Writer: Jerrica DuBois
3 min read October 2023 — The art of collaboration and transit growth were key topics for panelists Jason Spiegel of Freebee, Neil Hall of Historic Virginia Key Beach Park and Mayor Alix Desulme of the city of North Miami at the recent Invest: Miami 2023 leadership summit.
The panel, ‘Future Focused: How decisions being made in the present will affect the county’s future,’ touched on the past, present and future of Miami-Dade County. Moderator Arden Karson, CEO of Karson & Co., kicked off the conversation by covering the diversification of the region’s economy.
“One big hub that Miami-Dade County is really known for is our international trade,” said Desulme. “It affects our ports and our transportation system. I am on the governing board of the Transportation Planning Organization, which is a network that oversees our comprehensive transportation processes. One of the proposals we have at the TPO is to see how we can diversify our transportation system. To get from here to South Beach is two hours. We’re exploring options, and waterways could be a means of transportation in Miami-Dade County.”
According to research from Florida International University’s Metropolitan Center, of the 2.2 million people that commute to work in the county, only 4.2% use mass transit. Metrobus ridership declined by over 50% between 2018 and 2021, and several factors contribute to growing customer dissatisfaction. Those challenges include longer wait times, service reductions, ghost buses (en route but never arrive), poorly designed and unreliable routes and infrastructure and the increase of cheaper options such as trollies and ride-share programs. Continuing the transit discussion, Seigel began to discuss the impact an option such as Freebee has on the community.
“We were able to prove that this public transportation service was not just focused on the transit-dependent market,” said Seigel. “This was getting people that drive Mercedes Benz and BMW’s to leave their cars at home and use public transportation to move around their communities. We’re providing this on demand, door to door public transportation service for over 35 cities in the state of Florida. It has proven to be one of the most equitable forms of public transportation. You are reaching the transit-dependent riders, but on the opposite end you are now attracting the choice riders, those who have a choice to use their car or use public transit. We are changing the habits of people.”
The discussion then turned as Desulme discussed current legislative challenges and Hall gave attendees a crash course on Virginia Key Beach Park. As the first designated beach in Miami for African Americans, the beach emphasizes the need for preservation. Considering the challenges Mother Nature can add to the equation, the well being of the physical property is paramount. But it’s also important to preserve the history of Virginia Key Beach Park, and it’s a challenge many tourism organizations face as they balance heritage and growth.
“It is dangerous for us, because every hurricane that has hit Florida has destroyed that beach,” said Hall. “One of the things we have going for us are people like you who come every week to help pick up small little plastics. Every year we have over 1,000 volunteers who come and do this work for us. We have not resolved the issue of making the beach and making the space better for all of us. Virginia Key Beach is looking to develop a historical civil rights museum, which has been on the docket for 18 years. The museum is the wish of the community, but the question is should we build a museum on this fragile space. I believe we can rethink what a museum should look like.”
As the panel began to wrap up, the participants shared their thoughts on the future of Miami-Dade County, prompting further commentary on the bright future of the region. Spiegel closed the panel out with a final call to action. “We need to focus on collaborating together,” he said. “As stakeholders, we all need to continue to come together, provide solutions, share ideas, and make sure we are continuing to move this county forward.”
For more information, visit:
https://virginiakeybeachpark.net/
