How to Pay

Recently, the Metrorail fare was increased to $2. This is about on par with what it is in most major cities, although those cities tend to have trains that go all over the city. Sadly, our Metrorail does NOT go everywhere everyone wants, but still will cost you about the same as a gallon of gas. On the upside, for what other cities' commuters pay to share a seat with a homeless person, you will likely get your own rail car.

If you come from one of those cities with a mass-transit system which utilizes such forward-thinking concepts as "farecards" or "bill accepters," you will be in for a major shock when you get to Miami. Because unless you have a monthly pass, you'd better be packing close to your body weight in change. That is all the turnstiles at the Metrorail accept. Change. As in if you don't have quarters or Sacagawea dollars, you're going to have to use one of the change machines.

If you need to change your dollars at the station, I recommend leaving about 3-5 minutes in order to make this happen. Because while the machines may say on the front "1, 5 and 10 dollar bills accepted," try putting one in. It'll spit it out faster than a guy who's just been told what's in his hot dog.

One way around this is to buy the Metropass, currently available for $100 per month. This allows you unlimited trips on any Miami-Dade County transit vehicle, be it bus, train, or weird electronic bus thing that runs on tracks around Downtown. Don't try and figure out why, if the Metrorail can utilize a monthly pass, it can't utilize a farecard like other cities. It's Miami. The rules are just different here.