|
| If you would like to unsubscribe from this
publication instantly, scroll to the bottom of the page and click
on the 'unsubscriptions' link. |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
Metrorail's North Corridor Project Reaches Major Milestone
FTA issues favorable Record of Decision on 9.5-mile extension.
Miami-Dade Transit's (MDT) Metrorail expansion plans achieved a major milestone when MDT recently received the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) approval to begin acquiring land to build the 9.5-mile North Corridor.
 |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Passenger Profile: Michael Emilio Rodriguez |
|
Name: Michael Emilio Rodriguez
Occupation: Real Estate Professional
Employer: Fortune International Realty
City of Residence: Miami
Go Miami-Dade (GM-D): How do you use Miami-Dade Transit?
Michael Emilio Rodriguez: I use Miami-Dade Transit whenever possible, both on weekdays and weekends. Although I drive when necessary, I seem to be more and more attracted to transit the more I use it!
GM-D: How long have you been riding transit?
Rodriguez: I'm born and raised in Miami, so I've been using Miami-Dade Transit since I was little. I still vividly remember being a toddler and going with my grandmother to downtown Miami on the bus and Metrorail and being excited thinking about what new toy I was going to come back home with!
GM-D: How long does your transit trip take?
Rodriguez: My transit trips take from 15 minutes to one hour, depending on the location.
GM-D: How would this compare to driving?
Rodriguez: Driving is at least double that!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Tell
Us Why You Use Transit! |
|
|
|
How would you like to be profiled in the next issue of Go Miami-Dade? If you're a regular transit rider, we'd like to share your story about why you take the bus or train. Passenger profiles will feature a photo and brief interview. To find out how to be the subject of a passenger profile, please contact us at Gomiamidade@miamidade.gov or 305-375-1278.
|
|
|
|
| Safety
and Security Corner |
|
|
|
Help
Keep Our System Safe
If you see a suspicious package or strange activity in, on, or near a bus, a Metrorail or Metromover train, a bus stop, a rail station, or any transit property, please notify the bus operator, station security officer, or any transit official as quickly as possible. You can also call Transit Watch hotline at 305-375-2700. All reports are kept confidential. For more information about Transit Watch, visit: www.miamidade.gov/transit/transit_watch.asp.
|
|
|
|
| Subscribe
To Our eNewsletter! |
|
| |
If you aren't already receiving "Go Miami-Dade" in your e-mail inbox, but would like to receive no-cost monthly updates on the People's Transportation Plan on your home computer, click here. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MIAMI-DADE
COUNTY
Carlos Alvarez
Mayor
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Bruno A. Barreiro
Chairman
Barbara J. Jordan
Vice-Chairwoman
Barbara J. Jordan
District 1
Dorrin D. Rolle
District 2
Audrey M. Edmonson
District 3 |
|
|
Sally
A. Heyman
District 4
Bruno A. Barreiro
District 5
Rebeca Sosa
District 6
Carlos A. Giménez
District 7
Katy Sorenson
District 8
Dennis C. Moss
District 9
Senator Javier D. Souto
District 10 |
|
|
Joe
A. Martínez
District 11
José "Pepe" Díaz
District 12
Natacha Seijas
District 13
Harvey Ruvin
Clerk of Courts
George M. Burgess
County Manager
Murray A. Greenberg
County Attorney |
|
|
|
|
|
Changing
your email? To update your contact information, just reply with
your changes.
Miami-Dade County does not collect information for commercial marketing. Privacy
Policy
(c) 2007 Miami-Dade County. All rights reserved.
Enewsletter Development by Loop
Consulting Group
|
|
|
Metrorail's North Corridor Project Reaches Major Milestone
FTA issues favorable Record of Decision on 9.5-mile extension.
Miami-Dade Transit's (MDT) Metrorail expansion plans achieved a major milestone when MDT recently received the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) approval to begin acquiring land to build the 9.5-mile North Corridor.
The FTA's favorable Record of Decision confirms that the North Corridor project has met all of the requirements of National Environmental Policy Act. In addition to allowing MDT to begin real estate acquisition and relocating utilities along the proposed corridor, the decision also means MDT may advance the design of the project. |
|
|
| MOVING FORWARD: Above is a conceptual rendering of the 199th Street station at Dolphin Stadium. |
|
|
The North Corridor would run along Northwest 27th Avenue from Metrorail's existing Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza station to the Broward County line, with stops including Calder Race Course, Dolphin Stadium and Miami Dade College North Campus.
"This is a very exciting moment for Miami-Dade County," said MDT Interim Director Harpal Kapoor. "We are one big step closer to being able to fulfill one of the most important promises of the People's Transportation Plan."
MDT hopes to complete preliminary engineering in March 2008 and receive approval from FTA to enter into final design in September 2008, with the goal of securing a full funding grant agreement from the FTA in October 2009. MDT is asking the federal government to pay for 59 percent of the project's $1.4 billion cost, with the county and state each contributing 20.5 percent. The County's share would come from the People's Transportation Plan half-penny surtax approved by voters in 2002. If federal funding is approved, MDT would begin construction in 2010, with completion set for 2014.
The North Corridor is one of three new Metrorail extensions envisioned in the People's Transportation Plan. A 2.4-mile link from Metrorail's Earlington Heights station to the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), adjacent to Miami International Airport, is fully funded and projected to open in 2011. MDT is also lobbying for federal and state matching funds for a proposed 10.1-mile East-West Corridor from the MIC to Florida International University's Tamiami campus, largely along the Dolphin Expressway. Together, the three extensions would double the length of the existing Metrorail, which opened in 1984.
Kapoor, who previously worked for the Washington Area Mass Transit Authority, predicted the North Corridor would bring a wave of economic development to the area, just as Washington's rail line did in the nation's capital.
"When the rail line came to Washington, it created an economic boom," he said. "We're confident the same boom can come to the North Corridor area." |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| THE THRILL OF VICTORY: Mayra Muntaner of Mercy Hospital crosses the finish line to win the 2nd Annual Commuter Challenge Race. Muntaner, who used Miami-Dade Transit, finished the race about 20 minutes ahead of a co-worker who drove her car. |
|
Transit Rider Wins Commuter Challenge Race
For the second consecutive year, MDT proves public transportation is still the best alternative to commute.
Miami-Dade Transit (MDT) has proven once again that public transportation can save you time, as well as money.
Miami-Dade Transit held the second annual Commuter Challenge Race on May 15, 2007, in conjunction with Mercy Hospital and South Florida Commuter Services (SFCS). And for the second year in a row, transit beat out driving.
Mercy Hospital Health Information Manager Mayra Muntaner and Janis Ivory, one of the hospital's organization development specialists, raced each other to work from the South Miami-Dade Busway Park & Ride lot at Southwest 152nd Street, one using transit and the other driving her car.
|
|
The race started at 8:20 a.m. Muntaner, of Kendale South, boarded a bus and cruised on the Busway's exclusive lanes before transferring to Metrorail at the Dadeland South Station. She then took a shuttle bus from the Vizcaya Metrorail station to the hospital at 3663 S. Miami Ave. and was the first to cross the red finish line in the Mercy Hospital lobby at 8:59 a.m.
"I'm relaxed, and I was able to read my book," said Muntaner, a regular Miami-Dade Transit rider. "I carpool to the Busway with my husband, and we save $2,340 a year in gas."
After battling the usual bumper-to-bumper traffic on U.S. 1, a frazzled Ivory pulled her car up to the hospital's front door at 9:18 a.m. - almost 20 minutes after Muntaner's arrival.
"Traffic was awful," said Ivory, of Pinecrest.
|
Muntaner was awarded a $50 Visa gift card provided by South Florida Commuter Services and a free six-month Miami-Dade Transit pass, which she plans to give to her husband. Both participants received medals.
Mercy Hospital offers generous public transportation benefits as part of its compensation package. The hospital participates in Miami-Dade Transit's Corporate Discount Program, which provides group discounts and tax savings to passengers who purchase their monthly Metropass through a pre-tax payroll deduction from their employer. To maximize the benefit, Mercy heavily subsidizes the cost of the Metropass.
Edward Rundle, Mercy's vice president of human resources, said the transit benefit is a valuable recruitment and retention tool and helps employees arrive on time and with less stress. Added Mercy Hospital President & CEO John Mataska: "It's better for the community because South Bayshore Drive is already overloaded, and there's also a lot of road rage, so if we can take more cars off the road, it's better for everybody."
|
|
| AWARDING COMMUTER CHALLENGE RACE WINNER: Pictured at Commuter Challenge Race, from left, South Florida Commuter Services Outreach Manager Suzell Bogle-Hopman; Mercy Hospital President and & CEO John Mataska; Mercy's Health Information Manager Mayra Muntaner; Mercy's Organization Development Specialist Janis Ivory; Mercy Hospital Vice President of Human Resources Edward Rundle; and Miami-Dade Transit Corporate Outreach Coordinator Cyncia Celestin. |
|
|
As part of Commuter Challenge Week, the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, MDT, and SFCS recognized three organizations in Miami-Dade County with the 2007 Commuter Challenge Award for their commitment to promote the use of public transportation. They are Mercy Hospital, CHARLEE Homes for Children (a non-profit foster care agency for abused and neglected children), and CMA CGM (Caribbean) Inc., an international container-shipping company. "We are happy that we're being recognized for something that we put a lot of work into. The implementation of the Corporate Discount Program has worked out great for both the company and our employees," said Dennis Castillo, CMA CGM (Caribbean) Inc. office and IT manager.
For more information about the MDT's Corporate Discount Program, call 305-884-7555. |
|
|
|
|
|
AWARDS CEREMONY: Miami-Dade Transit and South Florida Commuter Services recently presented Mercy Hospital, CMA CGM (Caribbean) Inc. and CHARLEE Homes for Children with the 2007 Commuter Challenge Awards in recognition of their successful efforts at promoting transit and the Corporate Discount Program to their employees. Front row, left to right: Mercy Hospital Vice President of Human Resources Edward Rundle, Mercy Hospital Benefits and Compensation Manager Janet Y. Lara-Vital, CHARLEE Human Resources Director Theresa Brehmer, CMA CGM (Caribbean) IT Manager Dennis Castillo, SFCS Miami-Dade Outreach Manager Suzell Hopman and County Commission Vice Chairwoman Barbara J. Jordan. Back row, left to right: MDT Interim Director Harpal Kapoor, County Commissioner Audrey M. Edmonson, Assistant County Manager Roger Carlton and SFCS Director Jim Udvardy. |
|
|
|
Passenger Profile: Michael Emilio Rodriguez
|
Name: Michael Emilio Rodriguez
Occupation: Real Estate Professional
Employer: Fortune International Realty
City of Residence: Miami
Go Miami-Dade (GM-D): How do you use Miami-Dade Transit?
Michael Emilio Rodriguez: I use Miami-Dade Transit whenever possible, both on weekdays and weekends. Although I drive when necessary, I seem to be more and more attracted to transit the more I use it!
GM-D: How long have you been riding transit?
Rodriguez: I'm born and raised in Miami, so I've been using Miami-Dade Transit since I was little. I still vividly remember being a toddler and going with my grandmother to downtown Miami on the bus and Metrorail and being excited thinking about what new toy I was going to come back home with! |
|
|
GM-D: How long does your transit trip take?
Rodriguez: My transit trips take from 15 minutes to one hour, depending on the location.
GM-D: How would this compare to driving?
Rodriguez: Driving is at least double that!
GM-D: What's the best thing about taking transit?
Rodriguez: By far, the greatest advantage of taking transit for me is being able to take advantage of transit time by bringing my laptop with me. I can work on my website MichaelEmilio.com, I can call my real estate clients with my cell phone, and I can check my e-mails, all without worrying about the traffic!
GM-D: Have you made friends by taking transit?
Rodriguez: I've made some good friends, networking contacts, and new clients in my time taking transit. It's always a great thing to be able to meet new people!
GM-D: Do you have any interesting stories about taking transit?
Rodriguez: Once a lady left behind her purse on the bus. I was able to contact her and get her purse back safely to her. She then visited my website MichaelEmilio.com and has since become a client of mine! No better proof that when you do good deeds, it comes back to you!
|
|
|
|
Go.Miamidade.Gov
| Contact | Subscribe
To Our eNewsletter | Forward To A Friend
|
Stephen P. Clark Center
People's Transportation Plan
111 NW 1st Street, Suite 910
Miami, FL 33128
gomiamidade@miamidade.gov |
Changing
your email? To update your contact information,
just reply with your changes.
Miami-Dade County does not collect information for commercial
marketing.
Privacy
Policy
(c) 2007 Miami-Dade County. All rights reserved.
Enewsletter Development by Loop
Consulting Group
|
|
|
|
