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SOUTH MIAMI INDUSTRIAL PORTFOLIO | MARKET OVERVIEW
Expanding Metrorail
Local transportation planners in Miami-Dade County have developed a new
strategy to expand the existing 25-mile Metrorail system, which hovers two
stories above the most gridlocked streets in the center of the county. The
approach would use ground-level tracks to extend the rail system north to
Broward County and south to Florida City.
To the south, the new ground-level Metrorail cars would circulate along
20-miles of new track on what used to be called the South Dade Busway,
presently called the Transitway. This expansion would bring 14 new street-
level depots between the existing Dadeland South Station and the end of the
line at SW 344th Street in Florida City.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
One thing is clear, which is that civic leaders in southern Miami-Dade County
are commited to improving local public transportation. More people see a
Bus Rapid Transit system as being more achievable given its relative cost
effectiveness. The BRT would involve running buses on dedicated roads (like
the existing Transitway), but without the traffic lights that stall commuters.
Modernized stations also play a big role, with passengers purchasing tickets
at kiosks like they would for a train and then boarding on platforms level with
the bus doors.
In the event that the BRT path is chosen in the more immediate future, the
system would likely be designed in a way such that the BRT stations could be
used to serve future light-rail or other rail lines.
Any investment in public transportation in the souther part of the County,
where the Portfolio is located, would be a positive demand driver for industrial
space. The enhanced connectivity in an increasingly dense part of the County
will positively impact the South Dixie Highway corridor.
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MARKET OVERVIEW