Miami-Dade Commission to discuss $245 million South Dade Transit station

The Miami-Dade Commission will consider spending more than $245 million to build the South Dade Transit Operations Center to improve efficiency for bus routes serving the southern part of the county, particularly the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) busway under construction along U.S. 1. The county has already identified a 20-acre site at Southwest 27th Avenue and Biscayne Drive in Homestead.

According to the county website, the new, 219,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind bus depot will serve as a home base to maintain, energize and operate a new fleet of 100 “articulated 60-foot battery-electric buses,” which are those long, accordion type guaguas. The closest maintenance facility on Coral Way was about 30 miles from the busway and, besides not having the capacity or infrastructure to house, power or maintain the new fleet, would cause for a long turnaround trip. The new facility will reportedly have all the necessary equipment on site — as well as office space for more than 100 county employees from the transit and public works department.

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