Miami Dade Transportation: a love/hate relationship

Vinson Pressley, Staff Writer

I sit on the bus stop bench at the Biscayne Bay Campus waiting patiently for the number 75 bus to arrive. The bus pulls up — after about 45 minutes — and everyone sprints to catch it, but suddenly the bus driver turns off the bus and casually strolls off the vehicle without a care in the world.

 

Although our transportation system has a few issues with being on time and reliable, it does provide a great service to a lot of Miami natives and college students who rely on their services every day.

 

The Miami Dade Transit system gives a college student an affordable alternative to buying a car, especially for some of us on a tight budget. For just $50 a month, thanks to the college discount bus pass, I can almost navigate the entire city without the financial strain of car insurance, car repairs, gas money, etc. However, there are a few noticeable tradeoffs when someone chooses the bus system over the convenience of having car.

 

Patience must become a virtue when relying on Miami’s bus system — sometimes people can rely on a bus schedule every time and sometimes I wonder if a bus schedule even exists.

 

Buses that are usually suppose to come every 20 to 30 minutes might arrive once every one to two hours depending on which bus someone is waiting for and the time of day.

 

This can be frustrating, especially when a college student has somewhere to go or is eager to get home after a long day, which is usually my case.

 

There is a remedy for this type of situation by leaving extra early to anticipate a long wait or finding other routes to arrive at my destination.

 

Thankfully Miami Dade’s transportation system usually offers several different options to get to one location.

 

Although Miami Dade’s Transportation system has its advantages, it also has character flaws.

 

A small percentage of MDT’s bus drivers display unpredictable, irritable and curt attitudes toward passengers at times.

 

There have been several instances where I would ask a bus driver a simple question and was met with a very sharp response that was really unnecessary.

 

Maybe the bus driver had a bad day or experienced endless traffic, it doesn’t make it right to take it out on passengers, but to me its no big deal. I just pay my bus fare and take my seat and usually laugh about the experience later on.

Sure our transportation system may not be perfect but I do recognize and appreciate the service they provide; without them, the task of getting from point A to point B would be very difficult and expensive for me.