If you ride the Miami-Dade County public bus system, you may sometimes ask yourself: where are all the bus lanes?
Transit Alliance Miami, a group advocating for a better public transit, is on a mission to get those painted lanes on the street.
Now, they’ve come up with a cheeky way to get not only the public’s attention on the importance of bus lanes but also the county mayor's attention.
“We’re just trying to convince people bus lanes aren’t scary, they aren’t novel, it’s a very human, practical and effective way to get people moving,” says Azhar Chougle.
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It is getting people’s attention: the idea about dedicated bus lanes is to skip the traffic. This would give bus riders an incentive to leave their car at home and take a public means of transportation.
“That was the whole goal: lets be as silly as possible and shareable and funny and just get people talking about a subject that’s a little policy focused and heavy and lets make it fun,” says Vincent Halloran, who is a rider on the bus system.
They hope to change people’s tune about the importance of dedicated bus lanes. That’s why they took to some of the busiest rider routes like Biscayne Boulevard and the Government Center.
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“It must be frustrating to rely on a system that is inefficient, doesn’t get to the places you need to get to,” says Nicolas Arce, who is the district representative for Transit Alliance Miami.
For Arce, he prefers public transit but can’t always rely on it - that’s why he owns a car as well.
“It is a tragedy to have one and I wish Miami-Dade County had the infrastructure and the system to say 'Oh, let me just jump on the bus or the train to get to school, to get to work, to get to my friends house',” says Arce.
The person who they wanted to get the attention of most is listening: County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“When customers can engage in a creative way, everyone can get on board,” said Levine Cava, “The ways that Transit Alliance has sought to elevate transit and get the voice of riders into the public’s sphere, I’m for all of it.”
Levine Cava committed to adopting the plan set to improve Miami-Dade’s public transit and make the county more pedestrian friendly. The dedicated bus lanes aren’t painted just yet, but they are in the works.
The mayor said the county has gotten the go ahead to move some temporary bus lanes forward. As for the transit alliance, no word yet on any more future music videos.
