FYI Miami: November 16, 2023

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.

WORKERS COMP RATE CUT: Florida businesses will see a decrease in workers’ compensation insurance rates in 2024. The state Office of Insurance Regulation has approved an overall 15.1% rate decrease, which will take effect in January. That matches a 15.1% decrease requested in August by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, or NCCI, which makes rate filings for the industry. The NCCI filing said it was based on claims experience in the 2020 and 2021 policy years. The 2024 decrease will continue a series of rate cuts in recent years. Regulators approved an overall 8.4% decrease that took effect this year.

PLANTING BIKE SAFETY: An agreement moving through the county would see the Department of Transportation and Public Works install vertical bicycle separators on North Miami Avenue, Northeast First Avenue, and North Fifth and Sixth streets in downtown Miami using $250,000 from Miami’s Downtown Development Authority. The separation buffers are planters that are expected to emphasize bicycle facilities apart from automotive lanes. The development authority is to operate and maintain the separators, including watering, trimming, grooming, pruning and fertilizing the plants. The county is to design, permit and install the planters. The agreement comes this week before the county’s Transportation, Mobility and Planning Committee for approval. With an agreement, the planters are expected to be in place within 90 days.

NEW LIFE FOR CABS: Good news for 957 taxicab operators in Miami-Dade County. Commissioners last week extended the age of allowable vehicles from 10 years to 15. Under the prior ordinance, 957 cab operators would have had their vehicles decommissioned as taxis on Dec. 31. The new ordinance also allows operators “to obtain more affordable vehicles.” Pilot programs in 2019 and 2021 found that concerns did not materialize that older vehicle “would lead to an increase in … complaints regarding safety, maintenance or aesthetic.” The new ordinance also calls for taxicabs between 11 and 15 model years old to be “inspected semiannually rather than once per year.”

GAS PRICES DOWN: Average gasoline prices in Miami fell 1.1 cents per gallon last week to $3.22, according to GasBuddy. That’s down 19 cents from a month ago and 33.6 cents from a year ago. The national average price fell 4.6 cents in the week to $3.33, down 24.8 cents per gallon from a month ago and 42.6 cents from a year ago.