Commuters on Miami’s 836 expressway now have another transit option to avoid traffic

Darting onto the shoulder of the Dolphin Expressway can get you a ticket, but more Miami-Dade County transit buses will have the green light to use special red lanes on the commuting thoroughfare.

Miami-Dade is rolling out a new express route on the bus-only shoulder lanes that debuted weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Miami commuting in 2020.

Now traffic has passed pre-pandemic levels on the county’s toll expressways, and Miami-Dade is promoting the new 837 Express as a way to avoid traffic on one of Miami’s busiest commuting routes.

“The 837 Express buses will travel on the designated bus-only lanes to by-pass traffic congestion on the Dolphin Expressway during peak service hours, Monday through Friday, providing a more efficient, low-stress alternative to driving while improving mobility and convenience,” the Department of Transportation and Public Works said in an announcement of the new service Wednesday.

The rush-hour route launches Monday, Nov. 28, and will run from the new Tamiami Station Park and Ride (at 14710 SW Eighth St., Miami) to downtown Miami.

The new express route joins a similar service that can also use the red bus-only shoulder lanes when traffic gets clogged on the Dolphin/State Road 836. Miami-Dade’s 836 Express runs from the Dolphin Station Park and Ride (at 12065 NW 12th St., Miami) to downtown Miami.

That route launched after the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, which runs the 836, completed the bus-only shoulders in 2020 but then was suspended for a year during the pandemic before resuming in 2021.

News of the new express route coincided with Miami-Dade announcing schedule changes for 20 existing bus routes.

This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 5:23 PM.