a business.\u00a0Why not\u00a0here?\u00a0<\/p>\n

When you think about it, water transit\u00a0has unique\u00a0financial\u00a0advantages that highly\u00a0subsidized\u00a0Metrorail and Metromover and\u00a0bus rapid transit and\u00a0highways\u00a0lack.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ferries\u00a0and water taxis\u00a0need not\u00a0buy\u00a0rights-of-way and then pave\u00a0them or lay rails or guideways. Nothing\u00a0must\u00a0be elevated.\u00a0No\u00a0curbing or lighting\u00a0is needed.\u00a0Construction is condensed to\u00a0modifying\u00a0or creating dock space\u00a0\u2013 the equivalent of a rail or bus station.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0mean\u00a0a water taxi line is a breeze. It will face a raft of\u00a0environmental rules,\u00a0as does all transit.\u00a0It will need multiple docks near\u00a0transit on shore. Vessels\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0cheap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Expanded water transit\u00a0could\u00a0in fact require\u00a0government incentives. In the right structure, they\u00a0would pay off for us all.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond profit to operators,\u00a0expanded\u00a0water transit will\u00a0serve\u00a0this community.\u00a0It can get some\u00a0of us\u00a0off\u00a0jammed\u00a0roadways.\u00a0It can ease and speed\u00a0commutes. It can serve as an amenity for visitors.\u00a0It could be a lifeline for Key Biscayne, which lives in\u00a0fear\u00a0of a\u00a0loss\u00a0of\u00a0its mainland\u00a0link\u00a0over bridges that have outlived their lifespan.\u00a0<\/p>\n

No studies would be\u00a0vital, for a simple reason: Miami-Dade has already studied\u00a0water transit\u00a0to death.\u00a0You\u00a0can find\u00a0piles of reports, the latest less than two years old.\u00a0That 2024 report\u00a0by a\u00a0county committee called for\u00a0a network with\u00a010 specific stops. \u201cMore than one single facility is\u00a0necessary to provide comprehensive and sustainable operation,\u201d the report said. True.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Commissioners have those reports and studies.\u00a0They should now tell the mayor that\u00a0they\u00a0want the\u00a0county\u2019s\u00a0transportation team to get to work on the project to make it a reality.\u00a0Miami Beach has proven it can be done. The test case works.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the commissioners can be heroes\u00a0by\u00a0getting behind water transit. No heavy investment is needed. This\u00a0is a case where a call to private enterprise\u00a0is\u00a0totally appropriate\u00a0\u2013 where, after all,\u00a0are those\u00a0ferries and water taxis of the northern U.S. working in winter, which is our\u00a0peak season?\u00a0<\/p>\n

This has been studied to death.\u00a0Take\u00a0the studies off the shelves and offer\u00a0government\u00a0aid\u00a0to private\u00a0enterprise.\u00a0Look to funding from the\u00a0sales tax we levy upon ourselves for new mass transportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Is early success in Miami Beach scalable? Will economics\u00a0permit\u00a0a ferry and taxi fleet?\u00a0Can water taxis and ferries\u00a0exceed the 2,500 added\u00a0users\u00a0a day that the\u00a0South Dade bus rapid transit service brought\u00a0us for a $360 million investment?\u00a0Daunting questions.\u00a0Be positive and\u00a0give it a try.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What\u00a0we\u2019d\u00a0like to hear from\u00a0county\u00a0government is \u201cI think I can! I think I can!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Written by Michael Lewis on February 18, 2026 Advertisement Could\u00a0the\u00a0newly floated\u00a0water taxi\u00a0linking\u00a0Miami Beach and downtown Miami become\u00a0The Little…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-159546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}