What's the driving like in Miami?

[1lizette1]

Trying to decide if we should rent a room at La Quinta Inn & Suites Miami Airport East - 3501 Northwest 42nd Avenue (I have already booked a room but there is free cancellation) and use their shuttle plus use Uber to go wherever the shuttle doesn't go. Or if we should try and find an AirBnB and rent a car (then use Uber to get us from car rental place to cruise). 

We arrive around noon the day before our cruise.

What is it like driving around Miami and area? We're pretty seasoned drivers but I don't want the stress of driving somewhere that is very confusing or difficult to find parking etc.

[BNBR]

How much driving are you looking to do?  I couldn't imagine renting a car for a single day.  What's the point? Just Uber.

As for being confusing or difficult, that largely depends on where you go.  It's too open ended of a question, unfortunately.  Miami is huge.  Depends on time of day, where you are going, etc.

But yeah, just Uber where you wish to go - even if it's the AirBnB.

[Capt_BJ]

I lived in Miami for 12 years ... after that dd lived there for 5 and we visited often (up til just recently)

 

if there is a worst city for driving in the US ... I'd be willing to debate the question with the person who said it!

 

A significant number of the drivers speak no english ...... do the math!

[BNBR]

15 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

I lived in Miami for 12 years ... after that dd lived there for 5 and we visited often (up til just recently)

 

if there is a worst city for driving in the US ... I'd be willing to debate the question with the person who said it!

 

A significant number of the drivers speak no english ...... do the math!

 

LA is worst by FAR.  Outside of a few sticky traffic areas during rush hour, Miami traffic isn't that bad at all. 

I'm guessing you are also referring to terrible drivers, and I think Miami has an overstated terrible driving reputation. I feared for my life in Chicago and NYC like I've never seen in Miami! 

[rkacruiser]

Driving on I-95 to whatever exit I needed to use to get to Coral Gables was a blood pressure raising experience.  I will never, ever drive on I-95 in the Miami area again.  I will exit in the Fort Lauderdale area, if not before, and take a slower route, probably U. S. 1.

[BNBR]

1 minute ago, rkacruiser said:

Driving on I-95 to whatever exit I needed to use to get to Coral Gables was a blood pressure raising experience.  I will never, ever drive on I-95 in the Miami area again.  I will exit in the Fort Lauderdale area, if not before, and take a slower route, probably U. S. 1.

 

Lol, seriously?  I don't even know what you could dislike about i95 in Miami. It's pretty vanilla - typical city highway. 

The side streets in Miami, woah... As a local, it's kind of funny to think someone would prefer the insane side streets over i95.  It's just totally backwards.

[rkacruiser]

1 minute ago, BNBR said:

 

Lol, seriously?  I don't even know what you could dislike about i95 in Miami. It's pretty vanilla - typical city highway. 

The side streets in Miami, woah... As a local, it's kind of funny to think someone would prefer the insane side streets over i95.  It's just totally backwards.

 

A multi-lane Southbound highway with me in what I believed to be the proper lane in order to get to my exit, I then experienced another driver changing lanes from at least two lanes to the left of mine who suddenly appeared literally inches in front of my front bumper.  How I avoided hitting him was only by the grace of God.  I observed other such discourteous and reckless driving on the I-95 section in the Miami environs.  I'll take my chances, in the future, on streets where the speeds are much less.

[teknoge3k]

We always stay in an Airbnb when we come to Miami and rent a car. Then the day before our cruise we drop the car off, then Uber from our Airbnb to the port. Miami is a very good city to drive in. I never thought there was that much traffic and all flowed very smoothly. Then again I am used to driving in Atlanta and Washington DC. 

[hrhdhd]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

A multi-lane Southbound highway with me in what I believed to be the proper lane in order to get to my exit, I then experienced another driver changing lanes from at least two lanes to the left of mine who suddenly appeared literally inches in front of my front bumper.  How I avoided hitting him was only by the grace of God.  I observed other such discourteous and reckless driving on the I-95 section in the Miami environs.  I'll take my chances, in the future, on streets where the speeds are much less.

Yep. I-95 south of about Ft. Pierce starts turning into a Lord of the Flies situation. The tailgating, the lane changing, the speeding, and all the rest lead to a hair-raising experience.

Edited October 18, 2018 by hrhdhd
Had to figure out how to get my text out of previous response.

[BNBR]

I'd have to respectfully disagree. I drive I95 all the time and I've driven in major cities all over the US.  It's not much more than a typical highway. There is aggressive drivers everywhere in the country, Miami is no different.  If you have driven in any metro area, Miami is maybe even a little tame if anything.

[BNBR]

38 minutes ago, teknoge3k said:

We always stay in an Airbnb when we come to Miami and rent a car. Then the day before our cruise we drop the car off, then Uber from our Airbnb to the port. Miami is a very good city to drive in. I never thought there was that much traffic and all flowed very smoothly. Then again I am used to driving in Atlanta and Washington DC. 

 

Exactly!  Miami is tame.  It's not bad at all compared to other large cities. 

[Host CJSKIDS]

I very respectfully disagree with BNBR and agree with Capt_BJ, driving in Miami in not what I would call tame and I have driven in NYC (from there) and other major cities a lot myself. Just did the NY driving last month. As someone who lives in Miami, I don't think it's fair to let people believe it's tame. I've lived on Brickell for over 6 years now and it's gotten so much worse over the years.   My husband does the commute daily from Brickell (Miami) up to Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale as does someone else we know and they both say that it's insane during rush hours.  Rush hour getting out of Miami starts at 3 pm daily.  Not a day goes by where he doesn't witness someone getting into an accident, cutting illegally through the cones so they can get into the express lanes or various other things on 95. 

Driving in Miami is not for the fainthearted at times.  Driving around the downtown/Brickell area has gotten to be an absolute pain due to all the roadwork and construction. Not to mention the thousands more people who have moved here due to all the new high-rises. And there is always traffic down in Miami, at least when I'm trying to get around going to Costco, airport, midtown, mall, etc. It shouldn't take me 25 minutes to go 5 miles, but it does.  Let's just say that I don't think I can make a drive around here any longer without swearing out loud at one point, well usually more than once, during the drive!

OP, just map out where you want to go before hand and know that traffic is frequent around here.  I know not to try and leave town before 9:30 am and if I leave anytime after 3 pm I'm going to be sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. People will cut you off, people are aggressive and many don't like to use signals when either turning or changing lanes.  

I will say that I laugh that I used to complain about traffic during season while living in Naples for all those years.  I would give anything to go back to that, that was tame!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Host CJSKIDS

[SandyMIA]

Funny how people can have different feelings. Miami is not that bad (try LA, NYC, Chicago...).

In the end, if you don't feel confident you shouldn't drive.

The simple fact that you are asking the question makes the Uber/Lyft/Taxi/Shuttle option much better for you.

I hope that you'll enjoy your stay in Miami.

[BNBR]

I think it's fair to call Miami tame because it's not that bad at all.  Outside of weekday evening rush hour, there is almost no traffic.  Yes, like any city, Miami has a few choke points during rush hour but even those tend to move just fine.  And even during evening rush hour, it's manageable.  We drive to Miami for Heat games, dinner, etc during weekday rush hour.   It's just never THAT bad and not something I would call a big deal.

I can't help but think your husband has been doing the commute for years and years now.  Obviously it must be manageable enough for him to keep doing it.  I did the commute for years when I worked on South Beach and at Bayside.  From Hollywood.  It was just not that big of a deal.  The new express lanes have also helped.

I don't think it's fair to scare people or worry people.  Driving in Miami is like any other large city with some traffic here and there, and in most cases much easier.  It's just driving.  If someone can't handle driving in a little traffic, they are probably not safe behind the wheel anyways.  Yes, use Uber in that case.

[Host CJSKIDS]

2 hours ago, BNBR said:

I think it's fair to call Miami tame because it's not that bad at all.  Outside of weekday evening rush hour, there is almost no traffic.  Yes, like any city, Miami has a few choke points during rush hour but even those tend to move just fine.  And even during evening rush hour, it's manageable.  We drive to Miami for Heat games, dinner, etc during weekday rush hour.   It's just never THAT bad and not something I would call a big deal.

I can't help but think your husband has been doing the commute for years and years now.  Obviously it must be manageable enough for him to keep doing it.  I did the commute for years when I worked on South Beach and at Bayside.  From Hollywood.  It was just not that big of a deal.  The new express lanes have also helped.

I don't think it's fair to scare people or worry people.  Driving in Miami is like any other large city with some traffic here and there, and in most cases much easier.  It's just driving.  If someone can't handle driving in a little traffic, they are probably not safe behind the wheel anyways.  Yes, use Uber in that case.

This can't turn into a personal debate as that is off topic.

There are differing opinions and as someone who actually lives in Miami and drives here constantly throughout the day, I just wanted to give my daily experiences in regards to traffic and driving locally. There is ALWAYS traffic during the week, traffic doesn't move smoothly during rush hour and my husband who has been commuting what is actually the reverse commute for the last YEAR sees crazy things on a daily basis. 

If someone asks a question, they do deserve to hear many answers so they can be informed. Coming to Miami thinking that there is almost no traffic and crazy drivers sets very unrealistic expectations.  That can ruin a vacation. 

If you are a confident driver who doesn't mind traffic then it's great.  But, plan your driving around town knowing that rush hour getting out of Miami starts in earnest at 3 PM now, used to be at 3:45 but has moved up. Plan accordingly.

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Host CJSKIDS

[BNBR]

51 minutes ago, Host CJSKIDS said:

If you are a confident driver who doesn't mind traffic then it's great.  But, plan your driving around town knowing that rush hour getting out of Miami starts in earnest at 3 PM now, used to be at 3:45 but has moved up. Plan accordingly.

 

Agreed.

[JohninDC]

I would stay downtown (to minimize the trips) and skip the rental car - public transport and Uber/Lyft are too easy to bother with a car, parking, traffic, etc.

[Host CJSKIDS]

I totally agree with JohninDC. If you can do it, downtown/brickell is great a great area to be.  With the free trolley and metro mover, getting around is fairly easy.  Where they don't go you can Uber/Lyft.

This thread got me curious so here are statistics about our roadways with the average daily car count. With almost 1/4 million cars off of Dolphin expressway alone daily, I would dare say we have a lot of traffic. 

https://www.interstate-guide.com/i-095_aadt.html

Edited October 18, 2018 by Host CJSKIDS

[capriccio]

Carolyn - thanks for the stats.  Having lived right outside of DC for decades and now in Broward for 5 years I wasn't surprised to see the Miami and Broward stats.  My DH, who learned to drive in Brooklyn and spent much of his career driving in other countries and in major cities in the US, thinks I-95 from Palm Beach to Miami almost anytime of day is the worst section of highway anywhere he has driven in the world because of drivers weaving in and out without signaling, driving too quickly (well over 10 miles over the speed limit), and those HOV lane dividers that some take to be optional and drive right over them.  USAA, our insurance company, seems to think so too.  Our insurance more than doubled when we moved here and when I asked the customer service rep why, she said welcome to south Florida (adding quickly that she lived here) where 1/3 of those drivers don't have insurance not to mention that damage or theft of one's car is more common.

[BNBR]

It's interesting that Broward has multiples more vehicles than Miami without the same traffic issues.  Downtown Miami area is just so condensed, obviously.

I still have to disagree about Miami being so insane for drivers.  We get tons of visitors from Europe, they rent cars, they go to South Beach, Wynwood, Brickell, Keys, etc... everywhere.  They have no issues at all driving here and I don't think I've ever heard a single comment about drivers here being so crazy or it being so scary driving on a highway.  Our family and friends who visit, that don't even have experience driving in the US, find it perfectly easy and fine.  I think American cruisers will be just fine, too.

It's not helpful to scare visitors.