MDT launches weekend express service to Dolphin Mall

PHOTO BY TOMAS LAUTARO MONZON.
www.tomasatlarge.blogspot.com

Miami Dade Transit Route 238 Weekend Express ran its first trip yesterday from the Miami International Airport Metrorail Station to Dolphin Mall and back along the Dolphin Expressway (SR 836).

PHOTO BY TOMAS LAUTARO MONZON.
www.tomasatlarge.blogspot.com

The westbound trip departed the Airport Station at 11am as scheduled, reaching Dolphin Mall at 11:23am, before beginning the eastbound return trip at 11:25am and reaching the Airport Station at 11:45am.

The service runs only on weekends, departing from the Airport Station every hour from 11am to 7pm (westbound trips), and from Dolphin Mall every 25 to 27 minutes after the hour, also from 11am to 7pm (eastbound trips).

The route makes a stop in between its termini on NW 107 Ave and NW 14 St, serving Miami International Mall.

The route aims to cater to customers that want to get to the “giant malls … [of] western Doral” quickly on the weekends, without worrying about the long drive or the parking headaches that arise upon arriving at the mall.

Each one way trip costs $2.35, but customers transferring from the Metrorail only pay 85 cents provided they use the same EASY Card or EASY Ticket they used to pay their Metrorail  
fare.

PHOTO BY TOMAS LAUTARO MONZON.
www.tomasatlarge.blogspot.com

The first run of the 238, westbound to Dolphin Mall, attracted a surprisingly large number of passengers, observed the Miami Dade Transit bus operator taking the 238 on its maiden voyage.

“I think it’s going to be a good service”, said the operator.

Customers seem to agree. Alberto, one of the passengers, who didn’t provide his full name because of his employment history with Miami Dade Transit, lauded the service as one of the best the system has developed.

It usually takes more than an hour to get here using routes 7 and 36B, commented Alberto in Spanish.

Route 7 runs from Government Center in Downtown Miami to Dolphin Mall along NW 7 ST but enters the Fountainebleau neighborhood for the latter part of its route.

Route 36B runs from Biscayne Blvd and NE 33 ST to Dolphin Mall but travels farther west to the Miami Dade College West Campus before arriving at the mall. Additionally, it does not run on weekends.

Both routes take an hour or longer to reach the mall from their eastern departure points. 

Route 238 service will resume December 1st. It is yet to be seen whether the route will attract its intended ridership.

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MDT launches weekend express service to Dolphin Mall

Miami-Dade County bike paths a part of FDOT's 5-year plan

The draft of the Florida Department of Transportation District Six work program for fiscal years 2013/2014 through 2017/2018 lists several "bike path/trail" projects slated for execution within the next five years.

These projects include a greenway in Overtown between NW 3rd Avenue and NW 7th Avenue (slated for construction in 2014 at a cost of $1,085,000), another greenway connecting the Miami Circle Greenway to South Miami Avenue (to be built in 2014 at a cost of $865,000) and Segment C of the Biscayne Trail (running along the the L-31E Canal from SW 328 ST to the Black Point Marina; this is set for construction in 2014 at a cost of $1,085,000).

With regards to pedestrian safety improvements, FDOT's work program lists several "Safe Routes to School" programs as well, slated for execution in 2014 and 2015 and targeting various schools throughout Miami-Dade County including Palmetto Elementary School in Pinecrest, Oak Grove Elementary in North Miami, and North Hialeah Elementary in Hialeah.

The document cover indicates that "Project Information is Subject to Change", meaning that anything from the cost of a given project, its planned time of execution and even nature of the project itself described isn't set in stone.

Miami-Dade County bike paths a part of FDOT's 5-year plan

Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc.

My mom and my sister looking on as my bus departs.

In good-old fashioned American spirit, I am not only on a trip hundreds of miles away from home (Miami to Tallahassee, the capital of the Sunshine State), I am also about to write a blog post (complete with pictures) on the experience it was getting here in the first place.

For several reasons, bringing my own, or being delivered in a, motor vehicle was not an option for this week-long trip, during which I am residing, free of cost, at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University for a journalism workshop sponsored and funded by the Dow Jones Industrial Fund and NBC Universal. Talk about a hookup.

The bus ride over was ... substandard. Cramped seating and awkwardness with the person seated next to me were characteristic of the voyage, but besides that, it would've been OK had it not been for my post-scriptural discovery that I could've made an express reservation for only $5 more, which would've landed me a seat aboard one of Greyhound's new buses equipped with extra legroom, Wi-Fi, and  power outlets! And I thought I'd done my research.

The trajectory.

The one thing that I did feel throughout the entire trip was an unmatched sense of independence closely tied to the premises of the spirit of the American traveler. I finally felt like one of the kids in those movies about runaways that scrape up thirty or forty bucks and take the next bus to the next state with their only luggage being an oversize carry-on.

Not that I'm running away, though, of course.

I'll update the blog with the results of the workshop - which promises to be much more rewarding than the bus ride to and fro - at the end of the week!

Greyhound Bus Lines, Inc.

Dumb Phobias: Riding the Bus

What's that? A giant, rectangular construction of steel and plastic ready to unleash evil and doom upon the world? A metal monster sent by the gods to wreak havoc upon organized society? Or, an electrically powered instrument of destruction bent on destroying all vehicles and people it encounters?

No, it's a public bus. Miami-Dade Transit Route L, to be exact, on an old hybrid bus.

Why am I talking about a bus? Well, here's a better question: why are you afraid of them?

Who am I talking to? People with a dumb phobia of riding the bus, or with a dumb phobia towards any other seemingly dangerous thing that really isn't.

I mean, I understand how phobias work. You have a really bad experience at an early age usually, it scars you terribly, and for all eternity thereafter - for no logical reason - you avoid the related circumstances like the plague.

I think that's what discourages some teens from using public transportation. Other teens may have parental blocks on usage of public transportation, but others (usually those who don't have such blocks) simply refuse to use it. Why?

Well, one of my friends fell on a bus when he was little and broke his ankle because he put no effort into breaking his fall properly. Another friend of mine took the wrong bus into the wrong neighborhood with her mom at age 9. All these "horror stories" (which really aren't) discouraged these kids from ever again utilizing a public bus.

It's irrational, but what's most inconvenient about it is that, unless you're a kid whose personal or family infrastructure allows them to get a car and full license at the age of 16 or shortly thereafter, you're bound to need to travel somewhere regardless. And, when your parents can't take you and you can't drive yourself; what, are you going to make up an excuse saying you're sick or something and avoid going at all? What if it's an important school event? A hot date? A good chance to hang out with your friends? A job? A career opportunity?

All these events would be insulted (if they could) if you were to pass them up just because you have an irrational fear of taking the bus to get somewhere. Public transportation forms the arteries of a society on the move, just like roads and cars do. What's special about public transit, though, is that it enables those who can't drive a car and would otherwise be unable to be part of that constantly moving society, to do so. Namely, the too young, the too old, the DUI'd, and the otherwise incapacitated.

It's a beautiful thing.

Dumb Phobias: Riding the Bus