Miami Beach is weighing an aerial cable car to Miami. City Manager Eric Carpenter recommends the Finance and Economic Resiliency Committee (FERC) keep exploring the idea at its Wednesday, Oct. 28 meeting.

Commissioner Monica Matteo-Salinas first pushed the proposal at the May 20 City Commission meeting, when the commission referred it to the FERC for study. Carpenter's committee memorandum recommends engaging vendors and regulatory agencies, including the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW), the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the City of Miami.

But Carpenter is also urging caution. The memo flags three fiscal concerns, starting with Florida's Amendment 3 on the Nov. 3 ballot. If voters approve the measure, which would raise homestead exemptions for non-school property taxes, the city could lose significant revenue. Property taxes generate 60% of Miami Beach's General Fund, according to the memo, and the city is already projecting a deficit for fiscal year 2028.

Carpenter also warned that slowing property-value growth and rising service costs require the city to refocus on core functions. The city's Capital Improvement Program remains "substantially underfunded," the memo states. If the committee does recommend funding the cable car exploration, Carpenter wants it folded into the fiscal year 2028 budget process.

No cost estimate for a Miami Beach system exists. The memo lists the fiscal impact as "TBD" and calls for a corridor-specific feasibility study to determine station locations, route alignment, environmental permits and projected costs.

The concept is not new to South Florida. In February 2016, the Miami-Dade County Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) completed an Aerial Cable Transit Feasibility Study that evaluated over-water cable corridors, including routes to Miami Beach. That study found cable systems worked best on short corridors under 1.5 miles as connectors to higher-capacity transit.

A private consortium called Miami Aerial Transit Partners proposed a gondola system over Biscayne Bay in 2018, according to the memo. The effort stalled by 2020 after hitting environmental, regulatory and funding obstacles.

The latest iteration centers on a system called Whoosh, built by Swyft Cities. On Aug. 10, the city's Transportation and Mobility Department met with Swyft Cities and officials from Irvine and Anaheim, California, both developing Whoosh projects. The system uses autonomous, zero-emission electric pods on an elevated guideway, a design distinct from traditional gondola-style cable cars.

Irvine is planning a 12-station system, with Swyft Cities donating an initial $9.4 million two-station segment as a pilot incentive. The pods carry up to five passengers at 30 miles per hour. Anaheim is exploring a 3.8-mile route to the Disneyland Resort and convention center, though that project missed its 2028 Summer Olympics target due to environmental reviews and freeway-crossing complications.

Nick Garzilli, a private transit developer partnering with Swyft Cities, presented the system to the city's Transportation, Parking and Bicycle-Pedestrian Facilities Committee on Oct. 12. He stated the system could carry about 3,000 people per hour per direction per line, with stacked lines boosting capacity to as much as 15,000 people per hour per line for major events. That committee asked Garzilli to return in November with a Miami Beach-specific presentation and indicated it might write a letter to county commissioners supporting further evaluation of Whoosh for the Beach Corridor.

The Beach Corridor, also known as Baylink, is a long-planned rapid transit link between downtown Miami and Miami Beach via the MacArthur Causeway. In January 2020, the TPO selected elevated rubber-tire technology for the corridor's main line. The city memo suggests it may be time to reassess that choice. The Oct. 28 agenda lists a discussion and consideration of creating the service. The city has not identified a route, cost estimate or funding commitment for a Miami Beach system.