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CITT presents half-penny transportation plan, highlights $450,000 West Miami grant and Freebie ridership growth
Summary
The Citizens Independent Transportation Trust briefed West Miami commissioners on the county's half-penny surtax program, municipal distributions and projects; staff said West Miami received about $450,000 last year and that the city's Freebie on-demand transit program saw an 81% year-over-year ridership increase.
Javier Bettencourt, executive director of the Citizens Independent Transportation Trust (CITT), and municipal program manager Mariana Price reviewed how the county's half-penny transportation surtax funds are collected and distributed and what West Miami has used its allocation for.
Bettencourt told commissioners, “A half a penny doesn't sound like a lot, but let me tell you, it adds up. Okay? To the tune of nearly $400,000,000 a year.” He explained CITT's role as the watchdog created by the People's Transportation Plan referendum and said two-thirds of surtax revenue historically goes to Miami-Dade Transit while 20% is guaranteed to cities, distributed pro rata.
Mariana Price, municipal program manager, described the city-specific municipal program. “City of West Miami. You received $450,000 last year,” she said, adding that West Miami routinely exceeds the municipal minimum transit requirement and has strong utilization of its local Freebie on-demand service: “The ridership increased actually 81% year over year with the freebie program.”
The presentation covered countywide initiatives — including smart signal upgrades (an “advanced traffic management system”), bus rapid transit corridors and fleet replacements — and highlighted first-last-mile investments such as bicycle and pedestrian projects and micro-mobility. Bettencourt and Price encouraged cities to coordinate local services with county transit and described programs to monitor service quality, including an ambassador app and regular audits.
Commissioners asked about bicycle-pedestrian safety efforts and funding; Vice Chair representatives and the manager signaled ongoing coordination with the county's TPO and the CITT to pursue funding for local traffic-mitigation and bike-ped projects.
Bettencourt and Price said CITT is keeping overhead low (less than 1% of surtax collections) and that the organization offers a 40-year pro forma and detailed online transparency tools for cities and residents.
