Metrorail passengers stranded as transit head visits Miami officials

Is Alice Bravo the next Miami city manager?

Hundreds of morning commuters were running late to work Tuesday after trains were delayed, leaving them stranded at some northbound stations for about an hour.

Not a single person more fit on the platform at Dadeland North about 8:30 a.m., where the riders were so deep they stood all up the stairway. Some had been waiting since 7:45 a.m. and were told there were “guideway” issues between the Dadeland South and North stations.

Guideway issues sound like something obstructing the rails, right? Probably. But Miami-Dade didn’t provide a lot of details.

“Trains were moving slowly to allow technicians to work on the track,” tweeted Miami-Dade Transit, even though trains were not moving at all.

“There was nothing obstructing the tracks. Technicians were working on the tracks to correct the issue this morning.

“During this time, we were able to safely clear the platform multiple times and get passengers to their destination,” the tweet ended.

Really? Not from where Ladra was watching.

Also during this time, Miami-Dade Transportation and Public Works Director Alice Bravo — the person tasked with improving the system or at the very least maintaining decent service — was spotted at the Miami Riverside Center, the city’s administrative building. That’s her, perusing the snacks and texting someone. Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez maybe? She quitting via text?

Bravo’s name has been floated as a possible replacement to City Manager Emilio Gonzalez, who resigned last week under political pressure. Miami Parking Authority Director Arthur Noriega, city sources say, is out. And nobody else wants the job. Seriously. Who would fly into that wasp’s nest?

Bravo might. These wasps — Commissioners Joe Carollo, Alex Diaz de la Portilla and Manolo Reyes — have a mesmerizing sting and Bravo, who county sources say is easily manipulated and eager to please if it makes her feel/look important, is exactly the kind of puppet the Three Amigos want.

Also, this would be a homecoming. Bravo came to the county in 2015 from the city, where she was the deputy city manager. She supposedly “oversaw a $573 million capital improvement program and was “responsible for implementing the city’s trolley circulator system,” it says in her bio on the county website.

In Miami-Dade, she has been a controversial figure within a climate where transit has become the number one woe. But it’s not entirely her fault. She is led by the nose by weasel politicians who have stolen our half-penny sales tax funds to maintain an inadequate system. She doesn’t only drink the Kool Aid, she makes the Kool Aid, and was seen campaigning for Mayor Carlos Gimenez in 2016, hopefully on her own time.

She also boasts of having “managed numerous diversified public-private partnership projects including the $1 billion PortMiami tunnel; the innovative I-95 Express Project; and the $550 million S.R. 826-S.R. 836 interchange reconstruction project,” her bio says.

So what did the Expressway Authority do?

“These projects have helped improve commuter mobility throughout Miami-Dade County,” it says, and you can tell she doesn’t drive much or take public transportation. Nothing has improved commuter mobility here.

In Miami, she would be overseeing a $1 billion budget and 4,000 employees and pretty much do the bidding of the Three Amigos.

But on the bright side, maybe Miami-Dade will get a legitimate transit director that will make sure our trains work.

Alice Bravo, Miami politics, transit

Metrorail passengers stranded as transit head visits Miami officials added by Ladra on January 21, 2020
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