Miami to Miami Beach Baylink Light rail plan moves forward

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by brickell

It's always been the Miami Beach side that opposes it. I'm not getting my hopes up just yet.

True. Dam NIMBY's.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by dave8721

Just to clarify, Metrorail does run at grade for a section but they area not considering it for the beach. Too expensive.

Right, it was too extremely expensive. They won't be extending to Miami Beach. Only Baylink will serve to Miami Beach.

[Eightball]

I imagine ridership would be very high for this line, hopefully it gets built asap. The price tag is really only equivalent to one big highway interchange or one medium sized bridge...

What's the next planned heavy rail extension?

[bobdreamz]

^ Well MDT has plenty of plans but no funding especially since the FEDS rejected funding twice for the 9.5 mile North corridor extension which would have brought Metrorail right up to the Broward county line.
The FEDs characterized it as "medium density" & didn't warrant funding which is preposterous since it would serve Miami Dade College with thousands of students, another Tri-Rail station and the Dolphins stadium as well as thousands of south Broward commuters at the terminus.
The county owns the Right of way already and the EIS are complete. Maybe MDT will finance the extension by itself just like they did with the Airport link.

[eleven=11]

what about the new Miami WorldCenter Mall thing
with the new Marriot convention center/1000+ hotel rooms
its being built soon where the old Miami Heat Arena was.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

^ Well MDT has plenty of plans but no funding especially since the FEDS rejected funding twice for the 9.5 mile North corridor extension which would have brought Metrorail right up to the Broward county line.
The FEDs characterized it as "medium density" & didn't warrant funding which is preposterous since it would serve Miami Dade College with thousands of students, another Tri-Rail station and the Dolphins stadium as well as thousands of south Broward commuters at the terminus.
The county owns the Right of way already and the EIS are complete. Maybe MDT will finance the extension by itself just like they did with the Airport link.

Well, can they extend to Broward County or something like that? Will they consider it? I think metrorail will go near Miami-Dade/Broward County Line. This is better work.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by N830MH

Well, can they extend to Broward County or something like that? Will they consider it? I think metrorail will go near Miami-Dade/Broward County Line. This is better work.

The high priority for Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is to get Baylink going which will connect downtown to South beach. It is probably one of the most heavily traveled bus routes right now in the entire transit system. I am sure once this happens the cab drivers won't be happy! They are already upset you can catch Metrorail at the Airport to downtown already.

[ardecila]

Tourists would still need to change trains to get to Miami Beach from the airport, and the LRT won't be fast. Taxis will still have some advantage, especially outside of rush hours when the roads are free-flowing. Looks like the Baylink will have transfers to Metrorail and All Aboard Florida, though. Hopefully the section through downtown Miami can be buried or elevated eventually.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Hopefully the section through downtown Miami can be buried or elevated eventually.

It won't be buried because of the expense. Light rail was chosen as the preferred train mainly because it can run at grade and within city streets. Might as well as chosen another train type if grade separation was desired. Elevating above streets in downtown Miami is already occupied by two other transit systems, and will soon be by FEC. The only place the light rail tracks will need to be grade separated is over/under the FEC tracks heading to the port. FTA and FRA trains can't share the same track, even a crossing, without temporal separation measures, which I'm sure both train organizations would oppose.

[ardecila]

Temporal separation will suck for the LRT but I thought the FEC trains to the port were supposed to be cut back after the Port of Miami Tunnel opens.

Digging a tunnel is expensive but ultimately necessary... even DART is now considering a tunnel in downtown Dallas, and the potential ridership in Miami is much higher. You could still do elevated with a different alignment... From the bay crossing west up 395 to the FEC corridor, then south to the AAF terminal/Metrorail stop, then east through Downtown Miami and up Biscayne Blvd. It would provide a quick trip to the beach for passengers coming off the train or from the airport, without having to slog through the slow portion in downtown Miami.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

The high priority for Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) is to get Baylink going which will connect downtown to South beach. It is probably one of the most heavily traveled bus routes right now in the entire transit system. I am sure once this happens the cab drivers won't be happy! They are already upset you can catch Metrorail at the Airport to downtown already.

Right, the taxi is very expensive. You can't go on taxicab to airport. Instead, you can catch Baylink to downtown Miami to connect metrorail to MIA Airport. The metrorail is much cheaper than taxicab. You won't be necessary to take on taxicab.

[N830MH]

It won’t be cheap, maybe not pretty, and there’s no money available to pay for it right now, local officials backing a passenger rail link between Miami and Miami Beach were warned Tuesday. But they remained confident that private enterprise will come riding to the rescue.

“There’s a lot of creativity out there in the private sector!” proclaimed Miami-Dade County Commissioner Bruno Barreiro. “To me, it’s a private deal,” agreed Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine.

Their chipper declarations of optimism came at a meeting of the Metropolitan Planning Organization executive committee that’s been pondering a revival of Bay Link, a long dormant proposal for a light-rail line running along the MacArthur Causeway.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/07/0...ami-miami.html

Let the speculation begin.

[BrennanW]

There's also a nonstop, frequent bus from the airport to Miami Beach that isn't too expensive. But some folks don't like the city bus.
The light rail will be a boon for connections between Miami Beach and Downtown and will benefit downtown more than any!

[Eightball]

French firm makes streetcar offer to push Miami light rail along
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/fre...n-funds-manila

[eleven=11]

Why not extend the beach train to Marlins park?
http://www.thenextmiami.com/index.ph...occer-stadium/

[NorthernDancer]

The Miami area's combination of high population density and low per capita transit ridership is very disappointing. I don't know if better service (better frequencies, more hours on most routes) alone is the answer. Usually high density corresponds with high transit ridership.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

The Miami area's combination of high population density and low per capita transit ridership is very disappointing. I don't know if better service (better frequencies, more hours on most routes) alone is the answer. Usually high density corresponds with high transit ridership.

I think they will have every 12 or 15 minutes frequency instead of hourly. It getting more extremely overcrowded. It was so many of those people who rode on Metrobus route S to Collins Ave via A1A.

[N830MH]

Construction could begin quickly, since no federal funding or studies would be required.

http://www.thenextmiami.com/index.ph...for-streetcar/

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

The Miami area's combination of high population density and low per capita transit ridership is very disappointing. I don't know if better service (better frequencies, more hours on most routes) alone is the answer. Usually high density corresponds with high transit ridership.

linking rail transit to mb will change that. i believe its the busiest bus route. its been talked to death ever since miami started its rail transit services, but its an expensive route to build and run.

[dave8721]

Ugh. This is why we can't have nice things (too many competing little fiefdoms with their own transit agencies). Miami Beach is looking to move ahead with its side of the Baylink route independent of Miami and MDTransit meaning you may have to take one train just to get over the bridge and switch to a totally different line (run by a totally different operator) to get around Miami Beach.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...e58554368.html

The long-delayed rail connection between Miami and Miami Beach won a key approval Thursday when a board of local officials agreed to pursue the massive project in two parallel plans.

It represents a significant step toward making the oft-discussed but still-unrealized transit project a reality.

Miami Beach is powering forward with its own section of the transit project after it got an unsolicited proposal from French rail company Alstom last fall. The city is preparing its own environmental analysis while using the Alstom bid to solicit proposals from other firms.

Miami-Dade County and the city of Miami are moving forward with their piece of Bay Link by doing an environmental analysis aligned with federal requirements, which would take longer and make that portion eligible for federal funds.

By stepping ahead, the Beach could be eligible for state funds but it might be more difficult to obtain federal dollars for the work. But through a newly identified process discussed Thursday, the Beach system can be designated an “interrelated” project that could be an avenue through which federal dollars help pay for the light rail.

The Beach could be folded back into the larger project down the road, and officials say they prepared the environmental impact report so that it can be used to ask for federal funding later, if needed.

Still, county leaders have said they would like to have one operator for the whole system, which might not happen if the Beach presses forward ahead of Miami and the county.

“I would like to be compatible,” Gimenez said Thursday. “But it may be that there will have to be a connection point.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/loca...#storylink=cpy