New Metrobus Route in Brownsville Gives Senior Citizens Added Mobility A new minibus route in Brownsville is giving residents like 72-year-old Gus Gatlan a new lease on life. "It's a good service for those who do a lot of traveling in our community. We needed something like this," said Gatlan, who uses the new Brownsville Circulator (Route 254) to get to the Brownsville Metrorail station and travel to other places within Brownsville. And it's to serve residents like Gatlan that this new route was initiated, said Everett Stewart, president of the Brownsville Neighborhood Civic Association. "We wanted to get our senior citizens to the programs we had at the senior center (at Jefferson Reaves Park) so the seniors would have something to do," Stewart said.

GOOD NEWS: The new circulator is making it easier for Brownsville residents to get around the area. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey M. Edmonson, center, is joined by other County officials and members of the community in the inauguration of the new route.

"But we found out that they weren't going (to the programs) because they had no way of getting there."For weeks, Stewart worked closely with the office of Miami-Dade County Commissioner Audrey M. Edmonson, District 3, as well as with Miami-Dade Transit officials and staff, to identify areas where this route would best serve local residents.

"This community wanted service that would run along its residential areas, as well as major streets. With the (Brownsville) Circulator, it's easier for residents to connect with other routes, and for them to go to the grocery store and other places within their community. This is especially important for the senior citizens in the Brownsville community," said Commissioner Edmonson.

Commissioner Edmonson, and Assistant County Manager Carlos F. Bonzon, Ph.D., P.E., praised MDT Director Roosevelt Bradley for working closely with county residents in identifying transportation needs and creating or improving service to meet those needs.

Bradley said the new route is part of MDT's continuing commitment to fulfilling the mandates of the People's Transportation Plan (PTP).

"Miami-Dade Transit has made tremendous progress in improving our public transportation system, and we'll continue to carry out more transit improvements, each day, to meet the needs of our transit riders," Bradley said.

The Brownsville Circulator costs only .25 cents each way, and reaches such popular destinations as the Joseph Caleb Center, the Brownsville Metrorail station, and Jefferson Reaves Park. This service runs weekdays, from about 9:20 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

This circulator is the latest of 25 new routes MDT has inaugurated since the approval of the PTP in November 2002. Further, under the PTP, nearly 400 service or schedule improvements have been made to existing routes, which translates to over 90 percent of the existing routes being improved.

For more information on the Brownsville Circulator, or on other Metrobus routes, visit MDT's website at www.miamidade.gov/transit, or call their Customer Services number at 305-770-3131, or 305-654-6530 for TTY Users.