Miami is the epicenter of the Western Hemisphere, easily accessible to North and South America and the rest of the world. In a city that’s easy to get to and easy to move around in, Miami’s transportation and mobility assets give companies a powerful advantage in today’s global marketplace. We have a strong transit foundation in place, with several projects in the works to enhance mobility and increase ridership.
Airports
Miami International Airport (MIA) hosted over 44.6 million passengers in 2016, making it one of the busiest airports in the world. It offers more flights to Latin America and the Caribbean than any other U.S. airport, and it boasts a lineup over 100 air carriers. It is America’s second-busiest airport for international passengers and is the top U.S. airport for international freight. MIA is growing rapidly with new service recently added from Qatar, Doha; Istanbul, Turkey; Dublin, Ireland; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Tel Aviv, Israel. In addition, the airport intends to offer direct air service to Asia by 2018.
MIA’s $6.4 billion Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is well underway, encompassing all aspects of airport operations, from the terminal and roadways to the cargo facilities and the airfield. The CIP will include a new fourth runway; 4 million square feet of new terminal with 130 new gates (100 international, 30 domestic), 556 ticket counters and 120 self-service check-in devices; improved road access and signage on the central boulevard; and a new train that connects the airport with the Miami Intermodal Center.
View the average weekly scheduled non-stop passenger flights from selected U.S. airports
Chart by Visualizer
Source: Miami International Airport, 2016
Port Miami
Port Miami is the closest U.S. deep water port to the Panama Canal, a natural connecting point for the Caribbean and Latin American markets, as well as Europe and Asia. A deep dredge project by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allows the port to accommodate larger Neopanamax container vessels, while a new tunnel for trucks and on-site rail provides shippers with rapid, convenient access to the U.S. market. Miami-Dade’s second most important economic engine, the Port contributes $28 billion annually to the local economy. Total trade through the Miami Customs District, which includes airports and seaports throughout South Florida, has grown from $65.9 billion in 2005 to $106.85 billion in 2015, and regularly generates a trade surplus.
Roadways
Miami-Dade County is served by an extensive network of roads and highways that connect major employment hubs with Miami International Airport and PortMiami, as well as residential suburbs and popular visitor attractions from the Everglades to Miami Beach.
The County’s highway system includes the Florida Turnpike, Interstate 95, Interstate 75, and a network of Florida State Roads, including the Palmetto Expressway (SR 826), Dolphin Expressway (SR 836), Turnpike Homestead Extension (SR 821), Don Shula Expressway (SR 874), and Snapper Creek Expressway (SR 878). Among the twelve largest urban statistical areas in the United States, Miami has the most efficient, lowest-impact road system of all according to a ranking by Road Network Efficiency.
Public Transportation
Miami-Dade County is also served by a growing public transportation system that reaches across the County and includes the Metromover, Metrorail, Metrobus and an expanding trolley network. Downtown Miami is served by the Metromover, a 4.4-mile elevated tram system that connects the central business district and financial district to the entertainment district with museums, a performance arts center and the American Airlines arena. The Metromover interconnects with Metrorail and Metrobus and has direct access to Miami International Airport. The Metrorail is a 22-mile, 22-station elevated commuter rail line that runs from Hialeah to Downtown Miami and south to Dadeland. Metrobus operates more than 90 routes with close to 1,000 buses covering 41 million miles per year. Beaches and other tourist hotspots are well served. Equipped with luggage racks, a new Airport Flyer express bus runs every 30 minutes from MIA to South Beach via 41st Street and Collins Avenue. The rest of the County is served by a bus and trolley network. In addition, several municipalities have their own trolley system connecting commercial and retail areas.
Foreign Trade Zones
Foreign trade zones (FTZ) allow businesses within the zone to receive, warehouse, and re-export products duty-free, thus reducing costs and helping businesses become more globally competitive. Thousands of businesses each year use foreign trade zones to coordinate foreign and domestic shipments.
In addition to assisting U.S. companies improve their competitive position, the Foreign Trade Zone program allows U.S. based companies to defer, reduce or even eliminate customs duties on products admitted to the zone.
Miami-Dade County is home to four Foreign Trade Zones:
Port Miami Foreign Trade Zone 281
1015 North America Way, 2nd Floor
Miami, FL 33132
Tel: 305-329-4035
Foreign Trade Zone 281 is a General Purpose Foreign Trade Zone established under the Alternative Site Framework (ASF). The ASF provides an expedited process to becoming an FTZ site. FTZ 281 stretches from Southwest Eighth Street to the Broward County line, from Miami Beach in the east to the Urban Development line in the west. FTZ 281 encompasses many industrial areas and critical logistics components including; Miami International Airport, Opa-locka Airport, PortMiami, Rail yards and other transportation infrastructure.
Miami Free Zone
2305 NW 107th Ave., Suite 107
Miami, Florida 33172
Tel: 305-591-4300
Miami Free Zone is the most experienced Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in Miami-Dade County and a leading regional wholesale marketplace. For more than three decades, Miami Free Zone has consistently provided the international trade community with expert FTZ services and technology, along with premium warehouse, showroom, and executive office spaces. As a Federally approved Foreign Trade Zone, Miami Free Zone (FTZ #32 – site 1) provides its users with exceptional trade benefits, such as significant tax and duty savings, flexible control over domestic and foreign inventory, and some of the highest security controls in Miami-Dade. The facility processes inbound and outbound international transactions in the range of $1 billion per year and hosts a variety of exclusive international trade related events.
Homestead Foreign Trade Zone 166 (Vision Council, Inc.)
2804 N.E. 8th Street
Homestead, FL 33033
Tel: 305-247-7082
The Homestead Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ 166) is a General Purpose zone located in east Homestead. It is the southernmost free trade zone in the continental United States and provides a unique opportunity for Latin American operations. Comprised of approximately 1,000 acres, the FTZ encompasses the Homestead Park of Commerce, portions of the Homestead-Miami Speedway, the Homestead Baseball Complex and adjacent lands to the south. Vision Foreign Trade Zone, Inc. is the FTZ grantee. Latam FTZ serves as the “Operator” of FTZ 166.
Greater Miami Foreign Trade Zone 32
1601 Biscayne Boulevard, Ballroom Level
Miami, FL 33132
Tel: 305-577-5445
Miami’s first Grantee, The Greater Miami Foreign Trade Zone, Inc (GMFTZ) was granted the license for FTZ#32 in 1977 by the U.S. Department of Commerce – and with it the authority to establish zone projects in accordance to the rules and regulations of the Federal Government. For almost 40 years and alongside local staples such as Miami International Airport and PortMiami, GMFTZ has long contributed to Miami’s recognition as the “Gateway to the Americas.”
Data Connectivity
Miami-Dade County is a telecommunications hub that links the Americas to the rest of the world, with numerous assets that support the growth of the IT and Telecommunications industry. One of Miami’s top strategic assets is the NAP of the Americas, one of the world’s few Tier-IV network access points and a high-speed connection for voice, data, and video traffic throughout the Americas and Europe. The NAP plays a major role in Miami’s ranking as one of the world’s top-five most interconnected cities.
Network Access Point (NAP of the Americas)
Equinix’s NAP of the Americas (“NOTA”) International Business Exchange™ (IBX) MI1 is home to the primary network exchange between the U.S. and Latin America. Located in Downtown Miami, MI1 is a network-rich site, allowing easy connectivity to key carriers such as AT&T, CenturyLink, and Verizon. MI1 provides a pathway or data traffic from the Caribbean and South and Central America to more than 148 countries worldwide, making this IBX the gateway to the Americas. The IBX has an area dedicated to U. S. federal government customers with strict access control protocols. MI1 is built 32 feet above sea level and is designed to withstand Category 5 hurricane-level winds. It is 6 miles from the Miami International Airport (MIA).
Telefonica Miami KeyCenter Data Center
The Miami KeyCenter Data Center was built in 2001 and meets the highest standards of quality and reliability. This includes having Safe Harbor certifications for data protection, TIER III Uptime Institute certification in design and construction, the American auditing standard SSAE 16 and infrastructure reinforcement to withstand CAT5 hurricanes.
The KeyCenter offers and manages a complete portfolio of services including Cloud and Security solutions, Colocation, IoT/M2M platforms, ERP applications, Email, Big Data, Web Services, Virtual Data Center, Platforms for Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity. The strategic location of this Data Center makes it optimal for organizations to consolidate their IT and allows provision of services and applications from a centralized location.
Other Data Centers
Miami-Dade County is home to a variety of data centers, including:
- Colohouse
- Peer 1
- Level 3
- Miami Data Vault
- QTS
Traffic Congestion Data
- MSA
- Miami MSA
- Philadelphia MSA
- Atlanta MSA
- Boston MSA
- Mean Commuter Time
- 29.6
- 29.8
- 32.1
- 31.2
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2012-2016 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
Infrastructure Coming Soon
The Strategic Miami Area Rapid Transit (SMART) Plan will expand transit options in Miami-Dade County along six critical corridors that are linked to local, regional, national, and global economic markets. Another critical component of the SMART Plan will be a network of express buses, known as Bus Express Rapid Transit (BERT), which will connect the SMART rapid transit corridors on limited access facilities, promoting the active expansion of South Florida’s Express Lanes network with the implementation of six identified BERT express lane concepts.
Brightline is a privately developed, operated, and maintained high-speed rail service currently under construction. Once completed, this train will connect Miami to Orlando with intermediate stations in Downtown Fort Lauderdale and Downtown West Palm Beach.
Tri-Rail Downtown Miami Link is an extension of the current Tri-Rail commuter train into Downtown Miami. The service will provide a direct connection between Downtown and dozens of South Florida communities along the I-95 corridor.
MiamiCentral Station is a mixed-use, multimodal train station in Downtown Miami, currently under development by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI). The Station will connect the Brightline train and the Downtown Tri-Rail connection to the existing Metrorail and Metromover transit systems, and will also be a 24-hour retail, business, and residential complex.
Waterborne Transportation, including water taxis and/or ferries, can connect people to major waterfront destinations around Miami. Currently, the Miami DDA is working with all relevant agencies to increase and introduce water taxi routes/stops along the Miami River and Biscayne Bay.
Miami-Dade Sites
View maps to find land, commercial space, and data points in Miami-Dade county.
