Miami Funds Protected Bike Lanes With E-Scooter Fees

E-scooter fees will partially fund a $2 million program to add 3 miles of protected bike lanes in downtown Miami. As reported by Jason Plautz in Smart Cities Dive, "the city will install concrete barriers along the new lanes and add pedestrian ramps to adjacent sidewalks."

"The goal is to eventually build an extensive network of micromobility lanes — including bollards, concrete barriers and painted bike boxes — that would connect large parts of downtown, rather than simply adding lanes to a handful of streets, said Carlos Cruz-Casas, assistant director for mobility in the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works. The 'proactive' effort, he said, will help create 'a more inclusive transportation network' and also further the county’s Vision Zero goals, which seek to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2030."

Kevin Amézaga, executive director of the mobility group Miami Riders Alliance, calls the new lanes "extremely necessary" given Miami's dangerous roads. "As scooters have become more popular and established transportation tools in cities, transportation departments around the country are rethinking their infrastructure plans to build dedicated lanes or paths that can accommodate them. Many cities — like Indianapolis, Atlanta and Santa Monica, California, — have required micromobility operators add fees or pay into infrastructure funds to pay for the new construction."