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Miami‑Dade transportation director cites $2 billion unfunded needs; potholes, sidewalks understaffed
Summary
Department of Transportation and Public Works Director Stacy Miller told the committee the county faces roughly $2 billion in unmet capital needs, warned of an operating transit shortfall beginning in FY2027 and said only limited crews maintain sidewalks and potholes.
Stacy Miller, director of the Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW), told the GET committee that DTPW manages more than 4,200 employees and a budget exceeding $2 billion and that the county’s transportation system ranks among the nation’s largest. Miller said DTPW moves roughly 85 million riders a year across its modes and reported a 5.7% ridership increase overall, including an 11% jump on Metrorail during the most recent period.
Miller laid out a list of capital and maintenance challenges: nearly $2 billion in outstanding needs concentrated in bridge repair and roadway resurfacing, increased project costs (she cited 20–30% cost growth since COVID), limited resurfacing funding, and an operating mismatch for transit services. She told commissioners that beginning in fiscal year 2027 the county will face a projected operating shortfall of “$200,000,000 plus” to maintain existing transit services at current levels.
Commissioners focused on service‑level concerns. Miller said DTPW repaired more than 10,000 potholes and cleaned over 440,000 linear feet of stormwater pipe in the prior year but acknowledged that crews are small: she said the department has 10 workers dedicated to pothole repairs and six dedicated to sidewalks, and that those numbers limit the pace of work. Miller said the county receives about $20 million annually for resurfacing countywide, which she characterized as insufficient to maintain the road network.
Commissioners raised operational coordination issues. Multiple commissioners noted timing misalignments between DTPW project schedules and outside bodies such as the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT) and urged staff to align timelines so funding approvals and project programming occur with minimal delay. Miller said DTPW is working with CITT to realign the five‑year approval cycle to permit earlier inclusion in the county budget process.
Separately, the administration noted a planned transfer of a fully funded stormwater group (about 35 positions) into DTPW as part of the budget: administration officials said those positions are not new hires but a consolidation of existing, funded staff into DTPW to improve coordination of stormwater maintenance and capital work.
Miller described transit‑oriented development progress — more than 10,000 housing units built near transit stations, about 5,000 of which were affordable — and highlighted efficiency metrics tied to the mayor’s WISE initiative: DTPW reported a 20% decrease in cost per boarding, a 16% decrease in cost per revenue hour and a 6% decrease in cost per revenue mile following operational reviews.
What commissioners asked for: several said they want prioritized asset inventories and engineering‑justified prioritization for resurfacing and bridge work and urged better cross‑department coordination (for instance, sequencing water or utility work ahead of resurfacing). Miller said DTPW plans to procure a contract to inventory assets and apply engineering analyses to prioritize limited resurfacing funds.
