Díaz-Balart Delivers Once Again for our Community - $109.4M for Traffic Relief and Job Creation

MIAMI, FL- Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, Dean of the Florida Delegation and Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee, celebrated the launch of Miami-Dade County's long-awaited first-ever Metro Express Bus Rapid Transit System to South Dade - made possible in large part by the $109.4 million in federal funding he delivered. This service will officially start on October 27, 2025, and is the first of six SMART Plan corridors that will relieve congestion, reduce commute times, and support economic growth across Miami-Dade.

"I was thrilled to attend the ribbon-cutting of the County's first-ever Bus Rapid Transit system, for which I secured $109.4 million, for planning and execution.

It is an honor to represent Southern Florida in Congress and to be in a position to get real results. This is yet another example of my track record in delivering critical federal funding and in working jointly with local leaders to advance Miami-Dade County's priorities. This is the way it is supposed to work.

I commend then-Mayor Carlos A. Giménez, several County commissioners, President Trump, and then-Secretary Elaine Chao for prioritizing strategic transportation initiatives and solutions to reduce traffic, improve safety and reliability, and generate thousands of jobs.

I look forward to continuing to deliver wins for our Miami-Dade community."

Background:

Díaz-Balart secured multiple federal funds that enabled Miami-Dade to begin the SMART Plan's first rapid transit corridor:

• Delivered $9.5 million(2018) through DOT BUILD Grant - funding the planning work that allowed the project to advance to design and engineering.
• Championed the SMART Plan for federal selection (May 2020) - then-Secretary Chao announced that the Miami-Dade County SMART Plan was included as an anticipated awardee of the Capital Investment Grant (CIG) Program through the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
• Secured $99.9 million(August 2020) in FTA CIG grant funding - a federal award that made construction viable and allowed Miami-Dade to proceed.

Additional funding for this project came through the State of Florida's DOT Five-Year Work Program and the local People's Transportation Plan.

About the Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan

• The SMART Plan advances six rapid transit corridors that will expand and enhance Miami-Dade County's public transit infrastructure to relieve congestion and expand mobility. The South Dade Transitway, the first to launch, is a 20-mile Bus Rapid Transit corridor from Dadeland South to Florida City with 14 stations and 32 local bus stops. It will generate approximately 3,900 jobs.

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