And the privitization begins for Miami-Dade

Last edited Tue Mar 17, 2015, 11:42 AM - Edit history (1)

Miami-Dade considering private operator for Metromover

Facing a budget squeeze over transit services, Miami-Dade County wants to turn over its Metromover system to a private operator in a bid to save money on an automated network that currently employs about 70 county workers.

A draft proposal that’s been sent to union officials lays out a detailed scope of work a future contractor would perform. That includes running the control center that sends driverless cars through 21 stations positioned around 4 miles of track through downtown Miami and the Brickell Avenue neighborhood. Budget documents show Miami-Dade expects to spend $9 million operating Metromover this year, which provides free rides to an estimated 10 million passengers annually.

“It is our responsibility to explore all of our options and see if there are more affordable solutions that can be put in place to deliver the same service more efficiently, but following all of our requirements,” Transit Department spokeswoman Karla Damian said in a statement Monday.

County commissioners would need to approve the outsourcing plan, which union officials oppose.








“Needless to say, we’re going to fight it tooth and nail,” said Clarence Washington, president of the Transportation Workers Union in Miami-Dade. “Once this goes to a private vendor, they don’t have to listen to the public.”

The outsourcing push comes as Miami-Dade falls further behind in funding a list of transit projects promised in exchange for a sales-tax increase that voters approved in 2002. The extra “half penny” of sales tax was pledged to a string of county transit projects that remain on the to-do list, including expanding the Metrorail train system to the western suburbs of Miami-Dade.

Another promise was to end 25-cent fares for Metromover, and those were indeed retired after the new tax passed in 2002. A proposal up for a vote Tuesday by county commissioners would discontinue the free rides and bring back what would probably be a dollar fare.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article14632805.html

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A DOLLAR?!?!? For something that only goes through downtown Miami (which you can reach on foot)? Wow!