Pros and Cons of Bay Link Debated at Beach Chamber of Commerce 

“South Beach deserves a better link than Metro Bus.  That is our opinion.”—Clark Turner, transportation coordinator with the City of Miami

By Erik Bojnansky
Editor 

Miami-Dade County is becoming more traffic congested and parking more scarce.  Miami Beach needs to grow its economy. An enticing link is needed to connect South Beach with the bourgeoning downtown Miami area. No one wants to ride buses.  Opponents of the Bay Link are against everything.

There is no evidence the $400 to $510 million light rail BayLink will alleviate traffic congestion. The system won’t be expanded beyond South Beach until 2025.  Bus rapid transit has never been adequately explored. Light rail will only help developers in Miami.

These were among the opposing arguments presented to the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce’s board of directors, Tuesday afternoon, as the business advocacy group prepares to give its own recommendation on what form of transportation should be used to link downtown Miami to South Beach.

“Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last year or so you know this a very controversial issue and the City of Miami Beach commission is taking this very seriously,” said Miami Beach Commissioner Jose Smith, the “moderator” of the discussion.

Smith is also a member of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), an organization made up of elected officials from all over Miami-Dade County that is mandated to rule on transportation issues. After the Miami Beach City Commission refused to endorse a BayLink route in South Beach in March (following a strong showing by residents critical of the Bay Link), the MPO gave Miami Beach 120 days to either endorse or reject light rail. Smith said the MPO’s deadline is July 10. (According to Miami Beach’s concurrency management office the MPO delayed its discussion on the Bay Link to July 24.)

In response, the Beach decided to hire a consultant to examine the BayLink and other transportation initiatives to not only link South Beach with Miami but also to link up the Beach’s other communities as well. The Portland-based HDR Consultants is being paid $160,000 to help examine which transportation alternative is best for Miami Beach.

Smith said he believes it comes down to three options: do nothing (no build), light rail Bay Link or an improved form of bus rapid transit. 

Three invited guests spoke in favor of a light rail Bay Link: Roger Carlton, a former Miami Beach city manager who now works for ACS State and Local Solutions; Clark Turner, director of the transportation administration for the City of Miami and Mark Needle, a South Pointe activist and founding member of the Alliance for Reliable Transportation. The sole guest to speak against: Frank Del Vecchio, chairman of the Citizens Technical Subcommittee on the Bay Link Study.

Carlton said he saw the Bay Link as a “quality of life issue” not for the next year but for the next 50 years.

“Do we want to look to the future and have some kind of balanced transportation system…which consists of light rail and some sort of buses?” Carlton asked. Carlton said he sees the Bay Link system as the best way for the economies of Miami Beach and the rest of the county to continue to grow. He also sees it as the only way that will get car drivers to abandon their vehicles once in awhile. “Do we want more buses on the street, be they electric and fossil fuel? I don’t know…. Will people use them?” Carlton’s answer was no.  From what he understood, people don’t use buses on Miami Beach except perhaps during large events, and that is when the bus system is heavily marketed. And as for any economic disruption caused during the track laying process, Carlton believed the federal government will be able to compensate local businesses, just as it had done for Biscayne Boulevard businesses when the Metro-mover station was built in Downtown Miami. 

Turner, Miami’s transportation coordinator, reminded the audience that the Miami City Commission approved the concept in July 2002. Turner said the Bay Link, along with other transportation initiatives such as the East/West Metrorail expansion (which will also help connect Miami to Miami International Airport) will do much to realize the region’s potential. “In our opinion the City of Miami and the City of Miami Beach have a symbiotic relationship that can be enhanced by the creation of a really good trans-bay transportation link,” Turner said. “South Beach deserves a better link than Metro Bus.  That is our opinion.”

Needle said a lot of residents simply won’t use a bus. Using the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce funded study by Schroth & Associates as a guide, Needle said one in three Beach residents between 18 and 39 years old said they would never ride a bus but would take a train. “The key is that this is an alternative we can all use,” he said.

(The Schroth & Associates survey also said that 38 percent of residents wanted an expanded bus system with more stops and routes and using new vehicles while 35 percent said they wanted a light rail Bay Link.)

Del Vecchio, once a proponent of the Bay Link, said he changed his mind when a previous study revealed the system would do nothing to reduce traffic congestion. He also doubted, with the current budget crunch and other transportation project proposals around the country, that any expansion beyond the Miami Beach Convention Center will ever even be explored prior to 2025. 

Del Vecchio also said there is a possibility the local government won’t even be able to apply for federal matching funds until January of 2004 due to the “Bush Budget Crunch.” According to Edwards and Kelcey, a contender for the transportation consulting job, projects before congress will no longer be considered on a multi-year basis. Instead it will be year to year. And the $2.8 billion East-West Corridor and the $207 million Earlington Heights/Airport Connector have a higher priority than Bay Link.

Since the Bay Link won’t do much to ameliorate current traffic congestion, Del Vecchio surmised that the main reason for the link was a “positive marketing” venture to make future projects in Miami readily accessible to Miami Beach.  Del Vecchio said there is no reason why Miami’s light rail Bay Link cannot connect to an enhanced “sleek bus” system to Miami Beach. His suggestion: give greater priority to a rail link connecting Miami to Northeast Dade and Southeast Broward via the proposed “Northeast Corridor.” At the same time, get the MPO to sign off on more sleek buses for Miami Beach that will connect to Miami. 

“With connecting enhanced technology bus connections over the East-West Corridors to the Coastal Communities and within Miami Beach,” Del Vecchio wrote in his written proposal, “the Downtown rail feature of Bay Link is combined with the Northeast Corridor Rail Project. Budget earmarks are combined to define a Miami-side rail project and a Miami Beach-side bus project.”

With the “debate” over, Smith invited the audience to ask both sides questions. But Michael Milberg, chairman of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, cut him off. “I think there is so much for the board to digest in one thing,” he said. Milberg said he has even heard a “gentleman” suggest that boats could be used as a Bay Link between Miami and Miami Beach. (Peter Evans, vice president of the Bay Harbor Islands-based Metro Aqua Cats, advocated rapid water transit, as is used in Sidney and Brisbane, Australia.)

Board member Leonard Wien said that what been lost in prior debate was what is in the best interest of Miami Beach. With the consultants examining the situation, Wien said, “at least now we are in a better position.”

Joy Malakoff of Colonial Bank believes the best option right now is “no build.” ‘We really need all the facts… [to know more] about buses and light rail,” she said. But Malakoff has a feeling the price for a link with Miami will be more than Miami Beach can bear.

Milberg said he wanted the chamber to make its recommendation prior to the Beach’s decision.  A date of the first Tuesday of July (July 1) was suggested. No firm date on when a recommendation would be given was specified to the SunPost by the Chamber of Commerce.

Del Vecchio, though, predicted that the Chamber of Commerce would end up backing the light rail. When asked about being outnumbered by light rail proponents at the meeting, Del Vecchio replied, “this was a set up.”

“My only regret is the bus alternative is not being fully [explored],” said Mike Burke, founder of the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Club, who also felt the pro-bus side was outnumbered by Bay Link advocates.

Mark Needle said he would have liked it if more critics of light rail were invited to debate. “Frankly I don’t mind letting the anti-rapid transit people have their say because they only have one note and they repeat it over and over, ‘we don’t want it, we don’t want it.’”

Needle said he was disappointed that the Miami Beach City Commission didn’t make a decision on the Bay Link months ago. Now, he said, the Chamber of Commerce is acting the same way. “They haven’t made a decision about making a decision,” he said.  “Instead of grappling with the issues they called a time out.”