U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Miami), who serves as the chairman of the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development appropriations subcommittee, announced last week a $2.35 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation under the low-emission or no-emission vehicle program for the purchase of electric buses in Miami-Dade.
In addition, transit officials said they are planning to implement a mobile ticketing application through which riders will be able to pay for their tickets from their smartphones.
Alice Bravo, the director of the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works, said both initiatives will help push her strategy to persuade more people to leave their cars at home and use transit instead.
The new application will reduce lines at EASY Card ticket vending machines and give transit riders additional options for “loading value” onto their EASY cards.
The Miami-Dade transportation department applied for the grant that will go toward purchasing some of the 30 electric buses the department plans to acquire, with an option for an additional 20. The buses will be put into operation in several months.
As for mobile ticketing, a statement from the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works said its technicians will upgrade the automated fare collection system to incorporate the new application. The process will take a few more months to go into effect.
