Recent controversies have inspired county and city officials in Miami-Dade County looking to overhaul the process by which transportation projects are planned, approved, and funded.
"Miami-Dade commissioners and representatives of municipalities in the county have begun a process to radically change the way transportation projects are planned locally in a bid to speed up the creation of new services such as express buses or light-rail systems," reports Alfonso Chardy.
Under the current system: "agencies such as the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) bring projects for approval or rejection to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), which includes Miami-Dade commissioners as well as representatives of municipalities such as the City of Miami and the mayors of Hialeah, Homestead, Miami Beach, Miami Gardens and North Miami."
"But at a meeting last week of the special MPO committee to find transit solutions, Moss said that it should be the MPO that crafts the plans and then directs the agencies to carry them out," according to Chardy.
The discussion about the project approval process in Miami-Dade County is taking place amid a controversy over increased tolls on state roads 836 and 112. A recent failed legislative effort at the state of Florida also would have overhauled the governance structure of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority. County and city commissioners are also current considering the financing of a plan by Tri-Rail to bring commuter rail service to downtown Miami from Broward and Palm Beach counties.
FULL STORY: Miami-Dade leaders want to speed up public-transport projects
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