Washington’s $223M relief money can cover Miami-Dade transit costs through 2021

The coronavirus pandemic shoved Miami-Dade’s transit system into crisis mode, but it’s also set up the agency to be flush with federal relief dollars.

Jennifer Moon, the deputy mayor who oversees the county’s budget and its Transportation Department, told a county board recently that the $223 million Miami-Dade said it is receiving under the federal CARES Act is enough to cover transit costs through the fall of 2021.

“It appears we will be able to fund all of our expenditures, net of revenues, through the end of the next fiscal year,” Moon said, referring to the costs remaining after the county’s transit agency collects projected taxes and fees. “Even if people aren’t paying fares to use our system, we still will be able to run that service.”

The estimate presented to the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust captures the scope of the windfall Washington granted the nation’s largest transit agencies when President Donald Trump signed the CARES act into law on March 27, with $25 billion for transit. Miami-Dade administrators said their share of the South Florida portion will be $223 million.

That’s enough to cover nearly three years of projected fare revenue, which was budgeted to approach $80 million this year. That was before the coronavirus crisis prompted Miami-Dade to suspend fares in order to keep passengers away from bus drivers and end contact with payment equipment.

The $223 million estimate is also 140 percent larger than the nearly $160 million the county’s Transportation Department budgeted this year from Miami-Dade’s half-percent sales tax dedicated to transit and roadwork.

The bullish revenue figure contrasts with the crisis footing for Miami-Dade’s current transit system. Buses and trains have been cut to half capacity in order to create more space between passengers. Miami-Dade canceled express routes popular with commuters, and outsourced overnight bus routes to Uber and Lyft. Wait times between buses and trains are longer to cut costs, and the capacity limits have some passengers unable to board when too many riders show up at a bus stop.

“I’ve been kicked out of the bus many times,“ said Mike Plasencia, dressed in scrubs from an overnight shift at his job in patient transport at the University of Miami hospital. He was waiting at the Dadeland South Metrorail station for a bus home to Homestead. He had no trouble boarding Friday morning, but said in the past he’s been turned away at the door once the available seats were taken.

“It’s been terrible,” he said.

Ridership on Miami-Dade transit is down as much as 80 percent, according to the county.

Miami-Dade hasn’t released sales tax figures for March, when emergency orders shut down much of the retail industry. Figures released Monday from the hospitality industry suggest an ugly picture for consumer spending. A sales tax charged at Miami-Dade restaurants that funds homeless and domestic-violence programs plunged 57 percent in March. Mayor Carlos Gimenez ordered restaurants countywide to close dining rooms on March 17.

The CARES dollars can be used to offset transit costs tied to the coronavirus pandemic, said agency spokesperson Luis Espinoza. The agency submits expenses for reimbursement. So the $223 million figure sets a cap on costs that can be covered by Washington. The Federal Transit Administration, which oversees the CARES dollars, said the money can cover costs required to maintain transit services during the pandemic and pay for workers sent home sick with the coronavirus.

The funding formula directs all of the CARES transit money in Miami-Dade to the county itself, with none earmarked for cities. That’s expected to prompt municipal leaders to press Miami-Dade to use CARES money to make up declines in the transportation sales tax that funds city trolley systems and circulators.

In Coral Gables, the city predicts about a $1 million shortfall from the tax through this summer, said Vince Lago, a City Council member running for mayor in 2021. He said Miami-Dade should reach out to cities about the federal aid and see where the dollars could close gaps in municipal transit networks.

“We should see what the holes are,” Lago said. “It’s an incredible amount of money.”

This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 7:33 PM.