The MIA Mover is an automated

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

(APM) system which opened at the

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

(MIA) in metropolitan

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on September 9, 2011. The MIA Mover is designed to quickly transport landside passengers between Miami International Airport's Main Terminal and the

Miami Intermodal Center Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) is an intermodal rapid transit, commuter rail, intercity rail, local bus, and intercity bus transportation hub in Miami-Dade County, Florida, just outside the Miami city limits near the Grapeland Heights neighbo ...

(MIC). The MIA Mover is one of three separate automated people movers operating at the airport. The others are the Skytrain, which operates within Concourse D, and the

MIA e Train The MIA e Train is one of three automated people mover systems operating at Miami International Airport (along with the Skytrain and the MIA Mover). The MIA e Train connects the satellite building of Concourse E (which contains gates E20-E33) w ...

people mover connecting Concourse E's satellite building.

History

In 2007, construction of a people mover instead of an extension of the existing

Metrorail METRORail is the light rail system in Houston, Texas (United States). In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . METRORail ranks as the second most-traveled light rail system in the Southern United States and the 12th ...

system to the airport became the preferred option for local authorities to provide greater connectivity to the airport terminals (Metrorail will connect at Miami Airport Station). On March 2, 2009, ground was officially broken for the project. Projected to transport 48,000 daily visitors by 2020, the MIA Mover construction utilized design-build methods and was paid for from a combination of revenue from the Miami-Dade Aviation Department's Capital Improvement Program and the

Florida Department of Transportation The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida. The department was formed in 1969. It absorbed the powers of t ...

(FDOT). In May 2012, MIA Mover suffered a minor derailment, and a breakdown in July 2017 required riders to walk along the tracks escorted by fire fighters.

System

Costing an estimated $259 million to complete, the link travels east from the MIA Station, to Central Boulevard and finally to NW 21st Street, where it curves north into the MIC Station. The ride lasts approximately three minutes. The concrete guideways are generally elevated an average of above grade and are supported by concrete piers every .Schroeder, (2009) p. 129. The vehicles used are

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the predecessor of Mitsubishi Mo ...

Crystal Mover The Crystal Mover is a rubber-tired automated people mover (APM) system for airport and light rail applications manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Mihara, Japan. The Crystal Mover, initially based on the Japanese APM standard, is us ...

s (The same model also operates on the Skytrain in Concourse D).

Stations

The MIA Mover has two stations: the MIC Station and the MIA Station. 'MIC Station' The MIC Station is the eastern terminus of the line located on the fourth floor of the MIC. The station contains direct access to the MIC's rental car center and Miami Airport Station where connections can be made to

Tri-Rail Tri-Rail is a commuter rail line linking Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach in Florida, United States. The ''Tri'' prefix in the name refers to the three counties served by the railroad: Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade. Tri-Rail i ...

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es and

taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice ...

s. The station is being constructed by FDOT. 'MIA Station' The MIA Station is the western terminus of the line located on the third floor of the main terminal building between the Flamingo and Dolphin Parking Garages. Constructed by MDAD, a storage and maintenance facility for the APM vehicles is located beneath the MIA Station.

References

Bibliography

* Schroeder, B.M. "MIA Mover APM: A Fixed Facilities Design-Build Perspective." ''Automated People Movers, 2009: Connecting People, Connecting Places, Connecting Modes: Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference, May 31-June 3, 2009 : Atlanta, Georgia''. Ed. Robert R. Griebenow. American Society of Civil Engineers. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mia Mover Public transportation in Florida Miami International Airport Airport people mover systems in the United States Airport rail links in the United States Crystal Mover people movers Railway lines opened in 2011 2011 establishments in Florida

History

System

Stations

See also

References

Bibliography