Miami Florida, A Lack of Political Vision and Leadership in Transportation
By: Rene Velez Aug. 06th, 2008
Miami is the “Gateway to Central and South America!”. That has always made sense to me. It is a statement that is visionary an outward looking. Despite the fact that statement looks out from Miami we seem to have forgotten what Miami needs to be. Or at least where it should be from a public transportation point of view.
The signs to our dependence on transportation systems are all around us. Yet we have not created a vision of what transportation should be in Miami. Why is that? Just look at our seaport. The Miami Seaport hosts the largest concentration of cruise ships in the world. Just about all go to or make a brief stop in the Caribbean and continue to all points on the globe. The same seaport has experienced tremendous growth in cargo transport ships. With imports and exports that rival many of the busiest ports in the world. We are thriving and dependent on the sustained growth of this transportation system. Lets look at our airports. Miami International Airport alone is a major hub for the Caribbean and Central and South America. It too has seen tremendous growth within the last decade. Not only has a transit point or hub but it has a substantial air cargo business that also rivals with many air cargo and transportation airport anywhere in the world. I should also mention we have a sizeable aircraft maintenance and parts business that operates in South Florida. It is a point of destination for aircraft repairs and maintenance for many aircrafts. Here too we depend and thrive on air transport. A quick look to our neighbors in Ft. Lauderdale and they too have bustling seaports and airports with just as much growth. In fact they absorb a good amount of overflow that might have come into Miami.
Just as a side note, the aviation business in South Florida started many years ago when Pan Am started flying their clipper airships out of what is now the Coconut Grove Marina. Today we host a very high concentration of flight school students that come here to learn to fly and will go into commercial aviation all around the world. Further we should remember that Doral has come to be what it is due to international trade that utilizes both Miami International and the Port of Miami. All of this, in my opinion, was hard evidence the writing was on the wall we needed a transportation network long ago.
Having made clear these facts (which we have known for decades) and knowing we are the “gateway”, knowing we have a high concentration of trade, tourism, banking, transient visitors …..why is it that our political leaders simply fail to make the connection that mass public transportation is vital to our economy and sustainability? Why have we done such a poor job at establishing a reliable, timely and affordable transportation network that can be used effectively? This is not a leap of faith! This is a plain as day reality.
Not Enough Land
One excuse I have heard is that we do not have sufficient contiguous land to build an uninterrupted railway. In particular an east west which is badly needed. I suppose there is some truth to that. But I should say that if you go back to the 1960’s there probably wasn’t one then either. In all fairness I don’t think many people would of agreed that Miami would become what it is today. Be that as it may, there is no reason why a system can’t be built. Yes there will be traffic delays and there will be inconvenience and of course we will have to utilize eminent domain in order to get it done. But there is no reason it can’t get done. I know that studies have been done to have rail lines that travel east west from the turnpike to the west, along the turnpike extension and Dolphin Expressway through the airport, and either down 112 or 836 into downtown Miami. This is doable, feasible and would create a much needed link between west Dade, the Airport and downtown Miami and the Port of Miami. Wow! Someone did have the vision but it died. We need to bring this alive again.
With regards to contiguous space. I ask this. Do any of our political leaders ever look beyond their noses? We have major overhead power lines that take a large swath of “restricted use land” (as in only for power lines) that runs from about Card Sound Road to the south, just west of the Turnpike heading North/South and cuts East all the way past Ft. Lauderdale. Has anyone ever thought of using that land for a Westside North/South route for a rail line with a bus feeder system to the already existing Eastside North/South Metrorail? Here are some benefits that. You can incorporate mixed use office and retail spaces which are income generating, you have space for park and drive centers, which are income generating, you can partner with FPL because covered or underground cables will not be knocked out in hurricanes. Oh! And of course the real side benefit is that you have augmented the transportation system and just made life in Miami more affordable. I know I have missed some benefits here but I would be happy if we got what I mentioned. The only drawback is some communities may chant the old NIMBY (not in my backyard). My feeling is you can’t win them all.
The Money
Despite whatever issues there might be to developing a transportation network in Miami, the biggest problem is a lack of funds. The only reason Metrorail got built was because federal dollars were allocated towards getting that system built. So what are our politicians doing about that? Isn’t that their job to push for the needs of this growing metropolis and to explain to our federal government that this growing metropolis pays large amounts of federal income tax dollars? Do you think that Congress and all those Presidential and Senatorial wannabes don’t know that South Florida pays a big role in every major election? Despite whatever federal apathy may exist for our needs here in South Florida, our elected officials managed to get a half penny sales tax increase for transportation when many thought it would never pass. So if they managed that, why could they not muster enough courage, tenacity and vision to sell a comprehensive transportation system to the people of South Florida? The reality is that our political leadership does not have enough vision or the intestinal fortitude to lead into the future. Despite the fact that many good things are done by our leaders, they have failed miserably in this area. In fact in the most recent half penny increase, they botched the projection and sold the plan to the public without disclosing major losses that existed at the time. They failed to realize the half penny sales tax they asked for would not improve public transportation as promised but would go instead, to cover existing operating shortfalls. In my opinion that’s gross mismanagement. What recourse do we, as a community, have on this issue? If this were a public corporation, as shareholders we could take the management to court and seek damages. As citizens it seems we have less rights, even though we do in fact have an ownership stake.
Bad Timing
Today, Miami is over the barrel. There does not exist, a major metropolitan area the likes of Miami, anywhere in the United States that does not have a major public transportation system. Even those major cities that do have them today are strained by the increase in riders, due in large part to high oil and gas prices. Many major cities have already put in orders for more buses, rail cars and the like. Potentially, this deficiency could have a major impact on the future growth of this city. Nothing turns away major businesses that want to be at our “Gateway” than bad transportation issues, massive traffic, underperforming schools, overcrowding and high costs to living. We seem to have it all.
Conclusion
Normally, I ask that people get involved, vote and to write letters to our politicos. The urgency of this problem is beyond that. Nothing short of community leaders forming coalitions and committees to oversea planning and implementation will resolve this issue. Politics is a foregone idea. For those of you who doubt me on this, start going back in time a read the articles and look at the major budget changes, contractor changes, management changes, public oversight conclusions (I should say public overblindness) to building airport terminals at the Miami Airport. This will take some fist pounding, marches and national embarrassment and we also need to vote people out of office. We need to do public /private ventures to help defray the cost. (as in public funding, private management) Worst of all is, if we want this in our community, we might well have to find a way to pay for some of it ourselves. There goes another penny in sales tax! But I must say, I want to get credit for it somehow. I refuse to pay for public official incompetence.
By: Rene Velez Aug. 06th, 2008
Miami is the “Gateway to Central and South America!”. That has always made sense to me. It is a statement that is visionary an outward looking. Despite the fact that statement looks out from Miami we seem to have forgotten what Miami needs to be. Or at least where it should be from a public transportation point of view.
The signs to our dependence on transportation systems are all around us. Yet we have not created a vision of what transportation should be in Miami. Why is that? Just look at our seaport. The Miami Seaport hosts the largest concentration of cruise ships in the world. Just about all go to or make a brief stop in the Caribbean and continue to all points on the globe. The same seaport has experienced tremendous growth in cargo transport ships. With imports and exports that rival many of the busiest ports in the world. We are thriving and dependent on the sustained growth of this transportation system. Lets look at our airports. Miami International Airport alone is a major hub for the Caribbean and Central and South America. It too has seen tremendous growth within the last decade. Not only has a transit point or hub but it has a substantial air cargo business that also rivals with many air cargo and transportation airport anywhere in the world. I should also mention we have a sizeable aircraft maintenance and parts business that operates in South Florida. It is a point of destination for aircraft repairs and maintenance for many aircrafts. Here too we depend and thrive on air transport. A quick look to our neighbors in Ft. Lauderdale and they too have bustling seaports and airports with just as much growth. In fact they absorb a good amount of overflow that might have come into Miami.
Just as a side note, the aviation business in South Florida started many years ago when Pan Am started flying their clipper airships out of what is now the Coconut Grove Marina. Today we host a very high concentration of flight school students that come here to learn to fly and will go into commercial aviation all around the world. Further we should remember that Doral has come to be what it is due to international trade that utilizes both Miami International and the Port of Miami. All of this, in my opinion, was hard evidence the writing was on the wall we needed a transportation network long ago.
Having made clear these facts (which we have known for decades) and knowing we are the “gateway”, knowing we have a high concentration of trade, tourism, banking, transient visitors …..why is it that our political leaders simply fail to make the connection that mass public transportation is vital to our economy and sustainability? Why have we done such a poor job at establishing a reliable, timely and affordable transportation network that can be used effectively? This is not a leap of faith! This is a plain as day reality.
Not Enough Land
One excuse I have heard is that we do not have sufficient contiguous land to build an uninterrupted railway. In particular an east west which is badly needed. I suppose there is some truth to that. But I should say that if you go back to the 1960’s there probably wasn’t one then either. In all fairness I don’t think many people would of agreed that Miami would become what it is today. Be that as it may, there is no reason why a system can’t be built. Yes there will be traffic delays and there will be inconvenience and of course we will have to utilize eminent domain in order to get it done. But there is no reason it can’t get done. I know that studies have been done to have rail lines that travel east west from the turnpike to the west, along the turnpike extension and Dolphin Expressway through the airport, and either down 112 or 836 into downtown Miami. This is doable, feasible and would create a much needed link between west Dade, the Airport and downtown Miami and the Port of Miami. Wow! Someone did have the vision but it died. We need to bring this alive again.
With regards to contiguous space. I ask this. Do any of our political leaders ever look beyond their noses? We have major overhead power lines that take a large swath of “restricted use land” (as in only for power lines) that runs from about Card Sound Road to the south, just west of the Turnpike heading North/South and cuts East all the way past Ft. Lauderdale. Has anyone ever thought of using that land for a Westside North/South route for a rail line with a bus feeder system to the already existing Eastside North/South Metrorail? Here are some benefits that. You can incorporate mixed use office and retail spaces which are income generating, you have space for park and drive centers, which are income generating, you can partner with FPL because covered or underground cables will not be knocked out in hurricanes. Oh! And of course the real side benefit is that you have augmented the transportation system and just made life in Miami more affordable. I know I have missed some benefits here but I would be happy if we got what I mentioned. The only drawback is some communities may chant the old NIMBY (not in my backyard). My feeling is you can’t win them all.
The Money
Despite whatever issues there might be to developing a transportation network in Miami, the biggest problem is a lack of funds. The only reason Metrorail got built was because federal dollars were allocated towards getting that system built. So what are our politicians doing about that? Isn’t that their job to push for the needs of this growing metropolis and to explain to our federal government that this growing metropolis pays large amounts of federal income tax dollars? Do you think that Congress and all those Presidential and Senatorial wannabes don’t know that South Florida pays a big role in every major election? Despite whatever federal apathy may exist for our needs here in South Florida, our elected officials managed to get a half penny sales tax increase for transportation when many thought it would never pass. So if they managed that, why could they not muster enough courage, tenacity and vision to sell a comprehensive transportation system to the people of South Florida? The reality is that our political leadership does not have enough vision or the intestinal fortitude to lead into the future. Despite the fact that many good things are done by our leaders, they have failed miserably in this area. In fact in the most recent half penny increase, they botched the projection and sold the plan to the public without disclosing major losses that existed at the time. They failed to realize the half penny sales tax they asked for would not improve public transportation as promised but would go instead, to cover existing operating shortfalls. In my opinion that’s gross mismanagement. What recourse do we, as a community, have on this issue? If this were a public corporation, as shareholders we could take the management to court and seek damages. As citizens it seems we have less rights, even though we do in fact have an ownership stake.
Bad Timing
Today, Miami is over the barrel. There does not exist, a major metropolitan area the likes of Miami, anywhere in the United States that does not have a major public transportation system. Even those major cities that do have them today are strained by the increase in riders, due in large part to high oil and gas prices. Many major cities have already put in orders for more buses, rail cars and the like. Potentially, this deficiency could have a major impact on the future growth of this city. Nothing turns away major businesses that want to be at our “Gateway” than bad transportation issues, massive traffic, underperforming schools, overcrowding and high costs to living. We seem to have it all.
Conclusion
Normally, I ask that people get involved, vote and to write letters to our politicos. The urgency of this problem is beyond that. Nothing short of community leaders forming coalitions and committees to oversea planning and implementation will resolve this issue. Politics is a foregone idea. For those of you who doubt me on this, start going back in time a read the articles and look at the major budget changes, contractor changes, management changes, public oversight conclusions (I should say public overblindness) to building airport terminals at the Miami Airport. This will take some fist pounding, marches and national embarrassment and we also need to vote people out of office. We need to do public /private ventures to help defray the cost. (as in public funding, private management) Worst of all is, if we want this in our community, we might well have to find a way to pay for some of it ourselves. There goes another penny in sales tax! But I must say, I want to get credit for it somehow. I refuse to pay for public official incompetence.
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