Free Commuter Rail Rides on Offer in Miami

A funding deal could mean free Tri-Rail rides for Miami commuters.

(Photo by Cary Bass)

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While the will-they-or-won’t-they tussle over the All Aboard Florida high-speed rail project has gone on for years in the Sunshine State, a newer tug-of-war happening in Miami over funding for a new commuter station could end with the regional transit authority giving free rides. According to the Miami Herald:

Tri-Rail would offer free passes to large numbers of Overtown residents in exchange for public funding of a new Miami station, part of a deal aimed at piecing together $69 million in tax dollars to bring the commuter line to a privately funded train depot downtown.

The largely state-funded Tri-Rail would offer free passes to residents inside Miami’s Overtown/Park West taxing district in exchange for extracting about $30 million from the entity for construction of a Tri-Rail platform in All Aboard Florida’s rail complex that’s about to begin construction in downtown Miami.

Long and difficult commutes disproportionately affect low-income residents in many U.S. cities, and Miami commuters from downtown currently have to take the Metrorail nine miles to link with Tri-Rail. This line would be a more direct route to and from downtown.

“This is not about free rides,” Miami Commissioner Keon Hardemon told the Herald. “This is about giving reliable transportation to people who are stuck in poverty. … These are people who cannot use Uber. These are people stuck in a cab going short distances.”

But how to fund the project still remains a point of contention. As the Herald reports:

Tri-Rail also wants $11 million from Miami itself, but the city’s mayor, Tomás Regalado, is vowing to veto a funding package that enjoys support from some city commissioners. At a workshop Tuesday afternoon, Regalado questioned the quick grab for city funds while Miami-Dade isn’t being asked to contribute more.

Also at the meeting, Commissioner Francis Suarez said his “preference” was to not use Miami’s general fund for the Tri-Rail station. The statement could be significant, since Suarez’s support for the Miami funding package was seen as crucial for overriding a Regalado veto once the city funding package comes up for a vote Thursday. Four of the five city commissioners are needed to override a veto. But Suarez said he hasn’t made up his mind, and emphasized the benefits of Tri-Rail coming to downtown.

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Jenn Stanley is a freelance journalist, essayist and independent producer living in Chicago. She has an M.S. from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

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Tags: commutingtrainsmiamihigh-speed rail

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