CREATE A CHIEF MOBILITY OFFICER

THE CITY OF MIAMI NEEDS A NEW OFFICIAL FOR PEDESTRIAN, TRANSIT, MOBILITY

My opinion piece was originally published in the Miami Today Newspaper. I have created a groundbreaking Universal Design college course and lectured on mobility around the world.

The city of Miami has new leadership.

In less than a year, three of its six elected positions have been filled with leaders focused on delivering a high quality of life for Miami’s diverse population.

Mayor Eileen Higgins and Commissioners Rolando Escalona and Ralph Rosado campaigned on a promise of making the city more consumer friendly and responsive to the needs of the everyday people.

With a new city manager and department heads under a new mayor, it’s an ideal time to create the essential mobility officer position.

The city of Miami has sidewalks, crosswalks, parks, paths and bike lanes – plus a portion of the wonderful Underline. It is served by Miami-Dade County buses, circulators, Metrorail and Metromover. Tri-Rail and the Brightline also figure into the transit mix.

It sounds like a wealth of services – but as anyone who has tried to get around in Miami, there are horrendous gaps in the mobility network. Add in haphazard construction (the city routinely allows developers to shut down essential sidewalks for years of construction – even in its most dense urban neighborhoods) and the system is not working for the well more than half a million people who live and work in the Magic City.

Cars perpetually illegally parked on sidewalks -- destroying pedestrian and wheelchair user access at an historic City of Miami Park. Safe pathways to transit are frequently destroyed by illegal parking.

Like many major cities, the people want mobility options – but we design, build and maintain a system that treats everyone who cannot drive a car as a second class citizen.

But research has shown that upwards of one third of people cannot afford to drive or cannot drive because of age (too young or too old) or disability.

Even for those who can drive, the AAA estimates the total (purchase, maintenance, fuel, insurance) cost of owning a car at $1,025 per month.

That is a staggering figure in a city where one in five people live below the poverty line.

It is a brutal number when one considers that Miami is one of the most rent challenged cities in America and studies have shown that more than half of its households live virtually paycheck to paycheck.

Think about the money that could go toward housing and other household needs– if a family could swap more than $1,000 per month per vehicle – for a tiny fraction of that spent on a transit pass and e-bike or scooter.

Of all marginalized groups, people with disabilities are by far the most under- and unemployed – but not because of their underlying disability.

The CDC says one in for people will experience a disability that impacts their daily living. Inclusive mobility is not an outlier for a special interest.

Sidewalks on both sides of the street closed for years of construction -- a violation of the ADA, a nightmare for wheelchair users and a living hell for all in the heart of Downtown Miam.

Every time: a sidewalk is blocked for six weeks when work could last a weekend, a curbramp is flooded, an elevator to elevated transit is out of order for ages, a safe pathway is blocked by a discarded e-scooter, a bus shelter is inaccessible – a pathway to work is destroyed.

Sadly, Miami often ranks as having some of the worst pedestrian death and series injury statistics in the U.S.

Things will only get worse. America is rapidly gaining. Soon, for the first time in our nation’s history, there will be more people older than age 60 than younger than 18. This means people with reduced mobility and reduced means will be dependent on a seamless network of multimodal mobility.

There are areas in Miami’s densely populated Central Business District where both sides of the sidewalk are closed for years of construction. Simple scaffolding would support both construction and safe sidewalks.

Miami’s mobility is impacted by nearly a dozen divergent city, county and state authorities, as well as redevelopment agencies, and private sector spanning from for profit rail to taxies, rideshare and jitneys.

If we are ever going to have humane, efficient, inclusive and equitable transportation networks with world class walkability – we must have a chief mobility officer.

Steve Wright is an award-winning author, planner, educator, keynote speaker and disability mobility advocate. He worked in public policy for the city of Miami from 2002-2009.

https://www.miamitodayepaper.com/Miami-Today-02052026-e-Edition/6/