Despite shortening its hours, Metromover gains riders

Written by Alexander Luzula on August 6, 2025

Metromover ridership, which had been declining for almost a year after four years of gains, has reversed directions and registered a 12% year-over-year passenger growth, the latest county figures show.

Ridership in April was 720,753 people on the free transit that loops around downtown Miami. That was 80,000 more than April 2024 and the most since the last pre-covid year, 2019, when the system carried 795,696 riders.

The gain came despite shorter operating hours to allow for system updates by the Department of Transportation and Public Works.

Upgrades include overhauling hydraulics to switch tracks, upgrading the power distribution system for more efficient operations, and installing guideway wayside equipment to provide power, communications and switching functions to the Metromover, the nation’s busiest automated people mover, which has been in service for nearly 40 years.

Originally slated for completion in 2025, the department has pushed scheduled completion back to May 2027, Chief County Operating Officer Jimmy Morales told Miami Today.

In June, the department introduced new hours for Metromover’s operations, with trains now running from 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. as opposed to its earlier schedule of 5 a.m. to midnight.

“It gives the contractor more time because they work at night seven days a week,” said a department spokesman. “They have to stop very quickly a few hours after that to turn the system back to us.”

The amended schedule allows for higher safety and has had a minimal impact on ridership, the representative said. “It’s a win-win for everyone, allowing [an added] two and a half hours of work time.”

The upgrade, working with Alstom, which originally built the system, will allow bi-directional travel instead of the current one-way loop, Mr. Morales said. It will also allow vehicles to skip stations at times, which the present configuration cannot do.