Episode 51: A Grassroots Bus Network Redesign

In October 2021, the Better Bus Network was approved by the Miami-Dade County Board of Commissioners, culminating a planning and community engagement process led by Transit Alliance Miami in collaboration with the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works. This big win represents the first time a nonprofit organization has led a major bus redesign project. It’s also a measure of a huge culture shift from 2015, when Transit Alliance Miami took action to try to reverse budget cuts. Through creative, often provocative advocacy and painstaking work to listen to the community and build a coalition, Transit Alliance Miami changed the conversation. At the same time, the transit agency took the hard steps of giving up some control in service of the shared goal of better transit in the region.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first of its kind collaboration: a public sector [agency] and a transit advocacy group working together to completely transform the way our community moves. . . . And it all started with the Transit Alliance. You have probably heard me before, but I’m proud to say again, the Transit Alliance Miami gave our community a voice.”
– Carlos Cruz-Casas

“We cannot ask the public to stay engaged over years and years of planning. Part of the success of the Better Bus Network is that . . . we compressed the period in a very creative way for community input. And that’s really what drove the success of the project.”
– Grace Perdomo

Listen to the podcast to find out how this collaboration came together as well as details about community priorities for bus service and how they shaped the final plan.