Downtown Miami and Miami Beach long term parking solution (mover, subsidized)

[hurricaneMan1992]

There is both too much and too little parking downtown and on the Beach. Here's what I mean.

Too much: Too much space is dedicated to parking, especially surface lots near the bay front, ocean front, and walking distance from transit stations, taking valuable space from potential business and parks. And the rates are overly subsidized. When the City garage at 7th and Washington fills up by 10 am, and the two private garages a block away can charge $20-30 flat rates, the free market is screaming for a rate increase in the City garage!

Too little: despite all the available parking, many people are hesitant to visit because they feel it is still difficult to park! Many people who do come end up valeting their cars. No matter how many garages you have, you still can't have readily available parking in front of every business or residence. You will always have "too little" parking in a congested major city.

SO Acknowledging that many people will still have to drive in to the city and park, even if we have a complete Metrorail system, how can we make it more straightforward and easier to park without demolishing things and providing too much parking by putting a garage every block?


Here's one approach.

Miami already has one thing no other US city has: A free people mover system called Metromover. It is integrated with Metrorail and some busses, but not with parking. So let's build some cheap (free in the evenings is ok too), easily accessible City garages RIGHT AT the expressway exits and causeways, and connect them to the Metromover, which can run every 1-2 minutes and stops practically every block or two. One place you can do this is where the (often backed-up) flyover connectors from I-95 connect to NE 1st/2nd Ave. and Biscayne Blvd. Yes, you lost some time riding the train and walking, but you also would also ordinarily lose time dealing with downtown traffic, looking for parking, figuring out how the meter works, and walking from the parking to your destination. This kind of "painless park and ride" system works at many airports covering distances similar to those you would cover in the city center. The thing is you have to make it as efficient and time effective as dealing with downtown traffic and circling around to find a spot (not difficult--especially during peak hours). Of course, we'd have to build this from scratch in Miami Beach (better yet...make it a PRT system instead!), but we all know we need mass transit there anyway.

Let's treat parking and mass transit as part of the same integrated system, instead of competing with each other. Sure, we still need some limited disabled handicap parking and commercial loading zones and resident parking throughout the city (visitors can still use the Garage/mover option or valet parking), but do we really need/want 6 traffic lanes worth of cars just sitting there all day beneath the Metromover tracks across from Bayfront Park?