On Tuesday, county commissioners will vote on an ordinance that would require certain municipalities to provide on-demand tracking for trolleys and other city-level public transportation through the county's free smartphone app, GO MiamiDade Transit. The proposed measure says that integrating the information into one place will provide better mobility options and help the county and municipal transit services "serve as one complementary system."
"This would ensure seamless integration and accessibility of on-demand transit service information for the county and its residents, thereby enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the transit system," the ordinance reads.
The measure is sponsored by Commissioner Eileen Higgins, whose district includes neighborhoods in Miami and Miami Beach. It applies to municipalities executing new transit agreements with Miami-Dade, as well as to those amending their existing transit agreements with the county..@CommishEileen has sponsored a much-needed ordinance this week to improve Miami’s transportation network by integrating municipal bus, circulator, and on-demand transit data into the @GoMiamiDade Transit app.
— Transit Alliance Miami (@TransitMIA) May 16, 2024
Here’s why we’re excited about Miami transit entering the 21st…
The first reading of the item is scheduled for the May 21 Miami-Dade County Commission meeting. Generally, ordinances need two readings in front of the commission in order to be adopted.
The nonprofit Transit Alliance Miami, which advocates for better public transit across the Miami area, praised the legislation.
The group wrote on social media that removing barriers from commuters' planning not only simplifies things for people who already rely on local transit, but also encourages choice-riders (people who generally have access to a vehicle and can choose to use transit) to "take that first step" and help reduce traffic in a "city in dire need of congestion relief."
"For too long, county and city transit options have operated in silos, making multi-modal trip planning such a major headache for riders," the group wrote in a thread on X, formerly known as Twitter. "You know when the bus is coming but have no idea when the next trolley is on its way."
According to Mark Merwitzer, policy manager for Transit Alliance Miami, the GO Miami-Dade Transit app — available on Apple and Google's app stores — has information on cities' trolley schedules but lacks real-time data.
"The problem is there are trolleys across Miami-Dade County that either don't report at all to the transit app or report only their anticipated schedule," Merwitzer tells New Times.
Many municipalities receive transit funding from the county under a half-penny sales surtax. Under the proposed ordinance, when cities that receive the funding execute or amend a transit agreement with Miam-Dade, they would have to start providing the county with real-time transit data in a format ready-made for the GO Miami-Dade Transit app.
According to Transit Alliance Miami's 2023 "Mobility Scorecard," the majority of cities within Miami-Dade have GPS tracking on their trolleys via independent portals, but the data is not integrated into the county smartphone app.
"If there's one thing we can all agree with, it's that we don’t care who operates our bus or trolley, and just want to get to where we're going headache-free," Transit Alliance Miami wrote on X. "Here’s to hoping this legislation passes!"
