It’s a silent night for Miami-Dade County commuters as a new bus pulls quietly into the station.
The county’s Metro Express bus rapid transit line glides nearly 20 miles, thanks to its all-electric fleet. Officials say the system — the longest of its kind in the nation — could reshape growth across South Dade while offering a cleaner, quieter alternative to traditional gas-powered buses.
The all-electric line that runs from Florida City to the Dadeland South Metrorail station opened in October. The BRT system, positioned as a cheaper alternative to rail while still offering train-like speed and frequency, includes 14 stations and its own dedicated right-of-way, said Stacy Miller, director of Miami-Dade County’s Department of Transit and Public Works.
At peak hours during the morning and afternoon rush hours, service runs every 7.5 minutes. The line was designed to provide “a premium, more reliable and convenient bus rapid transit connection … that is cleaner and more reliable than traditional bus routes,” Miller said in an email.
At first glance, Metro Express looks like light rail. Riders pay at stations, elevated platforms speed up the boarding process and railroad-style crossing arms keep traffic out of the dedicated busway.
The new service come with all the bells and whistles of a rail system and developers have already spent years planning transit-oriented projects along the route that connects a series of municipalities and unincorporated communities such as Kendall, the towns of Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay, and the cities of Homestead and Florida City.
South Miami-Dade growth
Despite its distance from downtown Miami, the South Miami-Dade area, simply referred to as South Dade by most residents, has seen “tremendous population and economic growth over the past decade,” Miller said, citing thousands of new homes, schools and businesses that have sprung up along the corridor. The goal of Metro Express, she added, is to “catalyze smart, transit-oriented development” near stations.
The population in Homestead, home to the Civic Center BRT station, grew 41% since 2010 to 85,796 residents in 2024, according to Census estimates. Kendall, where Metro Express connects to the Metrorail, grew 13.7% during the same period to 45,833 residents.
That explosive growth has catapulted Miami’s traffic woes, while simultaneously constraining the availability of land for sprawling, ground-up new developments, said J.C. De Ona, Southeast Florida division president for Centennial Bank.
Developers face pushback when building west near protected wetlands such as the vast Everglades National Park, so many have turned south, buying land near transit stops and working through zoning changes over the past few years.
“Anything near a train station or bus station is popular right now,” said De Ona, who has helped provide millions of dollars in commercial real estate loans throughout the region, stretching from Homestead to West Palm Beach.
Land use
Metro Express is the latest example of the link between transit and development, said David Martin, CEO of Terra, a Miami-based developer. Transit allows developers “to pursue higher-density, mixed-use and pedestrian-oriented projects,” he said, but local officials must provide the land-use framework to make that possible.
Some cities and developers got started on new development even before the BRT line opened.
Ronald Gaither, executive vice president at Electra America, a division of real estate investment and management company American Landmark, said the firm’s Southplace City Center “was designed around transit — with golf cart accessible, pedestrian-oriented streetscapes, structured parking, and walkable blocks that directly interface with BRT stops."
Once complete, Southplace City Center, which Electra America is building with BH Group, will offer 5,000 apartments, 650,000 square feet of grocery-anchored retail space, new medical facilities and hotels.
“Transit accessibility was central to our decision from day one,” Gaither explained, calling the BRT system the “connective tissue” that would link one of the “best located infill sites” at the former Southland Mall into a 98-acre “connected urban center,” he said.
Gaither said the development team is working alongside town and county officials to build a pedestrian bridge to the South Allappattah Road station directly across the street from the development site.
But while Southplace City Center may be one of the biggest projects being developed along the bus route, a number have already opened in other neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, Atlantic Pacific Cos. opened the first phase of Quail Roost Station, a 200-unit affordable housing project immediately adjacent to the Eureka Drive BRT station at SW 184th St., with work already underway on the 124-unit phase two. Within walking distance is a third apartment complex, the 269-unit Bay Pointe Apartments, which opened in 2024.
“In South Miami-Dade, the BRT corridor is unlocking new opportunities for housing, healthcare, and retail while reducing traffic dependence,” Gaither said.