Despite an 11.6% increase to a record $427 million in Miami Beach’s proposed FY2024 operating budget, funding has not been renewed for the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator position—a point of contention during last year’s budget negotiations.
Last September, the city’s Transportation, Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee passed a motion urging Miami Beach to fund a full-time bicycle-pedestrian coordinator role. They argued the position is needed to improve infrastructure and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Although some commissioners initially resisted increasing the city staff headcount, they ultimately approved the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator on a temporary, one-year consultant basis in the FY2023 budget.
While the Transportation Department had initially requested $88,000 for the role, $100,000 was eventually allocated.
Now, in the FY2024 budget, that funding has been eliminated.
This decision comes despite recent high-profile changes that advocates say a dedicated coordinator might have prevented—like the removal of automatic pedestrian signals in residential neighborhoods and the placement of a barrier on Ocean Drive that obstructed nearly half the bicycle lane.
At a time when dozens of new positions are being added in the proposed FY2024 budget, it is perplexing to supporters why funding has not been renewed for the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator role.
Notably, after last year’s contentious funding battle, the Transportation and Mobility Department did not submit a request to continue funding the bicycle-pedestrian coordinator position in their FY2024 budget proposal. Nor has the department’s headcount increased, despite nearly 60 new positions being proposed citywide for the coming fiscal year.