5 NOVEMBER 23-29, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | minority and low-income areas, high frequency on all causeways, and bus stop consolidation to help speed up service.” The county claims it factored in survey results and input from public hearings in de- vising the new route map. But critics of the new routes have been sounding off in recent weeks, saying that the wide-sweeping ser- vice shifts were hardly aligned with resi- dents’ needs. “All hell is going to break loose,” David Kupferman, of North Miami Beach, wrote in a letter to the editor in Wednesday’s Miami Herald. “It hath no fury like a passenger whose bus route was discontinued.” Such fury may grow. The county has a five-page list of bus routes that have been changed, shortened, discontinued, extended, or added. Mean- while, thousands of bus stops in the county were plastered with yellow “service change” advisories in English, Spanish, and Creole that explained changes for each location in the time leading up to the big switch. (A full map of the new routes is attached at the end of the article, along with the description of route changes.) Over in Miami Beach, the S route that had traveled from the Omni to Aventura Mall was discontinued as of Nov. 13. Even with the North Beach loop, South Beach loop, Middle Beach loop, and Collins Express, which altogether tal- lied nearly 11 million riders from 2016 to 2018, some gaps re- main. The 241 Tuttle Limited bus line be- tween Miami and Mount Sinai Medical Center is now discontinued, with the county directing riders to bus lines 14 and 36. In the county’s northwest region, Peres says, the 36 line will no longer serve the Dolphin Mall, Ikea, or Miami Dade College’s West Campus, leaving college students and workers in a jam. The 36 will also cease operations in Virginia Gardens and Miami Springs, where it serviced the business district, parks, post office, police station, and city hall, according to Peres. The county suggests that high school students and others who relied on the 36 route either walk 1.5 miles to 3rd and Palm in Hialeah or wait for the “Miami Springs/ Virginia Gardens Free-Bee shuttle,” a Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust- funded service. Fare Well? To relieve the stress on residents and give rid- ers a chance to preview the new network, the county is waving Metrobus fares from No- vember 13 through December 31. The generosity cost Department of Trans- portation and Public Works Director Eulois Cleckley a two-week suspension, as Miami- Dade County’s mayor cited him for allegedly failing to properly obtain approval from the county for the free fare program. “I support a community-focused approach to utilize our public transit system fare-free for the holiday season; however, the proper processes were not followed in the rollout of this plan,” Mayor Daniella Levine Cava wrote in a memo to the county board of commis- sioners. The county is projecting it will miss out on $9 million in fares during the free-ridership period. “There was already a budget allocation for the implementation of the historic Better Bus Network of some $6 million, which is largely intact,” Juan Mendieta, public affairs officer at the Department of Transportation and Public Works, tells New Times. Higgins tells New Times the county plans to make up any losses through a rise in new ridership. “First week, people may be nervous and confused learning the new routes, and we don’t need them struggling with their metro cards and their fares, too,” says Higgins. “Let them feel comfortable and get them moving.” [email protected] “THOSE WHO WANT TO GO TO HOSPITALS IN THE HEALTH DISTRICT WILL HAVE TO WALK A FEW BLOCKS.”
