The Miami-Dade Transportation, Mobility and Planning Committee approved the latest changes to the long-planned Better Bus Network on June 14.
Among those changes were the retention of the Airport Flyer (150) route, an express bus linking Miami Beach’s South and Mid Beach Neighborhoods with Miami International Airport.
Providing reliable 20-minute service, the route serves over 2,300 daily riders—a 70% increase compared to last year. Notably, it’s the sole public transit connecting Miami Beach, the region’s prime tourist destination, directly to the airport.
County Mayor Levine Cava, in a memo, cited extensive public feedback regarding the planned elimination of this route.
Not mentioned in the memo, and buried deep in an 101-page PDF on the project’s website, is that service levels will be decreased, leaving prospective riders waiting upwards of 30 minutes for the bus.
However, it’s not all bad news. A new route, 14, linking the Omni Terminal and Mt. Sinai Medical Center, via South Pointe Park, will largely overlap the Airport Flyer’s Miami Beach route, also with 30-minute frequencies.
With strategic scheduling, these two routes could combine to an effective 15-minute headway on Miami Beach, providing consistent, predictable, and comfortable service linking Miami Beach’s most dense neighborhoods with the 41 Street Corridor.
Final approval is set for July 14 by the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners.
