Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner met with coastal mayors and police chiefs in Golden Beach Monday to push for expanding the city's free water taxi service to neighboring communities.

The meeting also addressed a second priority: keeping local control of license plate reader cameras, which the state ordered removed from state roads in late August.

Meiner posted on X that the group focused on smart mobility coordination, maintaining local control of license plate reader cameras and working to expand the Miami Beach water taxi to neighboring cities.


He did not name which mayors attended. The town of Golden Beach hosted the meeting, and Golden Beach Mayor Glenn Singer was among seven coastal mayors who co-signed a Sept. 1 letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis opposing the state's removal order.

Free water taxi draws more than 82,000 riders

The water taxi, which runs between Miami Beach and downtown Miami, is free and carries up to 55 passengers per vessel. Bikes are allowed on board.

By late May, the service had logged more than 82,000 riders in its first four months. Meiner said in a May 29 post that the ridership proved the city's waterways could connect communities, a point he made while hosting Miami-Dade County Commissioner Dan Cohen Higgins aboard the taxi.

Expansion study would scout 12 new landing sites

The city's proposed fiscal 2027 budget includes a $150,000 feasibility study to evaluate up to 12 potential landing sites for route expansion. Up to three priority sites would advance to preliminary design, including cost estimates and permitting requirements. The study's approval status has not been confirmed.

Meiner has been building support for the expansion for months. In March, he met with Miami-Dade County Commissioner Rene Garcia at the Miami Beach water taxi stop to discuss additional access points along the county's waterways.

Coastal mayors fight state order on plate readers

The Florida Department of Transportation issued a memo Aug. 31 revoking permits for license plate reader systems on state roads and giving cities 30 days to remove them. The memo cited "misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes," the Miami Herald reported.

Miami Beach has about 40 plate readers, roughly half of them on state roads. The city's cameras are operated by Motorola Solutions and Axon Outpost, not Flock Safety, the company at the center of the statewide dispute, though one neighborhood association in the city does use Flock cameras, Yahoo News reported.

Meiner and six other coastal mayors sent a letter Sept. 1 to DeSantis and state Transportation Secretary Jared W. Perdue calling for an "immediate pause on enforcement" of the removal deadline. The co-signers included Isaac Salver, mayor of Bay Harbor Islands; Seth E. Salver, mayor of Bal Harbour Village; and mayors from Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Golden Beach and Indian Creek Village.

At a Sept. 10 City Commission meeting, Meiner said the camera relocations to private property would be voluntary. "Many private businesses have reached out to me, saying, 'Sign me up, I want to be part of this,'" he said, according to Yahoo News.

No date has been announced for a formal vote on the water taxi expansion proposal.