Big changes are coming to public transit in Miami-Dade County. Starting July 21, 2025, the county will roll out major bus system updates following a unanimous vote by the Board of County Commissioners last week.
Led by the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW), the changes include the long-awaited launch of MetroExpress Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on the South Dade TransitWay and the conversion of three MetroLink pilot routes into permanent fixed-route service. MetroLink was introduced as a flexible solution during the Better Bus Network (BBN) transition.
The BBN, launched in 2023, was initiated by the nonprofit Transit Alliance in collaboration with the county and aims to improve access to key destinations for low-income and minority communities.
“Across the board, what people want is an alternative to driving to where they need to go because driving is incredibly expensive in Miami,” said Mark Mertwitzer, associate director at Transit Alliance.
MetroExpress BRT
The MetroExpress BRT will provide high-frequency service along the South Dade TransitWay, a 20-mile route from Dadeland South Station to Southwest 344th Street in Florida City — one of six rapid transit corridors under the SMART Plan.
According to Linda Morris, DTPW’s chief of service planning, the corridor serves nearly 13,000 people daily.
Commissioner Eileen Higgins, the resolution’s sponsor and chair of the Transportation Committee, emphasized the project's significance.
“If you’re living in Florida City, right now it could take you two hours to commute one way,” she said. “With BRT, we can save people 30 to 35 minutes every day. Transportation is not about a bus, a train or a trolley. It’s a way we connect people with economic opportunity, with jobs, schools, health care, parks.”
“It’s going to connect those communities to where most of the good, paying jobs are and save them time every day,” she added.
Cutler Bay resident Ozie Richardson, who’s been riding the South Corridor since 1997, said service has already improved.
“You used to have to stand out here not knowing when it’s coming. Now with the tracking, you can see it on your phone. It’s way better,” said Richardson, who lives just steps away from the Caribbean Boulevard station.
Richardson said he uses public transportation for convenience. He has even gone up to West Palm Beach taking the bus and transferring to Tri-Rail.
The new BRT line will feature 14 limited stops, air-conditioned stations with level boarding and real-time displays. Service will run every 7 1/2 minutes during peak hours, using signal priority and gate arms to cut delays — saving up to 8 minutes compared to Route 34, which, along with routes 38 and 39, will be replaced.
The remaining 16 bus stops in the TransitWay Local will also see upgrades, including improved lighting, canopies and seating.
Other routes will be adjusted as well. Route 52 will be shortened on the north end of Dadeland South to serve the Coral Reef Drive BRT Station, and aligned to serve a segment of route 38 along Southwest 211th Street, Southwest 216th Street and US 1. Route 287 will also be shortened on the north to the Richmond Drive BRT Station, where riders can make transfers.
“Because of the frequency of the BRT service, that should reduce transfer time,” Morris said.
MetroLink to fixed routes
MetroLink was launched in 2023 after the BBN as a flexible transit solution for areas with limited coverage, using smaller vehicles to connect riders to places like the airport and Tri-Rail.
Three MetroLink routes — LeJeune, Old North Miami (along Northeast 79 Street and the Mall at 163rd Street), and Old North Miami West (between North Miami and Miami-Dade College North Campus) — will now transition to full-sized bus lines: routes 42, 16 and 25, respectively. Daily ridership for route 42 was more than 100 passengers per day, route 16 had more than 200 passengers daily, and route 25 had the highest ridership with nearly 300 passengers a day.
“They were really designed to fill kind of a gap that we saw in the community [with the BBN],” Morris said. “We ran it for about six months and did some analysis.”
North Miami resident Karin Stahl, who relies on public transit, criticized the BBN.
“They’re not the Better Bus Network. They’re the disastrous bus network,” she said.
Stahl said some routes were cut, leaving her with just one option to catch route 9 to travel between Downtown and Aventura.
“I have a medical condition, so I don’t drive. It’s (BBN) changed my life because I can’t go to as many places as I used to.”
Stahl said that most North Dade riders now have to walk as far as a mile to catch the remaining Route 9.
Meanwhile, the Opa-locka MetroLink route, created to fill a service gap between Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School and the City of Opa-locka, will be discontinued due to low ridership, serving only 20-30 passengers daily.
Higgins said that maintaining the Opa-locka route with a MetroLink van, which costs approximately $500,000, was not sustainable for the county.
“We’re actively working with the City of Opa-locka to explore alternative mobility solutions,” said Morris.
Due to nationwide staffing shortages, the new routes will launch through contracted services. A 2022 report by the American Public Transportation Association found that 71% of transit agencies in the U.S. delayed or cut service due to a lack of operators.
“We’re still hiring,” said Morris. “We had a class of 50 operators just last month. Once we start edging up our numbers, we can bring back some of the service in-house.”
Challenges aheadDespite the improvements, concerns over funding persist, especially with a tight county budget looming in the 2026 fiscal year.
“Our biggest concern right now is the budget because all these changes are great on paper,” said Mertwitzer. “If we don't have the funding for them, these communities of color will bear the brunt of this the most because they disproportionately don't have one car per person in every household, so they have to rely on the system.”
Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has announced that department heads must submit budgets with 10% cuts following years of increased federal COVID relief and tax breaks.
Mertwitzer worries the upcoming improvements could be undone when the new fiscal year begins.
“Transit is facing a much larger than 10% hole right now, unless our elected leaders step up and start supporting those services that are so importantly needed,” he said.
According to a memo presented to the Board of County Commissioners, the changes are expected to cost $11.4 million annually, including $9.4 million for the MetroExpress BRT, to be funded by the People’s Transportation Plan surtax dollars, and $2 million for fixed-route services, funded by the DTPW’s operating budget.
“I’ve spoken with the mayor and told her very strongly that making sure that we are moving our residents on transit to and from work, school and jobs is a top priority for me,” Higgins said. “Should any budget cuts come in that area, I’m going to look very strongly at them, and they better not be big because she won’t have my support on the entire budget.”
Now that the South Corridor is almost done, Higgins said her new priority is getting the Northeast Corridor done, which will connect Downtown Miami to the West Aventura Station.
The commissioner said she is eager to advance the project, with around 80% of the funding already secured — including $389 million from former President Joe Biden’s administration and $200 million from the state.
If all goes well, she says, the county will be breaking ground next year.
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
