Terminal Contractor Wins Airport Peoplemover Bid

Written by Charlotte Libov on June 29, 2006

By Charlotte Libov
A selection panel of the Miami-Dade Aviation Department is recommending that a contract for a $267.5 million people-mover system at Miami International Airport go to Parsons Transportation and Odebrecht Construction, the companies doing much of the terminal construction at the airport, an official says.

The companies, which have been working on the terminal as a partnership, came in with a bid of just more than $285 million to design, build, maintain and operate the people-mover system, said Margaret Moss, the airport’s senior aviation procurement officer.

"At this point, we are waiting for the county manager to make a decision on whether he wants to move forward or if he has another recommendation to make," she said.

Construction is to begin in October and take about three years, Ms. Moss said. She said the county received three bids for the project but two were deemed "non-responsive" because they lacked proper documentation or there was some other type of problem.

The other two companies were Slattery Skanska of Whitestone, NY, and Bombardier of Montreal.

The elevated people-moving system, dubbed the MIA Mover, will link the airport to a new rental-car facility and the planned Miami Intermodal Center. The elevated system is designed to handle 2,000 passengers per hour and move them the 1.3-mile distance in less than four minutes.

David Peebles, Odebrecht’s director of business development, said the company spent two years creating its proposal.

The elevated system will be the link for an envisioned seamless transportation system to aid airport travelers who wish to take mass transit to the airport, he said. Advertisement