On October 5, 2021, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved the Better Bus Project, as amended.  The County Administration anticipates implementing the Better Bus Project  on or after June 2022.  In accordance with the approved Better Bus Project, Route 115 will be eliminated as a low performing route.  Below is list of events in chronological order regarding the Better Bus Project and its development.

The Miami-Dade County Better Bus Project is a complete redesign of the countywide bus network.  The effort was led by Transit Alliance Miami (a local, non-profit organization advocating for walkable and bikeable streets and better public transit in Miami-Dade County) and the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works.  The Better Bus Project was a two-year advocacy-driven project which began in June 2019.  The primary goal of the redesign was to position the system for ridership growth by creating a more effective bus network that provides better access to jobs and higher frequency of service in areas of high demand.   

In September 2019, two concepts were presented by Transit Alliance (i.e. Coverage Concept and Ridership Concept).  The Coverage Concept created more high-frequency bus services in the urban core by better integrating county and municipal services.  This concept ensured that everyone who currently has access to transit service remained within a quarter mile of service.  The Ridership Concept was designed to maximize access to jobs and frequent service and proposed to shift service away from low density areas and low performing routes to high density areas and high performing routes.

On October 7, 2019, the Transportation, Parking and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee discussed the Better Bus Project and passed a motion in support of the Ridership Concept; however, the Committee did not support eliminating Route 150/Airport Express.

On October 23, 2019, the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee discussed the Better Bus Project and endorsed the Ridership Concept, while keeping South Beach trolley service to Belle Isle, as, at that time, the Better Bus Project contemplated changes to the Miami Beach trolley service.

On October 30, 2019, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2019-31073 (Attachment A) accepting the recommendations of the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee at its October 23, 2019 meeting and approving, in concept, the Ridership Concept of the Better Bus Project.  While the Coverage Concept proposed to retain Route 115 at an hourly service frequency, the Ridership Concept proposed to eliminate Route 115 given its historical low-performance.

On February 26, 2020, the County staff presented a draft of the updated Better Bus Project to the public.   

On September 13, 2021, the Transportation, Parking, and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee discussed the Better Bus Project but did not pass any motions on the item.

Following a pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the County conducted the final stage of stakeholder engagement and public outreach and presented the final Better Bus Project to the County's Transportation and Mobility Planning Committee on September 13, 2021.

At the September 17, 2021 City Commission meeting, Commissioners Steven Meiner and Michael Gongora placed two separate items related to discussions on the Better Bus Project, titled as follows:

1. REFERRAL TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD AND QUALITY OF LIFE COMMITTEE TO DISCUSS THE BETTER BUS PROGRAM AND ITS IMPACT ON MIAMI BEACH RESIDENTS, PARTICULARLY SENIORS (Commissioner Steven Meiner)
   
   
2. DISCUSSION REGARDING THE SENIOR AFFAIRS MOTION OF THE BETTER BUS PROGRAM (Commissioner Michael Gongora)

At the Commission meeting, during discussion of item 2 above, the Administration discussed the following three outstanding concerns related to the Draft Better Bus Project, as proposed by the County at that time:

1. Proposed elimination of bus service in the South of Fifth neighborhood.
2.  Proposed discontinuation of Route 115 service in North and Middle Beach without providing a viable public transit alternative (i.e. on-demand transit service) to the affected community.
3. Proposed elimination/consolidation of existing bus stops in the City and the potential impact to transit users (i.e. increasing walking distances) and the existing Miami Beach Trolley stops.
   
   

During the meeting, the City Commission adopted Resolution No. 2021-31866 which delineated the Administration’s above concerns with the County’s Better Bus Project, as proposed at that time (Attachment B).  On September 24, 2021, the Commission Resolution was transmitted to Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners via letter from the City Clerk.

On October 5, 2021, the Board of County Commissioners approved the Better Bus Project, as amended.  One of the amendments adopted by the Board of County Commissioners included reinstating bus service in the South of Fifth neighborhood.  

Route 115 provides connectivity between North Beach and the Washington Avenue/Lincoln Road area via Alton Road while servicing Mount Sinai Medical Center.  The route currently operates 7 days a week from approximately 7:20 AM to 7:40 PM with a service frequency (i.e. wait times) of approximately 50 minutes.  Based on ridership data provided by the County, average daily ridership on this route was 136 passengers per day between FY 2019 and first quarter of FY 2022, which did not decrease during the pandemic.

For purposes of comparison, daily ridership on the City’s North Beach Trolley loop, even at the current reduced service levels, is four times higher than on Route 115 and 15 times higher as compared to pre-pandemic ridership figures.   

Based on information received from the County, Route 115 continues to experience very low ridership with less than 15 passengers per hour which is the County’s minimal threshold in terms of route productivity.  At this time, the County is focused on reallocating its limited resources to high ridership/high productivity bus routes which will result in the discontinuation of Route 115.

Middle Beach On-demand Transit Service

On October 1, 2021, the City resumed operation of Middle Beach on-demand transit service which provides a reliable alternative for passengers along Route 115 between 63 Street and the Washington Avenue/Lincoln Road area via Alton Road.  The Middle Beach on-demand transit service has longer service hours as compared to Route 115 (6:30 AM to 10 PM Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 10 PM on Saturdays, and 8 AM to 8 PM on Sundays) with average wait time of less than 20 minutes, which is less than half the wait times on Route 115.  A key benefit of the Middle Beach on-demand transit service is that it provides both door-to-door service within the service area as well as first/last mile connection to transit service on 41 Street, Alton Road/Lincoln Road, Washington Avenue/Lincoln Road, and Collins Avenue/63 Street.  Furthermore, this service can be used for trips to Mount Sinai Medical Center, Sunset Harbour, and the Publix supermarket located at Collins Avenue/69 Street.

Miami Beach Trolley Service

It is important to note that North Beach is also served by the North Beach Trolley loop, which, even in its current reduced service level,  provides much more efficient and reliable transit service in terms of service hours (operating 7 days a week from 8 AM to 11 PM) and service frequency (i.e. average wait times) of approximately 30 minutes as compared to Route 115 at 50 minutes.

Additionally, the Collins Express Trolley route also serves North Beach via Collins and Harding avenues north of 63 Street at an average service frequency of 30 minutes.  North Beach passengers whose destination is in the vicinity of Washington Avenue/Lincoln Road can use either the Collins Express Trolley or a combination of the North Beach and Collins Express trolley service to get to their destination.

The Administration’s goal is to return the Miami Beach trolley service to pre-pandemic service frequencies of 15 to 20 minutes as soon as funding allows.  This would improve service frequency for both the North Beach Loop and Collins Express trolley routes and potentially reinstate the pre-pandemic citywide trolley service hours of operation of 6 AM to midnight.  

Attachment C depicts a route alignment of the current Route 115, service area of the Middle Beach on-demand transit service and route alignments for North Beach Loop and Collins Express trolley service.