FYI Miami: April 26, 2018

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

JOY AT THE INN: Miami-Dade hotels increased revenue per available room 18.2% in March from March 2017, achieving the nation’s highest average daily revenue per room at $235.70, according to national rating firm STR. Miami’s average in March 2017 was $199.46. At the same time, Miami hotels had the highest average daily room rate in March at $268.22, up 15.2% from $232.68 in March 2017. Miami hotels were second in the nation in occupancy for the month at 87.9%. The marketplace saw 1,504,279 room nights sold in the month, up 2.4% from March 2017 though slightly fewer rooms were in the marketplace, 55,221 versus 55,331 a year earlier.

RAIL SAFETY FUNDS: Miami-Dade County is seeking a $1 million federal grant to inspect and perform preventive maintenance on the 25 miles of Metrorail and 4.4 miles of Metromover guideways. State statute requires safety inspections of the rail bridges and an inspection program on the system began in 1986. If the grant were approved, the total cost of the work would be paid from Federal Transit Administration funds. Last week the county’s Transportation and Public Works Committee unanimously approved applying for the money. The full county commission is to vote May 1 on making the request.

BINDING IN SECURITY: Miami-Dade County is adding focus on security measures at its 50 public libraries, according to a memo that Mayor Carlos Giménez sent to county commissioners last week. Thirteen of those libraries over the past year have replaced a closed circuit television system that was set up in about 2006 with a newer system that is focusing not only on library interiors but outside and in parking lots, the mayor wrote. The other 37 libraries should get the new system by the end of this fiscal year, the mayor said. The library system, he said, has increased spending each of the past three years on security, and 29 of the libraries have either contract security guards or full-time library security officers. “Increasing security coverage will continue as an operational priority moving forward,” he said.

ON-DEMAND TRANSIT: Money from the county’s half-percent sales tax surcharge for transportation could be use to provide on-demand transit to or from Metrorail stations and South Dade transitway bus shelters if two-thirds of county commissioners approve the use that was recommended last week by the county’s Transportation and Public Works Committee. Maximum length of allowable trips would be five miles in the legislation presented by Commissioner Esteban Bovo Jr.