Investing in Miami-Dade rapid transit is an important step toward solving congestion | Opinion
If there’s one thing everyone in Miami-Dade agrees on, it’s how much we all hate traffic. The Partnership for Miami, a civic group of business leaders committed to building a better Miami that works for all, is proud to stand with a growing coalition of local leaders finding solutions to congestion across the county.
Recently, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) advanced the next stage of the Northeast Corridor Rapid Transit Project — a 13.5-mile commuter rail line that would connect downtown Miami to Aventura with five new stations.
Imagine being able to take a train to the Design District, Wynwood, Little Haiti, North Miami Beach and Aventura to work, shop, dine out or attend classes at Florida International University’s Biscayne Bay campus.
The project overall will cost $927 million, split among local, state and federal partners. FTA is on board for $389.5 million in federal dollars and Florida will chip in $200 million, thanks to tireless advocacy from our leaders, including Commissioners Eileen Higgins and Oliver Gilbert, the administrations of Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden, and our congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Frederica Wilson, Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar.
This project represents a big step forward for the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Program, a network of rail and bus lines planned to better connect our residents to economic opportunities and improve their quality of life.
Broward and Palm Beach counties are also working on activating the same rail line within their boundaries, a project that will eventually link tri-county job, housing and tourism markets along 85 miles of affordable commuter rail through historic downtowns and coastal communities.
After years of slow progress, transportation solutions in Miami-Dade are picking up speed. A few highlights from just the last year:
▪ Tri-Rail brought its commuter rail service into downtown’s Miami Central station
▪ Miami-Dade realigned its bus network for the first time in 40 years — increasing ridership by about 10.7% from 2023 to 2024.
▪ The county changed development impact formulas to direct more funding into mobility infrastructure.
▪ The county recently approved signal system upgrades to improve traffic flow and reduce congestion.
Next year, Miami-Dade will launch its South Dade Transitway project, a massive upgrade to the rapid bus line connecting South Dade to Dadeland. True, it is not the rail line many hoped for, but does represent a significant step forward for commuters escaping gridlock along U.S. 1.
Our economic growth and resilience as a region will depend on getting key infrastructure like transportation right. Fighting congestion is a bipartisan initiative because we’re all stuck in traffic. We’ll need our cities, county, state and federal partners working together with businesses and community to get where we’re going faster.
The Northeast Corridor project exemplifies how local, state and federal partnerships can create high-impact urban infrastructure that brings both economic opportunity and environmental benefits to communities. As the project moves closer to becoming reality, a future Miami-Dade that is more accessible, connected and sustainable is within reach.
Nitin Motwani is president & CEO of Merrimac Ventures and a founding board member of the Partnership for Miami, a civic group of business leaders.