Conversation with Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava

Show Overview:
On October 17, 2025, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava joined The MiamiHal Real Estate Show for a wide-ranging discussion on Miami-Dade’s progress since she took office—covering affordable housing, transportation, environmental stewardship, and civic accountability.

This conversation is a more in-depth and personal view into our Mayor and how she operates on so many of our County initiatives.

Key Highlights:

Affordability and Housing

The Mayor led with what she called her “number-one priority.” Since taking office, her administration has doubled housing investment, created 5,000 new affordable units, and has 11,000 more in the pipeline. She emphasized that affordability isn’t just about rent—it’s about transportation costs and livability across the county.

Transit and Mobility

On mobility, Levine Cava shared excitement over the imminent Metro Express Bus Rapid Transit launch—the first major transit upgrade in a decade and the nation’s only fully electric long-distance BRT system. She hopes the sleek, quiet buses and air-conditioned stations will convince commuters to ditch their cars.

She noted proudly that Miami-Dade has climbed to become the 10th-largest transit system in the U.S., with ridership growing post-pandemic—a rare feat among major metros.

Environmental Commitment

Calling herself the “water warrior,” she outlined ongoing efforts to protect Biscayne Bay, convert septic to sewer, and promote renewable energy. Even as political rhetoric shifts away from “climate change,” she continues framing the issue around risk, flooding, and protecting local assets.

Public Engagement and Communications

Levine Cava spoke passionately about keeping residents informed, highlighting the County’s “No Wrong Door” initiative—cross-training staff so any department can help residents navigate services. Through 311, 211, and multilingual outreach, she aims to make government “one county for impact.”

Airport Modernization

Referring to Miami International Airport as “the apple of my eye,” the Mayor detailed the $9 billion modernization plan: upgraded elevators, smart bathrooms, a new garage, a new hotel, and a forthcoming Terminal K—all designed to keep MIA world-class.

Alligator Alcatraz Controversy

Discussing the state-run immigration facility built on aviation land in Big Cypress, she explained her limited authority but reiterated environmental concerns and the County’s demand for accountability to protect the Everglades ecosystem.

Budget Challenges

Levine Cava broke down the recent $400 million shortfall, tracing it to structural shifts under Florida’s new constitutional offices and fixed departmental budgets. Despite headlines, she emphasized that only a fraction of the $13 billion county budget is discretionary—and that vital services remain protected.

Underdeck and Connectivity

She lamented the revoked federal grant for the “Underdeck” park beneath I-395—a project meant to reconnect Overtown—but expressed hope that private and philanthropic support will keep it alive.

Fluoride Debate

Her disappointment was evident as she recalled the removal of fluoride from the County’s water supply after her veto was overridden. She warned of long-term dental and health consequences and called it “a sad reflection of distrust in science.”

Seaquarium Transition

She confirmed the Miami Seaquarium’s transfer to new operators under bankruptcy court approval. The beloved site will retain its dome and aquarium features—“without marine mammals”—and add public amenities like a pier, restaurants, and marina, ensuring it remains accessible parkland.

TransitWay Launch

Perhaps her proudest moment: the October 27th launch of the South Dade TransitWay, a 13-station, fully electric corridor offering express and local service from Florida City to Dadeland. With signal priority and rail-like gate systems, she expects 40-minute time savings and further boosts in ridership.

Artificial Intelligence and Efficiency

Closing on technology, the Mayor outlined her “Wise 305” initiative to streamline government operations with AI—enhancing cybersecurity, small-business permitting, and infrastructure monitoring. She even admitted to personally using ChatGPT to increase efficiency.

Final Thoughts

Mayor Levine Cava’s dashboard is crowded—but running strong. From housing and transit to innovation and environmental stewardship, she’s steering Miami-Dade toward a more connected, sustainable future.

As she quipped: “If the tree falls and no one hears it, did it fall? Communication is key.”

Show Transcript: (Transcribed by Sonix.ai)

Speaker1: [00:00:19] Hello and welcome to another episode of The Miami Real Estate Show, where every single week I have a great guest. This week it's our mayor of the county, Daniella Levine Cava. Daniella, thank you for joining us.

Speaker2: [00:00:31] My pleasure.

Speaker1: [00:00:31] How listen, we always start our interviews with kind of like you're the you're driving the Miami-Dade bus.

Speaker2: [00:00:38] I am in fact. Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:00:41] And there's a dashboard in front of you. So when you wake up, you look at the dashboard and you kind of see, what do I need to do today? And you can kind of see the gauges as to where you are with the right amount of gas and the right amount of oil and the temperature and all that stuff. Tell me about how the dashboard feels these days.

Speaker2: [00:00:58] Because.

Speaker1: [00:00:58] You're you're a very busy.

Speaker2: [00:00:59] Yes, yes I am. Well, thank you so much for having me back. Look, we've got some key priorities that have shaped my administration from the first term now into the second. We're focused on affordability. That is key. And you know very well you're in the business. It's really hard. We have one of the highest costs of living and one of the highest housing costs and transportation costs. So we've really focused so much energy. I've doubled the amount of money we we've invested and we've really made a dent, I do believe. So I check in how many groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings do I have? That's a real feel good for me. And we have produced 5000 new units since I've come into office, and we've got 11,000 in the pipeline and more to come. So affordability and housing number one, then let's talk about mobility. We got to get around. Yes we do. And there is traffic. Right.

Speaker1: [00:01:51] I tend to know a lot about traffic.

Speaker2: [00:01:54] Yeah, you're driving around a lot for sure. So we have made some real headway as well Even with all the development, we have been able to invest in transit and we've increased our ridership significantly. So I'm driving the bus right, and I know more people are getting on the bus. We've gone from the 15th to the 10th largest transit system in the country. And of course, we're going to be cutting the ribbon on Metro Express, the South Dade bus rapid transit system. I'm very excited. It is the first major improvement in ten years, and it's one of a kind. The only fully electric long bus rapid transit system in the country. So those are two I'll talk about the environment. You know, I I'm all about it. I'm the water warrior. And I want to make sure that our bay is kept clean, that we are focusing on reducing our energy consumption, going solar, going electric and protecting our clean water supply, our septic, converting to clean sewer, protecting our Everglades. So making sure that we're making progress. So I could go on. But those are three big ones.

Speaker1: [00:03:05] Those are the three good ones to start with.

Speaker3: [00:03:07] Very good.

Speaker1: [00:03:08] I wanted to ask, you know, you're into your second term here.

Speaker3: [00:03:11] Yes.

Speaker1: [00:03:11] And so you've got a number of years behind you.

Speaker2: [00:03:14] I do not just on my belt.

Speaker1: [00:03:16] And does that. Exactly. And that dashboard, has it changed for you? Have you had to do major course corrections on anything that you wanted to do as an initiative?

Speaker2: [00:03:25] Yeah, that's a great question. I think really we've stayed the course on so many things. The affordability crisis really came about as the pandemic was winding down. So I've always known housing was a priority, but it really came into full focus. We did declare a crisis and double down environment. Now we have some headwinds because, you know, no more talking about climate change. So we talk about risk and flooding. Everybody knows we have more flooding. The seas are rising and our assets are at risk. So we've had to kind of focus a little bit more on on really what do people see? What do you do people experience and how to protect their their property. In transportation again, we have a new federal administration. It doesn't have the same focus on transit that the prior one did. So we're having to really rethink how are we going to fund these corridors. Those are some of the examples I could give.

Speaker1: [00:04:23] Mayor, how do you ensure that the public kind of interacts with that dashboard and understands what your initiatives are? How do you communicate what you're doing on a daily basis. So the public feels like they're on the bus with you?

Speaker2: [00:04:37] Yeah. It's another great question, Hal. Look, if the tree fell in the woods and nobody heard it, like, did the tree fall right? So communication is key in my next life. I'm coming back in marketing, and I actually have some really good marketing ideas myself. For example, I am Mia. I know you want to talk about the airport, but.

Speaker3: [00:04:55] I'm going to get there.

Speaker2: [00:04:55] Yeah, I'll tell you a lot about my marketing at the airport, but I know that if we are doing things and people don't know about it, they're not benefiting. And it is very hard to get information out in our multicultural, multilingual, multi-channel world. So we have a very top notch communications team. We we overcommunicate we have endless numbers of public meetings social media, of course. I have an engagement team across all of county government. I've coordinated communications and engagement. So we don't want people just to know about their water and sewer issues or their trash issues. We want them to know about our social services. And so we came up with a no wrong door strategy as well. So you go to the library, you're going to find out how to adopt a pet. If you go to Animal Services, you can find out where to get help with your housing. Et cetera. So staff have been cross trained. We want to be the new, friendlier, gentler, kinder county government not only delivering excellence every day. That's our motto in our own spheres. But being one county for impact.

Speaker1: [00:06:04] Since you talked about this, I know 311 goes beyond the phone call, and it seems like that may be the way that you're reaching out to the public or having them reach to you.

Speaker2: [00:06:14] Yeah. That's great. So 311 is a wonderful service that connects county programming and also has other arms. Like they go deep on certain programming specialists. And we also have two on one. So we partner with Jewish Community Services runs 211, which is the social services hotline. And we link we actually have a lot. It turns out we have a lot of call centers in the county for different purposes. So we're going to be uniting all of them. And part of my matrix. Right. This is the new era of matrix. In my second term, everything that we can do to make sure that it's like one stop shopping.

Speaker1: [00:06:52] So we went deep with Ralph Cutie. On another episode of my show, we talked about the airport at depth, but let's just simply go over the high level things. What operational improvements should residents of Miami-Dade County know about the airport and how does it affect them? And what do you think the future over the next, let's say, six months will be at the airport?

Speaker2: [00:07:14] Right, right. Well, the airport is the apple of my eye. I have invested a lot of time, attention, and we've invested a lot of money in that airport. $9 billion investment that is truly unprecedented. And we still have years to go. This is not a you can't do it all at once. But we've already greatly improved the elevators, escalators, moving sidewalks 95% functional.

Speaker1: [00:07:38] I like that number.

Speaker2: [00:07:39] That's a good.

Speaker3: [00:07:40] Number.

Speaker1: [00:07:40] Two trips to the airport. I had no problems with either elevator.

Speaker2: [00:07:43] I'm so happy to know that, Helen. Obviously, if you experience one that's not working, your experience won't be as positive. But we are getting recognition that we've turned that around. We've already redone 200 bathrooms. No, we're in process for 200 bathrooms, so they're beautiful, gleaming, clean.

Speaker3: [00:08:03] I'd like to hear that.

Speaker2: [00:08:03] We've also added now smart bathroom apparatus so it can monitor. Are there paper towels and soap and alerts so we can be more on top of that? Yes. We also have a new cleaning company as well. We also had to change out our elevator contract to get the work done 24 over seven. Our previous contract you know, 9 to 5, right? It wasn't really working for us.

Speaker3: [00:08:28] We had to work 9 to 5. We're not a 9 to 5 city.

Speaker2: [00:08:31] And then we have a new hotel coming along and a new garage, a new garage and a new terminal. Terminal K and a new garage for 200, a 2000 spaces. And that will be ready ahead of time, under budget, in time for the holidays.

Speaker1: [00:08:47] That's not possible.

Speaker2: [00:08:49] Next year's holidays.

Speaker3: [00:08:51] Okay. No, I'm saying.

Speaker1: [00:08:52] The under budget part is.

Speaker3: [00:08:53] What I know.

Speaker2: [00:08:54] I know. I'm so excited.

Speaker1: [00:08:56] Yeah, we're going to get to budget, too.

Speaker3: [00:08:57] Okay.

Speaker1: [00:08:58] Is there a concern about budget, specifically at the airport? Sounds like we're at we're doing better than expected.

Speaker3: [00:09:04] Yeah.

Speaker2: [00:09:05] So the airport is a proprietary operation, meaning all the money raised there stays there. So. And people like to say, why don't you take some of that money and put it over here to fix a road? Well, we cannot do that by federal law. So the fees at the airport, the sales at concessions landing fees from airlines, all of that goes to support airport operation. But by the way, we've added the staff, the lightning crew, relampago for Spanish speakers, and they are roving and fixing light bulbs and baseboards that need replacement. And it's really picked up. It's not a new airport, so, you know, you can't compare it to a new airport. There was a 69 year old escalator that was working until recently. So they're only supposed to last 25 years, right? 69 year old escalator. So it's not new, but we're making it look new. You will see improvements continuously, and by 2030 it will be brand new looking.

Speaker1: [00:10:04] So we go from the apple of your eye, the airport.

Speaker3: [00:10:07] Yes.

Speaker1: [00:10:07] We're going to talk about something that you really didn't have full control of. And that's alligator Alcatraz.

Speaker2: [00:10:12] Oh no control whatsoever sir.

Speaker3: [00:10:14] So for those.

Speaker1: [00:10:15] Of you that don't know, this is a Trump mandated immigration detention facility. It's located inside Big Cypress National Preserve, which is Miami-Dade County. And in July, the Florida officials announced that it was called Alligator Alcatraz. First of all, the name. Do you have any idea why and how this was sourced as a name? Seems to me.

Speaker3: [00:10:38] Well, this is airport property.

Speaker2: [00:10:40] So just to also make that point. So it's aviation. It's regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. And you know, it has to be for airport purposes. So that's what it was. It was a landing strip. Now originally they were planning a mega airport. And that was shut down decades ago. But it just one runway was left and stop and go emergencies training. So you know, I've heard what some state officials have said. They saw it as a remote area that they could develop with the kind of temporary housing and so on that they they brought there. And, you know, it's not exactly eminent domain because but it's by emergency powers. The governor had emergency powers based on immigration that he had renewed every few months. And then based on that, he was able to take over operation there.

Speaker1: [00:11:38] And that was in July, that things really got together for that.

Speaker2: [00:11:42] It happened very quickly, as you know.

Speaker1: [00:11:43] And in June, just prior to everything really culminating and operating, you had sent out a letter, basically kind of testing the waters there. And I'm going to read a sentence with the federal and state government investing well over $10 billion since 2019. In Everglades Restoration and Protection, we would appreciate a detailed analysis and report on environmental impacts of this facility to the Everglades. What was that letter really about?

Speaker3: [00:12:09] Well.

Speaker2: [00:12:10] I there's only certain things over which I have responsibility. And environment is one of them. Immigration is out of my control. But this is our facility and we have an obligation to protect it environmentally. And so we spoke out specifically saying, you know, how can you move in here without doing your due diligence to make sure that you're not harming this precious resource, this preserve? And of course, really never got an answer about that. Subsequently, a lawsuit was filed on that very basis, which is still pending, and we are very concerned about the impacts on wildlife, on the water supply, on the vegetation. You know, they they truck everything in, they truck everything out. But there's rain events, there's flooding. You really can't control everything that happens. They had to put asphalt down on gravel. That changes the ecosystem. So just, you know, it's not my lawsuit, but I want to be sure people understand that the issues raised were issues that I had raised.

Speaker1: [00:13:23] Let's switch over to budget. Everybody needs money these days, and it's very, very short in supply. Your updated budget for things like cultural, community, roads, arts and public safety was increased actually by $66 million.

Speaker2: [00:13:40] Yes. That's true. There was actually more than that. That was added back into the budget. People need to understand it's a new day in Miami-Dade County government. Other counties in Florida already had an elected sheriff and tax collector. And a separate office for the clerk and comptroller. We already had the property appraiser. And the no election supervisor. That's the new one. So we had three new offices and two. That had been more integrated into county government. And they're all pulling from the same pot of money. And they're all entitled to have operating budgets, and they submit those budgets to the county. Commission. And they have to approve it as part of the overall plan, except for the tax collector. Who opted to and could collect 2% off the top. So 2% off the top. That was, you know, two. That was a lot of money that was no longer in our operating budget. So and and that office was not obligated to tell us what he needed to run that office. In fact, not until this coming year, not until 2026, the other offices, by the end of 2025 fiscal year. Had to tell us. So that's how more money came in. So the tax collector did look ahead and forecast that more money could come back. And the other constitutional offices saw that they hadn't been able to spend their money in the first year of operation. So those funds came back. But July 15th was our deadline for submitting a budget, and we did not have any of that information on July 15th. So it was a $400 million shortfall.

Speaker1: [00:15:18] And that $400 million is the number that got floated out into the public. And people got, you know, concerned.

Speaker3: [00:15:24] I would say I would hope so.

Speaker2: [00:15:26] That's $400 million. And and also to understand, while we have an almost $13 billion overall budget, not all of it can be moved around. Just like I said at the airport, you can't move it, seaport can't move it. Water and sewer libraries, fire, solid waste. These things are our building department. Those dollars stay within those departments. So at the end of the day of that 13 billion, only about four had any flexibility. And that was affecting transit. Transportation. Generally. Parks. Arts and culture. Social services. The things that you saw. Cuts.

Speaker1: [00:16:08] Understood. And within that, one of the things that's very visual is the wonderful new structure that's going to allow traffic to flow better with the I forget the name of it, the one with the, with the waterfall kind of spider like Oh, what are you calling that?

Speaker3: [00:16:24] I forget the name of it.

Speaker2: [00:16:25] So that's a state project. They're doing a an upper deck. 836, and then a bridge way towards the beach. Right. I know that program is actually a little delayed. I don't know the exact date of construction, but it's a state project. It does not really. And, you know, people, it's hard to understand what's local, state, national and all that very hard.

Speaker1: [00:16:52] And the reason why I brought it up is I knew that was not under your purview, but the park underneath.

Speaker3: [00:16:58] It are that.

Speaker1: [00:16:59] That's what I want to get to. Because you've done the government has done such a wonderful job with the underlying. And I've had a chance to walk it and bike it and and be near it. It's really a unique piece of Miami.

Speaker3: [00:17:12] Yes, yes.

Speaker1: [00:17:13] And it would be nice if that park underneath all this.

Speaker3: [00:17:16] Structure.

Speaker1: [00:17:16] Would actually come to fruition. Is there a chance that that will happen?

Speaker2: [00:17:20] So that's the under deck. And it was awarded a grant in the Biden administration through a special program called Reconnecting Communities. So obviously Overtown had been divided when I-95 came in, which was often the case with with the Interstate Highway system. So the idea was to create a park in otherwise underutilized land. So a wonderful vision and the grant was awarded, but then it was revoked in this administration. So I know that the leadership of that initiative is hoping to raise enough private and other funds to make it continue. I don't know, it's really hard to substitute for the large, large amounts of money that the federal government has for transportation projects.

Speaker1: [00:18:06] Yeah, that's again a little bit outside your scope, but I'm sure part of your dashboard is to see that park connect communities that have been distanced from each other for so long.

Speaker2: [00:18:16] Well, connecting communities absolutely. A priority for sure. And one of the greatest things about Miami-Dade is that while we're so diverse, we are very united.

Speaker1: [00:18:24] Let's move on to another topic. Fluoride. You wouldn't think that would be a political conversation. You wouldn't think that you would have to necessarily address this. But in April of 2025, you had to veto a resolution to remove the fluoride from the water supply in Miami-Dade County. Tell me about that, because I knew about it then. But what's happened.

Speaker3: [00:18:48] Since?

Speaker2: [00:18:48] Yeah, it was very painful. I grew up with fluoride in the water, and so many do. In fact, it's a naturally occurring element, so you've even got some amounts of it in our water supply because it's absorbed from the rocks, the minerals. So it had been in existence for a few decades and with great results. But you know, we're in an era where people are questioning medical advice. That's what I'll say, because clearly the medical community was recommending it. We consulted extensively with paediatricians, with dentists, with even neurologists, because that was one of the claims that there is a neurological risk. The studies that were cited were really off base. There were massive amounts of fluoride. Of course, at anything at a high enough level is not going to be beneficial. And foreign countries and just really not relevant to our situation. But to discredit medical advice, it was suggested that this was an overreach by government, and we had a particular commissioner who was adamant to take up, really the governor's agenda on this item. It had already passed the state legislature and was going into effect at a later date, but the commissioner was determined to bring it and get an earlier vote. So despite my veto, I was very disappointed that our commission decided to override my veto. And so it was removed. Fluoride was removed from the water. It just means that our children are going to be more susceptible to cavities and adults too. And it leads to not just cavities, but substantial decay and dental decay and cavities can lead to a much more serious health conditions and death. So again, I'm very disappointed. I was very surprised recently to see in a conducted survey locally, that kind of public opinion has swayed against fluoride. I think, you know, when you say these things enough Off in a, in a when you have access to the media. It's creating it's has created a distrust of of medical advice. Generally speaking.

Speaker1: [00:21:06] One would think that the medical advice and the studies were done many, many decades ago. And, you know, are you thinking about in the next couple of years of your term to have new studies done to hopefully shed light on this again? Or is there just no hope or just without fluoride from here on out?

Speaker2: [00:21:26] I think that ship has sailed for now, and I do hope that sometime in the future people can revisit it.

Speaker1: [00:21:33] Seaquarium it's been part of Miami-Dade County for so, so long, but now it's the end of that era. And I'd like you to just kind of explain from your perspective what happened and what do you truly think is going to happen, because there's going to be redevelopment of that site and you're talking about environmental friendliness and being, you know, A friendly to animals and things like that. What does that site mean for Miami-Dade County?

Speaker2: [00:22:00] Well, clearly it's something that has been a key feature. So many grew up attending it and taking their children and so on. So it's a loss as a, an entertainment venue and so on. But the good news is actually this morning, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of not the sale, the transfer of the lease because it's county property, but with a long term lease to the terror organization, and they're committed to providing continuation. And actually, I believe still to call it Miami Seaquarium. And they'll retain the dome and they'll retain an aquarium, but without mammals. Without marine mammals. Look, this all started when, honestly, I did not even know it was county property. When I came in, I was very amazed to discover that this aquarium that had been there so long was actually under county's oversight. But it turned out that the only control we had was if they paid their lease, basically. And some zoning matters, you know, but not anything to do with the welfare of the animals. And we started to see real questions coming up about the welfare of the animals.

Speaker2: [00:23:16] So there was a sale to a new company, the Dolphin Company, and we were impressed with their record and were pleased to transfer to them. But what it did not take that long to to discover that in fact, there were still very serious problems with the care of the animals. So we initiated at my direction a lease termination proceeding. But actually, in anticipation, I had changed the lease terms to add that we could have some oversight over the well-being of the animals. Now, it's actually USDA that gets to decide if the animals are kept well or not. We're not the experts, but based on concerns that had been identified. We brought an eviction action, but shortly thereafter Dolphin Company declared bankruptcy and that took it out of our control. And so the bankruptcy court has found that this company is worthy. This still has to be approved by the county commission. But if all things go, as we hope we're still negotiating the final terms of the lease. But if all things go well, they will start construction, I think, in the summer next year.

Speaker1: [00:24:24] And you said the dome will stay. The aquarium will stay without the.

Speaker2: [00:24:28] Well, I don't know, the aquarium, but an aquarium.

Speaker3: [00:24:30] An aquarium? Yeah.

Speaker1: [00:24:30] And what else would be on that land? Potentially.

Speaker2: [00:24:34] So they're talking about a walkway to the water a pier that that the public could access. They're talking about restaurants and entertainment venue as well as a Marina. The key feature will be a Marina with on land storage as well. And we do have a real critical lock of Marina space in our county, so I think that's a very definite benefit. I'm hopeful to add other features like free days for local residents like we do at some of our other important venues, and a few other things that we're discussing.

Speaker1: [00:25:08] But no housing.

Speaker2: [00:25:10] No housing. You know, the trick is that we have an existing lease and it's kind of grandfathered in because it's in the county. It's different departments that own property. And in this case it's the parks department. And we have article seven of the charter requires parkland to stay as parkland unless it's voted by the residents that it can be changed. So for this to be anything other than a park or anything other than the lease that exists, it would have to go to the public for a vote. So it's coming in under the the same scope as what was there previously.

Speaker1: [00:25:46] We're going to go to the one that I think you're going to have the most fun with, and that is the transitway. First of all, we used to call it the busway.

Speaker3: [00:25:53] Yeah, I changed that. I think you were the one.

Speaker1: [00:25:55] That really championed.

Speaker3: [00:25:56] Transitway. I did.

Speaker1: [00:25:57] And and we now have a bus rapid transit system that is going to launch on October the 27th, am I.

Speaker3: [00:26:03] Correct? Yes.

Speaker2: [00:26:03] So we're actually having a ribbon cutting a few days before that. But to the public, yes, the 27th.

Speaker1: [00:26:09] So on the 27th, what is going to change on that asphalt?

Speaker2: [00:26:14] It's 13 state of the art air conditioned stations, plug in charging easy access, level boarding. So the, you know, the no stairs and it will be express service from Florida City to Dadeland. There will still be a more a more local. So other stops on another service. So there'll be two services running on that transitway, one that will make intermediate stops, and then you get out at the express stop and transfer. And it's a one fare ride to connect up to the Metro rail. We're also building improvements at Dadeland, so it's easier to get from the bus rapid transit system to the Metrorail. And it's longer buses. They're all electric, so it'll be quiet, peaceful, and there'll be more parking along the Transitway. The express and it's going to be much faster.

Speaker3: [00:27:18] Oh.

Speaker1: [00:27:18] Tell me about.

Speaker3: [00:27:19] That.

Speaker2: [00:27:19] Well, it's faster for a few reasons. It's faster because it makes fewer stops. It's faster because it has traffic light signal prioritization. So the bus will signal the intersection. The guardrails will go down as if it were a train. It's train like to prevent any cars from wandering onto the the Transitway. And and then the lights will change. So you will not have to wait at intersections. And again with that and the express service, you could estimated saving up to about 40 minutes each way from deep South Dade.

Speaker1: [00:27:55] And do you believe that all these improvements are going to really entice people to get out of their cars and get into mass transit?

Speaker2: [00:28:03] Absolutely. We've already seen, as I said, a huge uptick in ridership. I think on the train, it's been more in the 10% increased range post pandemic. We're the only major transit system in the country to have grown ridership since the pandemic. So people are voting with their feet. We have other services. Of course. We have the the new routes that we did, and we've added some circulars and Metro Connect. So a whole host of things that have improved transit. With this, we think people will not want to sit in their cars and wait and see this wonderful vehicle rushing by them. So we're very, very hopeful. And we're and we're activating businesses along the transit way because we have already businesses and business centers, but we know that they're going to benefit as well because it'll be easier for people to access it. And so we're working with them on promotion.

Speaker1: [00:29:01] From the other side of this wonderful project. These gate arms are probably the most noticeable things because they're brand new and it really has. And I hope it's going you're going to tell me it's going to continue to change and evolve. It has changed traffic patterns. And I have noticed an increase of traffic that has to sit on us. One. There is additional adjustments that are happening to light timings and things. What what is the expectation we should have.

Speaker3: [00:29:28] For the.

Speaker1: [00:29:28] Next couple of.

Speaker3: [00:29:29] Months?

Speaker2: [00:29:29] Well, there's been a lot of testing for a few months and there will continue to be adjustments. I actually think the east west traffic is is the biggest challenge, if you will. And we are trying to adjust that, of course. But at the end of the day, we are trying to prioritize transit. We do want people to use transit and see it as an improvement. But it is critically important that we are continuing to adjust so that people can also get across us. One I live on the east side of us. One I know getting to the west side is sometimes a challenge. You've spoke. You have been in touch with me about this light.

Speaker3: [00:30:06] Situation.

Speaker2: [00:30:07] A couple of times. Yes. So I'm well aware that you have been affected as well. And certainly Palmetto Bay particularly, and Pinecrest have have brought this to our attention. But we also have to keep vehicles off the transitway that should not be there because that really messes up the system.

Speaker3: [00:30:23] Sure.

Speaker2: [00:30:23] So you have to be part of our transit system to use the transitway.

Speaker1: [00:30:29] I'm going to finish with something that I'm hoping will be either in your eye now, or in Miami-Dade county's future relatively soon. There is a wave of AI that is happening, and it is supposed to revolutionize how efficient we can all be. Hopefully nothing more than that. We don't want to have jobs go away, but we want people to be very, very efficient and smart has has the county and in particular your office looked at AI and where it might be useful.

Speaker2: [00:31:01] It's all about efficiency, which is part of my wise 305 initiative, which we've launched to exactly that streamline processes wherever possible, reduce expenditures because it's the taxpayers money, and working with our employees to identify ways that we can be more efficient and cut red tape. So AI has been moving along. We already have applications throughout the county, and everyone's been trained including myself initially in AI. And I do utilize ChatGPT so some examples that I'd like to share. We have improved cyber security through AI very efficient to scan all of our web programming. So that's a great benefit. And a lot of cyber security issues out there. So that's particularly really wonderful. We've also made it easier for small businesses to learn about permitting through AI tools, a chatbot for them. And we're also scanning our pipes, our infrastructure for water and sewer to look for vulnerabilities that, again, very important because those pipes are. Well, we're under federal consent decree to fix it up and we are fixing it up. But we also want to be scanning constantly. And AI is helping us to do that. And we've improved our call center operations for water and sewer as well through AI applications. So. So overall, it's working well for us and allowing our employees to provide faster, better customer service.

Speaker1: [00:32:36] Mayor, your dashboard looks good. You look.

Speaker3: [00:32:39] Good.

Speaker1: [00:32:40] Thank you so much for being with us.

Speaker3: [00:32:41] Thank you.

Speaker1: [00:32:42] And hopefully we can have you back in about six months and see how you're doing.

Speaker2: [00:32:45] Then I would be very grateful.

Speaker1: [00:32:46] All right. Until next week. Have a great week in real estate. See you.

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