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Miami-Dade County earns second Envision Award for sustainable infrastructure
The Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) received an Envision® Bronze Award from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) for the Miami-Dade County Dolphin Station Park-and-Ride/Transit Terminal Facility. This is Miami-Dade County’s second Envision® award for a public project.
The purpose of this award is to foster a dramatic and necessary improvement in the sustainable performance and resiliency of infrastructure. This award is issued as the result of an independent peer-review process conducted and overseen by ISI that has verified the project evaluation. The evaluation assessed the project’s performance across 60 sustainability criteria addressing a wide range of indicators including: community, quality of life, management, planning, materials, energy, water, environmental impacts, emissions, and resilience.
“This award is a direct result of outstanding collaboration between DTPW and our Office of Resilience to ensure infrastructure projects are prioritizing sustainability and resiliency,” said Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “This achievement recognizes how Miami-Dade County continues to go above and beyond to deliver social, economic, and environmental impacts for our community. Congratulations to all County staff and agencies involved on this project and award.”
Strategically located at the Homestead Extension of Florida’s Turnpike and NW 12th Street interchange, the Dolphin Station Park-and-Ride/Transit Terminal Facility is an integral component of the East-West corridor, providing Miami-Dade Transit customers a safe, comfortable, and convenient transportation option that connects major employment areas between western portions of the County and downtown Miami while helping to reduce traffic congestion.
Currently, the Dolphin Station serves as the western end-terminal for the 836 Express Bus service which utilizes the newly widened – Bus Only - inside shoulder of State Road (SR) 836 to bypass congestion and provide a quicker connection for Miami-Dade residents and commuters along the East-West corridor. This transit hub will one day be a stop for several local bus routes serving the Dolphin Mall and the cities of Doral and Sweetwater. The facility provides the potential for a future commuter rail station along the CSX line.
The 836 Express Bus service was launched from the Dolphin Station on March 2, 2020.
“The Dolphin Station is a major Miami-Dade Transit hub that is helping to improve mobility as more and more residents continue to return to their daily commute,” said Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz. “Our community’s access to convenient and reliable public transportation has always been a top priority for me. The construction of the Dolphin Station is an outstanding example of the county staff’s determination and ingenuity to accomplish great results when it comes to public projects. I am proud of our County for this achievement.”
In 2017, Miami-Dade County passed a resolution to adopt the Envision sustainable infrastructure framework and rating system for Miami-Dade infrastructure projects. Miami-Dade County’s commitments to the use of Envision have resulted in two Envision-verified projects to date.
“I am delighted but not surprised the Dolphin Station has received the Envision Bronze Award,” said Miami-Dade County District Five Commissioner and Chair of the Transportation, Mobility and Planning Committee (TMPC) Eileen Higgins. “Since adopting the Envision sustainable infrastructure framework and rating system in 2017, Miami-Dade County has been working diligently to achieve the high standards from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure and I am thrilled that, thus far, both recognitions from the Institute have gone to a transportation improvement project for our community.”
"Miami-Dade County's Department of Transportation and Public Works is leading the way in developing a culture of sustainable and resilient infrastructure design," said James Murley, Chief Resilience Officer for Miami-Dade County. "The Envision Bronze-rated Dolphin Park and Ride facility is an excellent example of a resilient transit project and is the second County project to achieve Envision certification. As the County continues to expand the Sustainable Buildings Program, the County is designing holistic, data-driven building and infrastructure projects that advance our goals to support healthy communities, the environment, and the economy.”
The Dolphin Station Park-and-Ride/Transit Terminal Facility is approximately a 12.7-acre site that provides over 800 parking spaces for a variety of transportation modes: vehicular, motorcycle, and bicycle. The project includes the following elements:
- 12 bus bays and 10 bus layover bays with canopies
- Four Electrical Vehicle (EV) charging stations
- Solar panels to supply partial electrical power to the station
- A transit hub with passenger waiting areas
- Accommodations for possible future retail business
- A driver’s break lounge
- Landscaping, signage, fencing and lighting
- A drop-off/pick-up area
The Dolphin Station is the result of a multi-agency collaboration between Miami-Dade County, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX), the Miami-Dade Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), and the Citizens’ Independent Transportation Trust (CITT).
The Bronze Award is the second accolade that the County has received from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure. In June 2020, DTPW received an Envision® Silver Award from ISI for the Miami-Dade County Tamiami Station Park-and-Ride / Bus Terminal Facility (Tamiami Station).
Located at the southwest corner of SW 8 Street (US 41/SR 90) and SW 147 Avenue – west of the Dolphin Station, the Tamiami Station Park-and-Ride / Bus Terminal Facility will also serve as an integral component of the East-West corridor, providing a premium transit connection between western portions of the County and downtown Miami.
Soon after construction is completed, the Tamiami Station will become the most western terminus for the 836 Express Bus service.
For additional information about transit services, visit DTPW’s website or download the GO Miami-Dade Transit app.
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