The Miami Metromover

[dougskiles]

I went to your link Ocklawaha - very interesting.  I also sent an email reqest to JHS.

However, what I'm really curious to see is the final plan that is still not built out that you refer to.  Has anyone see that?  It sounds like there was a plan that came from what I assume to be several years of studies that was approved by the feds (and maybe even funded?) that hasn't been completed.  What does that plan look like?

[Noone]

5. This is probably the most important observation but take me on your next trip out of Duval county your obviously having too much fun.

5. You paying?

Yes. We have to take the train. I've never been on one. You get the top bunk. Have you ever heard of Clark Howard?

[AaroniusLives]

OK, I used to live in Miami, was born there, and went to high school in downtown (New World School of the Arts,) so I took this Automated People Mover on a regular basis for four years. Some thoughts:

1. Patience is obviously key here. It took a long, long, long time for Downtown Miami to truly become an actual place. It's like Sarah Jessica Parker's career: it was going to the the "next big thing" so many times that people almost missed it as it became the next big thing.

2. The design flaws of Metromover are obvious. The original purpose of the Metromover was to ferry people to work in the new! improved! high-rise! business! district that was Miami in the 1980s...and so people could avoid the streets. This is partially why the Metromover stops like every two blocks or so.

3. Even free, the ridership is still low. Some 90,000+ people live in Downtown Miami, and only 15,000+ a day use it? It's FREE! However, here's where the patience comes in. 30,000+ daily trips is an astonishing increase in ridership from the 1990s...and even the early aughts. It goes to show that patience paired to effective urban planning does deliver results...if not immediately, than over time.

4. It's the only APM integrated with heavy rail in the country (although, considering that it's Miami's MetroFail...)

5. It's experiencing some growing pains as it's being used in ways it wasn't designed for, kind of like Washington's Metro. The Metro was designed to ferry suburbanites into the city's business and commercial districts primarily, but now it's mostly used as a inter-city transit. The same is true of Metromover: designed to transport suburbanites to work without having to "deal" with the streets...now used to get around those very same streets it was designed to avoid. The growing pains will only increase as each Miami MetroFail station goes New Urban, and becomes a part of the greater urban fabric (see: like every station in Washington at present or near-future.)

[johnny_simpatico]

Metromover's success is largely derived from the easy cross-platform, no-fare transfer from Metrorail.  Without that, ridership would be much thinner, but still beefier than the Jacksonville experience.  The big prize will come when they run it over to Miami Beach.  Washington's system was not designed to ferry suburbanites into downtown  Look at the WMATA map.  There are plenty of stations both in the District and outside of Washington's huge downtown.  Still, it was designed as a regional system and there were political issues that dictated a reasonable amount of parity between DC, Maryland and Virginia (and subsets within).  The problem with Washington's system isn't the way it's used, it's the volume of use.  It has been too successful and at times demand exceeds designed supply.  They need to add more tracks in spots, which is an expensive and difficult proposition.  When G Street was dug up for Metro construction during the early 1970s it didn't have that much effect.  Downtown was still recovering from the 1968 riots then.  Now it would be a different story.

[Jason]

You also need to consider the inherant car-oriented nature of the average Floridian.  We were populated by city dwellers wanting their own little peice of land and separation from neighbors.  That lifestyle required a car forcing our culture to revolve around it.  Things have just recently started to change within the last 10-15 years.  I think our youth, having grown up in traffic, will be the ones to revolutionize our transportation future.  We just have to give them the right-of-way now.

[AaroniusLives]

Washington's system was not designed to ferry suburbanites into downtown  Look at the WMATA map.  There are plenty of stations both in the District and outside of Washington's huge downtown.  Still, it was designed as a regional system and there were political issues that dictated a reasonable amount of parity between DC, Maryland and Virginia (and subsets within).  The problem with Washington's system isn't the way it's used, it's the volume of use.  It has been too successful and at times demand exceeds designed supply.  They need to add more tracks in spots, which is an expensive and difficult proposition.  When G Street was dug up for Metro construction during the early 1970s it didn't have that much effect.  Downtown was still recovering from the 1968 riots then.  Now it would be a different story.

Yes, it was designed to ferry suburbanites into downtown. It's in every book written on Metro's history. It's in every "Dr. Gridlock" answer to "why can't I get from Chevy Chase to Petworth without going through downtown" answer. It's the centerpiece of a compromise struck between the highway planners and the urban dwellers protecting the fabric of Washington. Moreover, because of that design flaw, the demand exceeding supply problem is exponentially increased.

This is a very different story that the NYC subway, which is specifically designed for inter-city travel.

[Ocklawaha]

This is a very different story that the NYC subway, which is specifically designed for inter-city travel.

Common error that can have big repercussions Aaroniust, the NYC Subway WAS NOT designed for inter-city travel. AMTRAK is inter-city, the Subway is intrA-city. JTA is an example of intra-city - regional - or within a SMA operation.

OCKLAWAHA   

[newzgrrl]

You can also carry bikes onto them and Metrorail.

My bike + Skyway = my ideal transportation combination.

[Shwaz]

The Miami MM was in the opening shot of last weeks episode of Dexter and it's supposedly right near the 'station' according to the scene. Maybe one or some of the characters will take a ride on a future episode.

[Ocklawaha]

Even if it goes in a circle, such as the Miami Metromover or Detroit People Mover, they still carry more people then our Skyway. We are our own best argument for Skyway and Rail.

OCKLAWAHA