APOD Abstract for presentation (Poster or Podium)
Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), Monorails, Moving Walkways, and Other Systems
George M. Hitchcock, III, PE, PMP, DBIA (he/him/his)
Sr. Project Director
Jacobs
Marietta, GA, United States
George M. Hitchcock, III, PE, PMP, DBIA
Jacobs
Marietta, Georgia, United States
Miami-Dade County has studied transit service between Miami and Miami Beach since 1988 involving eleven different studies. In 2017, Miami-Dade began another feasibility / PD&E study for the Beach Corridor, as part of SMART Corridor Program. Simultaneously, an international developer started a similar feasibility study that would connect their properties to the existing MetroMover APM and Miami Beach. Jacobs Engineering assisted the developer with evaluating the corridor, performing an independent feasibility study evaluating ridership, technologies, alignments, and costs. In Fall 2018, the team developed an unsolicited Public-Private Partnership (P3) proposal and submitted in May 2019 to Miami-Dade County to connecting the Miami Herald site to Miami Beach using monorail technology.
The unsolicited P3 was accepted by the County, who developed an issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) in Fall 2019. The team submitted a response to the RFP and was selected in October 2020 to prepare conceptual design and a binding cost proposal for construction along with thirty-years of operations and maintenance. The Counties PD&E study continued in parallel with the RFP process.
During the development of the project, the team worked with all three monorail technology providers. The Unsolicited P3 was submitted with BYD as a partner. The proposal in response to the RFP was submitted with Bombardier, which was acquired by Alstom after award of the interim agreement between Miami Beach Monorail and Miami-Dade County. Halfway through conceptual design, Hitachi replaced Alstom as the vehicle and systems provider.
By Fall of 2022, the Miami Beach Monorail team submitted the final proposal and binding cost, which was rejected by Miami-Dade County, ending this chapter of providing premium public transit between Miami and Miami Beach.
The presentation can discuss any topic (not exclude under various Non-disclosure agreements) from the feasibility study, technology selections (Why Monorail), team development, working with all three monorail vehicle and systems providers, technical design of elevated guideway, through to contract termination.