After an ominous news conference from Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa and plenty of online speculation about whether cyclists would begin facing fines and police crackdowns at Critical Mass, Friday’s ride went surprisingly smoothly. During the 13-mile route through the city, bikers rode through red lights in large groups as…
Just two days after Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa called Critical Mass a “critical mess,” the suspected organizer of the monthly bicycle rides is asking that cyclists please be responsible and ride safely. “Riders should act accordingly and try to correct all the criticisms mentioned by the police earlier this…
A day after Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa called the monthly Critical Mass bike ride a “critical mess,” the route for this Friday’s ride has been released. Though it occasionally detours into other neighboring cities where police have had a friendlier approach, such as Miami Beach and Coral Gables, this…
On March 15 a Miami-Dade metrobus, travelling east across the Venetian Causeway near the old Miami Herald building, suddenly got stuck. The weight from the bus had opened a hole in the structure, and engineers later discovered that a portion of the bridge had fallen loose. A month later, in…
Update: At the conference, Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa says he believes Critical Mass has become a “critical mess.” It may be the end of the era for Critical Mass Miami. City of Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa has called a news conference for tomorrow at 10 a.m., saying in…
First Miami-Dade started ticketing Lyft and UberX drivers. Then they started impounding their cars. Apparently that’s not good enough for the local taxi industry. No, they want drivers working for UberX and Lyft put in jail. See also: Miami-Dade County Is Now Impounding Lyft Vehicles…
Miami-Dade already has enough of a problem with “businesses” operating outside of or in the gray area of the law that when a venture capitalist-backed tech firm comes into town and tries to do it, they’re just asking for trouble. The county had earlier started fining app-based ride share Lyft’s…
Sky blue. Sun sets. Miami traffic bad. It hardly seems like news, but somehow it’s comforting to be reminded periodically that traffic in Miami really is among the worst in America and we’re not just imagining it. Turns out those TomTom GPS devices do more than help people get from…
At a municipal meeting last month, one Miami Beach commissioner floated a simple idea in response to growing traffic and congestion concerns: permanently banning cars from Ocean Drive. In a city where Lincoln Road, another pedestrianized street, has become one of its biggest tourist draws, you’d think the idea might…
Four years ago, Christophe Le Canne, a South Miami family man, was riding his blue Cannondale in the bike lane on the Rickenbacker Causeway when he was struck by a Silver Volkswagen and killed as the driver, Carlos Bertonatti, drove away dragging his bike. But without better safety measures in…
The big party starts tonight in South Beach, and local police are determined to keep drunk drivers out. (Makes sense, no?) With Urban Beach Week beginning in earnest this evening, local police will implement a DUI checkpoint on the eastbound MacArthur Causeway beginning at 8. A team of at least…
I hate taking taxis in Miami-Dade, but I depend on them. Without a car, I sometimes need a quick ride to events and to the office, which unfortunately has no convenient bus or trolley stops nearby. But the rights of passengers who use taxi services in the county are rarely…
You might want to just stay in your SUV forever, Miami. Days after a study found that Florida cities dominated the list of America’s deadliest for pedestrians (with the Magic City clocking in fourth place), a new report has been released on the most dangerous locales in the U.S. for…
Last Friday, Chris Underhill’s bike was stolen. He had taken a cousin from out of town to Mary Brickell Village, only to find his chain cut and his Giant Escape true to its name: gone. Underhill underwent the usual stages of stolen bike syndrome: disbelief, anger, and despair. He filled…
Segways: They’re silent, they’re funny-looking, and they never go faster than 12 mph. And soon they could be banned from much of Miami Beach because of apparent clashes with pedestrians. At a public hearing later this morning, Miami Beach Commissioner Jonah Wilson will propose an amendment to city code that…
Uber’s plans to enter the Miami market have stalled, but a similar yet distinct ride-sharing app-based service called Lyft will give it a try anyway. The company operates a “peer-to-peer ride sharing” program that allows users to get rides from approved drivers operating their personal vehicles in exchange for money…
Between 2003 and 2012, 1,539 pedestrians died while walking along the streets of South Florida. That’s more pedestrian deaths in any other major metro area except for New York and Los Angeles. So, sadly, it’s not much of a surprise that Miami has been ranked the fourth most dangerous metro…
Memorial Day weekend is just three days away. That means Urban Beach Week — and its hundreds of thousands of revelers — is once again slated to descend on Miami Beach. Three years ago the event was marred when police fired more than 100 shots in an incident that killed…
Two weeks ago, we wrote about how DecoBike was not turning out to be the win-win we were once promised. Despite extraordinary success for the bike share, a revised deal between DecoBike and Miami Beach meant that the city was only getting half the revenue originally agreed upon. Our article…
DecoBike is booming. The Miami Beach bike-share program now boasts around 100 kiosks with 1,000 bikes. Locals and tourists used the company’s cruisers more than 1.5 million times last year, earning DecoBike roughly $3 million. By most measures, it is the most successful bike-share program in the nation. DecoBike’s deal…
There are two types of drivers in Florida: snow birds who drive 15 mph under the speed limit, and everyone else who pretty much ignores the speed limit. Despite that, Florida still has a speed limit maximum of 70 mph. A bill to raise the limit to 75 mph in…
Today is the last Friday of April. Which means it’s National Arbor Day — you know, that one special day a year when you wake up early and rush out to plant a tree in a silent and unnoticed but deeply symbolic demonstration of your commitment to reversing centuries of…
