In Southeast Florida, congested roadways and extensive work commutes led to the launch of an express bus service in early 2010. The area’s fast growing population made the I-95 Express lanes in Miami-Dade and Broward counties a gridlock, with commuters lacking alternative routes as I-95 is the only highway in the eastern, employment-dense corridor of Southeast Florida. Transit service along the corridor — the commuter train Tri-Rail — generally suffers from the "first and last mile" handicap, and has yet to attract a significant share of commuters mostly due to pedestrian accessibility and land-use compatibility issues.
Not only is the I-95 corridor one of the most heavily congested roadways in the nation, it is also notorious for its aggressive drivers. These and other factors convinced the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to select the Miami-Fort Lauderdale region as one of six cities to receive funding to implement ‘4Ts’ projects to relieve congestion and give commuters other options.
In 2008, both BCT and MDT were designated as key partners for the transit component of the I-95 Express Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) between the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and FDOT Districts 4 and 6. The UPA grant was awarded to FDOT to convert I-95’s high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes into high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes.
The UPA project involved replacing, an existing HOV lane (north and southbound) with two High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes (north and southbound). Research shows that HOT lanes had more potential to increase person and vehicle throughput than HOV lanes, and also improved travel time reliability for both transit and private vehicles. As part of the agreement, express bus service was funded, as well as enhanced travel demand management programs. In recent years, however, toll funding revenues have been sufficient to maintain the original express bus routes and expand the network substantially. Currently, operating and maintenance costs for I-95 express buses are funded entirely from tolls collected on that corridor, making it a financially self-sustaining system. Toll funding is a very reliable and an ever-growing funding source in this region, as automobile congestion and population continue to grow rapidly.
When it launched in 2010, the new 95 Express premium bus service was introduced with one bus route operated by Broward County Transit (BCT) and two by Miami-Dade Transit (MDT). The service provides commuters with reliable transit in the express lanes without the expense of tolls, fuel, car maintenance, parking, and traffic jams. The cost per trip is just $2.65 including free and convenient park-and-ride lots with ample parking and immediate access to buses that travel to downtown Miami and Miami’s Civic Center/Health District. Since its launch five years ago, BCT added three additional bus routes to its express service. In Fall 2015, MDT will add two additional express bus routes.
Several years ago, MDT started an express bus service departing from the Golden Glades Interchange - a massive park and ride facility that caters to both express and regular fixed-routes – and traveled along the HOV lanes. This service still exists today but is not a part of FDOT’s UPA.
Today, the express bus network consists of nine routes in total, all but one terminating in downtown Miami or the Miami Civic Center. Other destinations have been attempted, yet failed to garner anywhere near the same level of ridership that the downtown Miami-bound routes achieve, largely based on parking availability, roadway congestion, and quality of transit service at the destination.
In the five years since its introduction, the Express Bus Service has grown from three routes and 1,000 weekday trips to nine routes and 3,500 weekday trips in five years, a 250 percent increase. In comparison, Tri-Rail (in existence since 1989), the region’s only commuter rail, averages 15,000 daily trips.
Coming Soon: More Express Bus Service
FDOT has allocated funding for additional express bus service along the I-75 corridor, which is home to the region’s newest sprawling suburbs. Service is expected to be operational by 2018, and will most likely terminate at the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC), located across from the Miami International Airport (MIA). The MIC is a ground transportation hub that makes travel in the South Florida region more accessible. Tri-Rail commuter service recently began serving MIA, along with the City of Miami’s high-capacity Metrorail, making it what many are deeming South Florida’s ‘Grand Central Station.’ FDOT planners say the standard peak-only travel times, common to express bus service routes, will need to be expanded for this particular route. The demand for this service is likely to be greater than any of the other express routes because of the access to the Miami International Airport. This could very well become an all-day bus service instead of the typical morning and afternoon rush hour service.
Other plans for Broward’s 95 Express Bus Service include a new park and ride facility in the city of Miramar, where two of BCT’s express routes serve, and is home to more than 122,041 residents. Another new park and ride facility in nearby Pembroke Pines will replace the current space constricted lot at C.B. Smith Park, and an upcoming expansion of the parking facility at North Perry Airport, also in Pembroke Pines. All new and modified park and ride facilities will be built with the capacity to handle future growth says BCT officials.
In addition to headway improvements to accommodate future growth, an extension of the downtown Miami route to the Brickell business district, as well as fleet enhancements, are in the works for BCT’s Express Bus Service. Earlier this year, BCT ordered five Motor Coach Industries (MCI) Commuter buses for exclusive use on the express service. These coaches seat 55 passengers and include an array of amenities for busy commuters including high-back seats, free WiFi, individual LED reading lights, air-conditioned vents at each seat, electrical outlets, and USB ports at each seat.
In the next five years, HOT/Express lanes are coming to both the section of I-95 that runs through Broward County, as well as I-75 on the western edge of the metropolitan area. Express bus services are currently being planned as part of these projects, as they have demonstrated tremendous success particularly for downtown Miami-bound commuters.
“I use an alternative mode of transportation because I live in Broward County but work in downtown Miami,” said Heather Barfus, a longtime BCT customer who rides the 95 Express Bus from Fort Lauderdale to Miami. “The parking near work is very expensive and very limited. By taking the Express bus, not only do I save money on parking, but also gasoline, and the wear and tear on my car. My employer pays for my monthly bus pass so that is an added bonus.”
A recent report commissioned by the FDOT (Cambridge Systematics) provides strong evidence for why the Express Bus has seen such strong growth: it is quicker, or at the very least, competitive, with the single occupancy vehicle mode for getting into downtown Miami from Broward County. In many instances, it was quicker to take an Express Bus using express lanes into downtown Miami than driving an automobile in the general purpose lanes. This speaks not only to the congestion of the roadway, but also to the relative increase in time-reliability and overall competitiveness of transit with the implementation of express lanes.
Joseph McCray, a resident of Davie, the western suburb in Broward County that borders major interstates of I-595 and I-75, said the 595 Express Bus Service has been a relief to his more than hour long daily commute to downtown Miami. “I love the 595 Express Bus,” said McCray. “Timely, clean, no stress, economical and express lane access.”
Lessons Learned
The ridership results since 2010 have provided the best mark of success for both BCT and MDT. Collaborating with FDOT, the biggest challenge has been getting park and ride locations established. Broward County’s sprawling suburbs and privately developed properties have made it increasingly difficult to build accessible park and ride facilities. “We have had to move routes around because of a lack of parking, expired agreements with municipalities and other organizations, including agreements that fell through at certain locations,” said Barney McCoy, BCT’s service and capital planning transit manager. There are unique challenges to offering premium bus service to working professionals who really don’t need to use public transportation but do so for the convenience. These customers own personal vehicles and could very well drive their own cars to and from work every day.
An integral part of the Express Bus Program — and a major challenge — has been park and ride lot development. Several factors combine to make this a difficult task for FDOT and its partners: lack of available land in the region, local political issues, and lack of funding. While toll revenues can pay for operating and capital expenses associated with express buses, it cannot, at this point, pay for park and ride lot development. Additionally, while the benefits of park and ride lots are clear to the commuters that use them, they aren’t always welcomed by the jurisdictions where they are needed. This is a challenge for FDOT and transit management as they seek to expand the express bus service and offer this premium transit option to more commuters.
Park and ride lots offer specific amenities including overnight parking, bicycle racks for storage, well-lit facilities that are professionally managed, plus heavy security presence for the protection of both transit customers and employees. “To get things done, and to ensure customers aren’t being short-changed, we’ve had to rely on our communications and strong customer service skills to build and maintain healthy relationships with municipalities, building owners, managers, park rangers, and others,” adds McCoy “because many of our park and ride lots are joint agreements with city and county parks, shopping plazas, recreational centers, and a municipal airport. It’s been a challenging time but well worth it when the end result is a satisfied customer who has arrived at their destination on time or has peace of mind knowing they can leave their car parked overnight while they work the graveyard shift at a hospital.”
McCoy added, “Going forward, we’ll need to aggressively and strategically plan for more resources because the population in this area will continue to grow and the demand for better transit service is what we’ll need to address.”
Initially, BCT’s Express Bus Service arrived every 30 minutes during peak travel times with just three routes. Now, it is up to four different bus routes with one of those routes arriving every 15 minutes due to the demand for increased service. That bus route, is the busiest and often most crowded of the BCT’s Express Bus routes: 595 Express Bus from Sunrise to downtown Miami and the Brickell area.
“We’ve also learned to make sure adequate resources are used to provide service. Over the years, BCT has had to continually modify service to keep up with demand,” continued McCoy.
Moving forward, BCT has recognized the need to continue to improve communication with its Express Bus Service customers. An ongoing relationship with South Florida Commuter Services (SFCS), an FDOT program that helps promote ridesharing options to commuters in the southern counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, and St. Lucie, has been very beneficial in assisting BCT and MDT in communicating positive information to commuters about these Express routes and an emergency ride home program.
Tarnell Carroll is a marketing development associate for Broward County Transit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
