Miami Rapid Transit Project Moves Forward

According to an article in The Next Miami, Miami-Dade County has issued the draft environmental study for a rapid transit line that would connect downtown Miami and Miami Beach as part of the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Program. “The study covers the Beach Corridor Trunkline from the existing Metromover system in Downtown Miami to 5th Street and Washington Avenue in the City of Miami Beach.” 

The project would include a monorail to Miami Beach and a “Metromover-type system” to the city’s Design District.

As noted in the study’s executive summary, “The purpose of this project is to increase the person-throughput to the Beach Corridor’s major origins and destinations via a rapid transit technology. The need for the project is the extensive population growth throughout the study area, resulting in ever-increasing traffic congestion and the demand for enhanced access to the area’s employment centers, facilities and services.”

Critics of the project question the price tag, which ballooned to over $1 billion from the original estimate of $587 million.