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Miami has a reputation as a big sprawling city with little in the way of public transportation. A proposed new trolley system may change that, somewhat, someday, supposedly. According to Open Media Miami, the City Commission voted last week to allow City Manager Johnny Martinez to start contract negotiations with a chosen company to bring the system to the city.
The proposed system would include six routes that would stretch from Brickell to the western most portions of the city, and would connect with the existing Metrorail, Metromover, and bus system.
“It’s going to add a new method of transportation for the city and it should eliminate some of the traffic congestion,” Mark Levitt, president of LSF Shuttle, the company chosen to possibly build and operate the system, told Open Media.
Fares aren’t set yet, but the first few months of the system will be free. Some routes are expected to begin operating by the end of the year.
LSF Shuttle also operates a Trolley system in Broward County.
Here’s the proposed Trolley routes. More details can be found here.
The system would be funded mostly by unspent money from the half-penny transportation sales tax, with most of the rest being paid for by federal stimulus dollars and state money.
Though, the trolleys won’t run on tracks, and will basically be fancy looking buses subjected to the same traffic woes as the current county bus system.
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