Expanding Miami-Dade County’s transit system may not be possible without asking residents to pay more in taxes, according to a recent memo from Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The memo, co-authored with the Department of Transportation and Public Works — and first obtained by the Miami Herald — outlines a strategy to fund the remaining legs of the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) program.
In December, the county tasked the DTPW to create the plan and update the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), which includes efforts to coordinate traffic signals along transit routes to improve the flow of traffic.
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The SMART Program was adopted in 2016 to expand and enhance the county’s transit infrastructure.
While Miami-Dade has successfully launched its South Dade TransitWay, the other five planned transit corridors — North, Beach, East-West, Kendall, and Northeast — still lack funding.
Based on today’s dollars, the county estimates the project is $7.6 billion short of what it needs to build, operate and maintain the projects over the next 20 years.
According to the memo, construction and labor costs and the loss of major state transit monies has further strained funding.
Potential funding suggestions for the projects include an increase to the county’s transportation sales tax — from half a penny to a full 1-cent surtax — and creating a property tax solely for transit projects.
Commissioners are expected to discuss the memo at their July 21 meeting.
