I thought I was going to follow up my previous Tri-Rail/Brightline trips by going all the way to West Palm Beach and back using Tri-Rail one way and Brightline the other. However, I ended up getting food poisoning on my trip, which kept me from going anywhere for a couple days. In retrospect, I may have avoided being impacted by the latest Brightline/car incident. They’re extending Brightline to Orlando anyway, so figure I’ll just ride the rest of the line after that opens.
However, I still wanted to get a ride on Metrorail and Metromover in before I returned to Michigan, so this past Friday (my last in Florida). I headed to downtown Miami to catch Metrorail. I had been trying to fit in a lot my last day given the good weather, so I didn’t leave until a little after 4pm. Took an Uber thinking it would be quicker than dealing with the bus making tons of stops - while that may have been true, it still took almost an hour to get from Miami Beach to downtown Miami. They really need some form of transit that doesn’t run in mixed traffic between Miami and Miami Beach - trying to go there during rush hour was a bottleneck multiple times on my trip…
I eventually made it to Government Center Metrorail, and decided to buy a pass and take the first Metrorail train I could get on. That ended up being the Green Line to Palmetto, which I rode to the end of the line. The Metrorail train I rode was surprisingly modern - it reminded me a little of the Vancouver SkyTrain. Once out of downtown a lot of the areas surrounding the rail line seemed very industrial - perhaps not the ideal land use (or ideal place for a train). We went by Tri-Rail station, the other half of Tri-Rail’s Metrorail Transfer I saw on that trip. The train also went by Earlington Heights, where the Orange Line splits off for a one-stop branch to Miami International Airport. Not sure that’s the best design, just like BART’s one-stop branch to SFO - in both cases, why not just extend the people mover? On my return trip downtown, I had thought of getting off there and taking the Orange Line to MIA before returning downtown, but decided to skip that so I could catch the Metromover before it got dark.
I eventually got back to Government Center, and decided to get off there to transfer to Metromover - I had wanted to ride all the way to Dadeland South, but it was getting dark. The Metromover had three lines - I decided to do one cycle around the inner loop. I knew going in that MetroMover was developed at the same time using the same government program as the Detroit People Mover, Though Metromover seems to be a more successful implementation, as it has been expanded to 3 lines and ties into the larger Metrorail system. The Metromover trains had very few seats (as I recall, the Detroit People Mover had a lot more seating), and resembled the trains used on airport people mover systems (such as the MIA Mover I had rode after arriving at the Miami airport, or the tram inside DTW where I flew out of). Metromover is also free, which means you don’t have to deal with fares to ride (though not the only free transit in Miami-Dade County - the bus-based “trolley” lines in Miami Beach are also free). Definitely an intriguing system, but it was getting dark and I was getting hungry so I got off. Eventually caught the bus back to Miami Beach, which given that rush hour had ended wasn’t too bad…
All in all, it was interesting to ride the rail transit of the Miami area - definitely seems like it could be a good place for a Gathering in the future. Wish it would have happened this year and lined up with the opening of Brightline to Orlando. Though hopefully by the time it happens Amtrak can move to the airport station and get full dining service back on the Silver trains (and hopefully other eastern trains as well).
However, I still wanted to get a ride on Metrorail and Metromover in before I returned to Michigan, so this past Friday (my last in Florida). I headed to downtown Miami to catch Metrorail. I had been trying to fit in a lot my last day given the good weather, so I didn’t leave until a little after 4pm. Took an Uber thinking it would be quicker than dealing with the bus making tons of stops - while that may have been true, it still took almost an hour to get from Miami Beach to downtown Miami. They really need some form of transit that doesn’t run in mixed traffic between Miami and Miami Beach - trying to go there during rush hour was a bottleneck multiple times on my trip…
I eventually made it to Government Center Metrorail, and decided to buy a pass and take the first Metrorail train I could get on. That ended up being the Green Line to Palmetto, which I rode to the end of the line. The Metrorail train I rode was surprisingly modern - it reminded me a little of the Vancouver SkyTrain. Once out of downtown a lot of the areas surrounding the rail line seemed very industrial - perhaps not the ideal land use (or ideal place for a train). We went by Tri-Rail station, the other half of Tri-Rail’s Metrorail Transfer I saw on that trip. The train also went by Earlington Heights, where the Orange Line splits off for a one-stop branch to Miami International Airport. Not sure that’s the best design, just like BART’s one-stop branch to SFO - in both cases, why not just extend the people mover? On my return trip downtown, I had thought of getting off there and taking the Orange Line to MIA before returning downtown, but decided to skip that so I could catch the Metromover before it got dark.
I eventually got back to Government Center, and decided to get off there to transfer to Metromover - I had wanted to ride all the way to Dadeland South, but it was getting dark. The Metromover had three lines - I decided to do one cycle around the inner loop. I knew going in that MetroMover was developed at the same time using the same government program as the Detroit People Mover, Though Metromover seems to be a more successful implementation, as it has been expanded to 3 lines and ties into the larger Metrorail system. The Metromover trains had very few seats (as I recall, the Detroit People Mover had a lot more seating), and resembled the trains used on airport people mover systems (such as the MIA Mover I had rode after arriving at the Miami airport, or the tram inside DTW where I flew out of). Metromover is also free, which means you don’t have to deal with fares to ride (though not the only free transit in Miami-Dade County - the bus-based “trolley” lines in Miami Beach are also free). Definitely an intriguing system, but it was getting dark and I was getting hungry so I got off. Eventually caught the bus back to Miami Beach, which given that rush hour had ended wasn’t too bad…
All in all, it was interesting to ride the rail transit of the Miami area - definitely seems like it could be a good place for a Gathering in the future. Wish it would have happened this year and lined up with the opening of Brightline to Orlando. Though hopefully by the time it happens Amtrak can move to the airport station and get full dining service back on the Silver trains (and hopefully other eastern trains as well).
