WEEK OF THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
A Singular Voice in an Evolving City
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THREE FEATURE PRODUCTIONS MIGHT GET MIAMI’S FILM INDUSTRY ROLLING AGAIN, pg. 7 CRUISE DEALS DONE: Two amended PortMiami agreements OK’d by Miami-Dade commissioners this month will, upon execution by Mayor Carlos Giménez’s office, allow construction of a new Terminal B to recommence for preferential use by Norwegian Cruise Line and possibly lead to development of another new terminal for Disney Cruise Line. Construction on the new Terminal B had stalled due to funding issues, which the amended agreement addresses. The amended Disney deal, which changes the cruise line’s preferential berthing rights and minimum annual guarantees, includes a nonbinding arrangement granting Disney first right to enter negotiations for development of a terminal east of the existing Terminal J. Disney, whose cruise line is headquartered in London, currently operates four vessels. The company has ordered three new ships through 2023 and intends to homeport one of the larger ones year-round at PortMiami by January that year. “Such a facility,” Deputy Mayor Jack Osterholt wrote, “will allow the [port] to expand its cruise business by allowing Disney to homeport the large Disney vessels capable of carrying 3,500-plus passengers.”
The Achiever
By Catherine Lackner
PARKING FEES TO RISE: Residents of the City of Miami will be spared a hike in parking rates proposed and recommended by the OffStreet Parking Board and Miami Parking Authority. City commissioners approved on first reading the planned cost increases Sept. 13, only after agreeing to exclude city residents from getting hit with the increase. For most on-street parking spaces, the rate would rise from $1.75 an hour to $3. Many monthly permits would jump from $70 to $90. There are exceptions. For example, a monthly Design District parking permit would go from $75 to $110. The current $2 an hour on-street rate in Brickell would climb to $3. The Brickell monthly permit cost would rise from $110 to $200. The rate increases, the first in nearly a decade, were recommended for approval in late July by the parking board. A second and final vote may be set for late October. AIR STAFF RETENTION DEFERRED: A public hearing for an ordinance change that would require new aeronautical service tenants at Miami-Dade airports to offer employment to staff of previous tenants was deferred for future discussion while in subcommittee last week. Citing a need to hear from proponents, Commissioner Rebeca Sosa postponed consideration of the item at the onset of the Sept. 14 Economic Development and Tourism Committee, for which she serves as chairwoman, to an undetermined date. The bill is supported by almost half of the commission, including Daniella Levine Cava, Barbara Jordan, Jean Monestime, Dennis Moss, Xavier Suarez and Eileen Higgins, all of whom signed on as sponsors.
Neil Hasu Shah
Photo by Cristina Sullivan
Grows the 50-hotel empire of Hersha Hospitality Trust The profile is on Page 4
If county can’t lick city trolleys, it may join them By Jesse Scheckner
Cities might soon have to feed route and use data for their trolleys and shuttles into MiamiDade’s transit tracker app: commissioners on Friday backed a plan to better tie the local runs to the countywide network. The measure by Daniella Levine Cava would require cities with new or altered circulators to supply travel and rider data for circulatory and on-demand services like county-run ridesharing every three months. “This is some good legislation – something I’ve been talking about for some time in terms of integrating our trolley systems into our regular transit system,” said Commissioner Dennis Moss. “By beginning to pull this information together, it will allow us to get an additional outlook in terms of how the trolley system really benefits the system. We need to view them as that and not as competition, but we need to make sure [they’re] not taking away our riders as well.” As county transit use has plunged, including a 12% Metrobus drop from last year, local circulators since 2013 have added 10% a year.
Wynwood’s videos may test feelings
Integrating their information into the county transit app, as well as funneling the data to services like Google Maps and Apple Maps, would establish a single transit system to provide better and more accurate options, a memo from County Attorney Abigail Price-Williams said. Miami-Dade has progressed in this over two years but hasn’t yet had full cooperation from every municipality, said Transportation Director Alice Bravo, who said the county would need new equipment to accurately track the circulators. “Then we’ll have real data instead of the estimates we receive right now,” she said. “Most of the cities right now don’t have any type of passenger counting equipment since they don’t have fare collection; the circulators are free.” About 22% of the transit sales tax that voters approved in 2002 to expand transit now funds the circulators, Ms. Bravo said. “Basically, we’re the ones that allow them to run their routes, so that requires cooperation with us in terms of making sure their routes support our greater network,” she said. The Miami-Dade Transit Tracker, available on iPhone and Androids, provides Metrobus
routes and arrival times for Metrorail, Metrobus and Metromover. Of five possible points, the app gets a 3.4 rating in the Apple Store and 4.3 on Google Play, where it has been downloaded more than 100,000 times. About 2½ years ago, the county added circulator information to the app, but not every municipality could provide it. “Some cities have no GPS on their vehicles,” Ms. Bravo said. “It’s a mishmash of information.” The new rules would help erase a major drawback of increased local circular use: service redundancy, said Rebeca Sosa, who requested an amendment to determine the feasibility of extending circulators into neighboring municipalities that don’t have them. “Maybe [that’s] something that you can bring to the table as part of this mandate that can help us see what those cities do not have – how we can help so we can establish complete articulation, because we’re missing that part,” she said. Ms. Levine Cava agreed. “This…will give us more information about what the cities are doing,” she said. “It’s all about the public’s knowledge and transparency.”
The Wynwood Business Improvement District plans 65 cameras around its 50 blocks next year, maybe with technology to analyze and broadcast all that happens – including how happy people feel. Rodolfo Saccoman, CEO of AdMobilize, and Jeff Ransdell, general partner in Rokk3r Fuel EXO, explained possibilities at last week’s district board meeting. “It’s extremely advanced artificial intelligence that allows you to quantify what happens in a physical space,” Mr. Saccoman said. “Now you have the real pulse of your city.” The software captures not only how many people are in a crowd, but their sexes and state of mind, automatically analyzing their expressions. “Now you have crowd analysis in much greater detail,” Mr. Saccoman said. Retailers could access the data, for a fee, to determine how many people pass by, at what times and what their reactions were to a window display or exterior, Mr. Ransdell said. It might spur upgraded marketing to target new segments. “They would start thinking about what sets them apart from the competition.” “You could put a live camera on your website,” Mr. Saccoman said. “People could get a real feel for the city.” “It would augment and iterate Wynwood,” said Mr. Ransdell, who just moved his business to Wynwood from Miami Beach. The software can also track social media postings from the area, he said, “so you know what’s streaming in Wynwood.” To battle parking and traffic issues, the board seeks a Tri-Rail station for either Wynwood or Midtown. David Polinsky, a principal of 250 Wynwood, noted that the technology could be used for traffic studies. “And this would be free to the BID?” “We will give you a very generous proposal,” Mr. Saccoman said. “We’re working to provide free Wi-Fi to visitors,” said Albert Garcia, board vice chair and chief operating officer of Mega Shoes. “This would fit well with that.”
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