image of metromover
5 times a week, I stood waiting for the public rail. Besides me, I heard conversations of the nearby passengers waiting for the next train. People going home from work, salesmen and custodial staff alike, parents and children restless, and a horde of tourists excited to see the train approach the station. Conservations in a plethora of languages filled the station, waiting for the train.
In recent years, the light rail has become my primary form of transportation between work and my home. A weekly trip back and forth to work. The metromover is one of the many forms of public transportation I grew up taking into downtown Miami. Growing up in Miami, taking the public rail was an easy way to get around without a car, especially since most of Miami is car dependent and many households have to rely on cars to get around the expansive layout of the city. Taking the public rail around the city has not only provided a way for me to get around the city but also explore the different facets of Miami, not only as a resident but as a tourist of sorts in certain moments, brought on by the rail.
The commonality that riders aboard the metromover share is the need to move about the city. The metromover acts as a connection between the major sectors of downtown Miami, serving a small portion of the larger cityscape, but moving and transporting many workers, residents, and tourists alike. I have been able to experience the train not only as an employee seeking transportation, but as a resident looking to explore, sometimes unintentionally. The rail provides convenient access to many nearby public spaces and events that I as a resident have had to access. Cultural fairs and the nearby park often occur within walking distance of many of the rail stations. People selling arepas, vendors exhibiting their new books, artists displaying artwork all border the side streets of the nearby public courtyard. Using the public rail, I had easy access to the cultural diversity of Miami, a major component of the identity of Miami as a major city situated near the global south.
Like the light rail, Miami has become a hub for both Latin American and Caribbean culture and people. Festivals and celebrations occur within the reach of the metromover. Using the rail to go to events, I was able to frequent events with my family and help other members of my community. Miami’s outreach in southern Florida is expansive, however it is cultural events and the light rail that make it straightforward to reach these nodes of cultural celebrations within the array of concrete skyscrapers and parking garages in the city. Taking the rail and looking out the windows as the train zooms in and around buildings, it is easy to see and notice the activity occurring on the ground. The sounds of the public space beneath the tracks of the rail can be heard from the waiting platforms. Music travels through from the ground to the rail, enticing not only myself but other riders aboard. There are times when I take the rail and from the platform, the smell of street food and the chatter of walking individuals can be heard from inside the train. Working at a grocery store along the tracks of the rail, I often would overhear customers talk about the nearby events in the area. Many overhear lively music or see large colorful banners from the station platform. I feel like in a city as big as Miami, it is often easy to pass by and forget to look at one’s surroundings. The light rail often becomes a reminder of the movement occurring within an otherwise stoic landscape of buildings and continuous roads. In the train car, I always find myself looking and admiring through the glass windows.
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