{"id":16115,"date":"2025-10-22T19:43:38","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/16115\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T19:43:38","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T19:43:38","slug":"ride-the-new-bus-rapid-transit-it-could-be-our-last-new-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/16115\/","title":{"rendered":"Ride the new bus rapid transit \u2013 it could be our last new line"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tWritten by Michael Lewis<\/a> on October 22, 2025<\/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\"Ride<\/p>\n

When Metro Express electric bus rapid transit starts rolling Monday, it should successfully lure more commuters out of cars as they go faster and more efficiently on a 20-mile trip along the first of six corridors in Miami-Dade\u2019s rapid transit Smart Program. Bravo!<\/p>\n

To those commuting between Dadeland and Homestead, enjoy it. For the rest of us, unfortunately, rapid transit may be only wishful thinking.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because this is likely to be the only corridor of the six to open for a decade or more \u2013 perhaps, in fact, the only new rapid transit in many of our lifetimes.<\/p>\n

Adding transit always has been anything but rapid. The county approved the Smart Plan \u2013 renamed the Smart Program \u2013 in 2016. Just nine years later the first of the six corridors is opening. The others were planned to follow as land acquisition and funding aligned. The Northeast rail corridor was to open next, in 2032.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne corridor will have to come first,\u201d county commission Transportation Committee Chairman Esteban Bovo Jr. told the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce in June 2016. \u201cWe\u2019ll have to choose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The one route of the six in the Smart Plan that \u201ccan be done quickly\u201d is the South Dade Transitway into Florida City, Mr. Bovo said. \u201cWe own the right of way,\u201d a major advantage. Rapid transit on that route, he said, \u201cunlocks the southern end of the county.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government is full of delays. Mr. Bovo said he expected that route to get moving while he was committee chairman. Since then, he\u2019s been mayor of Hialeah and now works in Washington, all before the South Dade route opens.<\/p>\n

But pessimism about the other legs of the Smart Program \u2013 most of which plan rail, not buses \u2013 isn\u2019t due to performance lags. After all, amidst many delays and cost increases, officials actually plan to run the express electric buses starting Monday. Give them credit.<\/p>\n

The problem is the funding, which is likely to roadblock, if not derail, the rest of the Smart Program.<\/p>\n

Big transit projects rest on three pillars: county, state and federal funding. While equations differ, projects have been figured at up to 50% to 60% federal funding, with the rest split between state and county.<\/p>\n

To make those equations work, the county must kick in 20% or more of the cost \u2013 in the case of the bus rapid transit, the county paid a third, as did the state and the federal government.\u00a0<\/p>\n

County funds come from the half percent sales surtax that voters levied on ourselves back in 2002. The bulk of receipts are squirreled away to fund big-ticket transit \u2013 building with county money alone would take an eternity and a battle over what part of the county gets the project.<\/p>\n

But while the county tax is doing its part to add vital rapid transit, the federal and state shares of the equation have suddenly stalled. Both levels of government have always taken convincing that transit here is the best use for limited resources. But now we seriously question whether any help will be coming no matter how good our transit case is.<\/p>\n

Take the Northeast Corridor. The $937 million, 14-mile rail service between downtown Miami and Aventura as the first leg of a longer Coastal Link running up to Palm Beach won an OK for $389.5 million in federal funds and $200 million from the state \u2013 until the state without explanation yanked its $200 million out of the budget this year, for now derailing plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If state fund guarantees can flip like a dime on a dime, how firm is any state transit aid?<\/p>\n

Then come federal funds, the lion\u2019s share of new mass transit. Writing during a federal government shutdown, it\u2019s hard to anticipate firm long-term federal funding for anything.<\/p>\n

Even barring a shutdown, federal funding for transit always depends on the mood in Washington. During the Biden administration, transit funds flowed more freely that we anticipate during a Trump administration, just as transit money flows more freely in good economic times than bad.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Either way, these days transit aid for South Florida is also likely to depend on how supportive mayors and commissions and voters are of the party in power in Washington. Whether that attitude also prevails after the 2028 election will influence rapid transit aid into the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those funding uncertainties do not lay a firm roadbed for the rail corridors for which this county yearns.<\/p>\n

We do know that after the Metro Express opens in South Dade, we can still count on one more large transportation boost, though it won\u2019t come from the Smart Program but by speeding old-fashioned auto traffic flow in the heart of downtown via the upper deck of traffic on I-395 and a new signature bridge that\u2019s half finished. That should all open late in 2029. \u00a0<\/p>\n

As for the Smart Program, we note with no joy that the term itself has ominously disappeared from the lexicon of government. It is no longer mentioned.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Metro Express BRT is touted as \u201cthe future of mobility in Miami-Dade County\u201d with no longer mentions of rapid transit lines until recently touted for the North, Northeast, East-West, Kendall or Miami Beach corridors. If hope remains for action in any of those five transit plans, it is muted.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s worse than a pity \u2013 it would be disastrous to abandon those valid and vital efforts. But it seems to be today\u2019s reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So hail the new Metro Express bus rapid transit, use it if it fits your mobility plans, and point to its successes \u2013 which we desperately need. We in Miami-Dade County can influence the likelihood of outside funds to finish the mobility master plan only via our state and federal votes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Written by Michael Lewis on October 22, 2025 Advertisement When Metro Express electric bus rapid transit starts rolling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-16115","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16115","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=16115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}