The only reliable way to get around Miami is with a car.
With more people moving in, our streets are jam-packed with automobiles while the city neglects public transportation to help pedestrians.
If we continue to construct more road infrastructure, we will be trapped in our automobile dependence indefinitely.
Instead of expanding road infrastructure endlessly to meet an insatiable demand for cars, South Florida should strive to improve its public transportation system.
Buses run every 30 minutes to an hour on average. For some people, the waiting time for public transportation to arrive is equivalent to the time it takes them to get to a destination using a car.
Taking the bus every day for work, school, appointments and errands is unrealistic and unreliable for people who don’t have a car.
My niece has to rely on the bus every week for her commute. No matter how early she gets to the bus stop, she always ends up running late.
There was one occurrence where the bus she was waiting for never showed up.
Due to the unreliability of Miami’s public transportation, she is forced to use Uber a few days a week. However, this is unsustainable because she spends what she earns on Uber alone, which often costs around $150 a week.
Some people get stressed and irritated when faced with traffic and angry drivers. As an alternative, they take the bus, the Metromover or Metrorail.
Unfortunately, those options are limited and only useful to a very specific area of Miami. The rest of the city is left on its own or faces the same unreliable options my niece does.
The increased traffic has made road rage prominent in Miami. People honk at you, flick you off, or scream at you out of frustration while driving.
The more angry drivers and cars we have on the road, the more chances we will see an increase in car accidents and rise in insurance prices.
Something has to be done about Miami’s public transportation to accommodate its growing population.
If not, our dependence on cars will exacerbate the already crippling issues connected with traffic and road rage.
