Ridership is up so Miami wants to cut funding???

Just as mass transit succeeds, officials slam the door on it

In fact, budget-conscious government is reacting almost as if transit is the enemy. It's suddenly working, so we're cutting back.
Take Tri-Rail. As passengers soared to 350,000 monthly, the Legislature failed to fund the system. Meanwhile, the three counties that subsidize Tri-Rail are about to cut their own aid, which will slash state matching funds. As funding dwindles, the system is threatening to cut from 50 trains a day to 20 and shut down on weekends.
Commuters avoid sporadic transit. It was only after the federal government funded a second set of tracks to add service that Tri-Rail blossomed. Now it's about to frustrate its growing cadre of riders, dumping them back onto highways to rebuild congestion.
Next, take Miami-Dade's 900-plus buses, which last year hauled 278,900 riders daily. The county commission has just voted to drop nine routes that serve more than 6,000 a day and trim frequency on others in the 100-route system to save money. That while raising fares by 50 cents. Those bus riders will return to the highways to get to work.