City of Miami Beach to Launch Free Water Taxi Service and Dedicated Shuttles for Art Week Miami Beach

This year’s installment of Art Week Miami Beach will for the first time include complimentary water taxis connecting Miami Beach with downtown Miami, along with a fleet of free, dedicated shuttle buses designed to transport visitors and residents to a variety of art fairs. 

“We’re taking creative steps to ease the surge of traffic expected during one of our busiest weeks of the year,” said Miami Beach City Manager Eric T. Carpenter. “These transit options allow both visitors and residents to leave their cars behind and enjoy one of the year’s most anticipated events — without contributing to the gridlock. It’s a great way to explore the art fairs and installations in both Miami Beach and across the bay, while avoiding the stress of driving.”

Water Taxi Service

Four water taxi vessels will operate across beautiful Biscayne Bay from Wednesday, Dec. 4 to Saturday, Dec. 7 from 10 a.m. to midnight, and on Sunday, Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The water taxi service will run every 15 minutes between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park (1790 Purdy Avenue) in Miami Beach and the Venetian Marina & Yacht Club (1635 North Bayshore Drive) in Miami.

Art Week Dedicated Shuttles

A series of free, dedicated shuttles linking the water taxi and several art fairs will run every 15 minutes throughout Miami Beach to connect visitors and residents with several art fairs. Shuttle operating hours will mirror the water taxis, and can be tracked in real time on the Art Week Miami Beach website at www.artweekmb.com.

Outer Loop Art Week shuttles will travel to/from Miami Beach to Miami with stops at Miami Beach Convention Center Drive between 17 and 18 streets as well as Royal Palm Avenue between 41 and 42 streets. The two Miami stops are at NE 29 Street and N Miami Avenue as well as NE 38 Street and NE 1 Avenue.

Inner Loop Art Week shuttles will travel within Miami Beach to/from locations in South Beach, the Miami Beach Convention Center, the water taxi stop at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park and Mid Beach. South Beach stops include Collins Avenue between 10 and 11 streets, Convention Center Drive between 17 and 18 streets as well as Collins Avenue and 22 Street. Mid Beach stops include Royal Palm Avenue between 41 and 42 streets, Collins Avenue and 46 Street, Collins Avenue and 32 Street as well as the water taxi at Purdy Avenue and 18 Street, adjacent to Maurice Gibb Memorial Park.

A dedicated Water Taxi Connector shuttle will operate between the Miami Beach water taxi stop at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park (1790 Purdy Avenue) and the Miami Beach Convention Center (Convention Center Drive between 17 and 18 streets).

Park and Ride

The city will provide free shuttles and water taxi service to and from designated pickup and drop-off locations in the immediate vicinity of various parking garages in Miami Beach and Miami.

The designated shuttle pickup and drop-off locations in Miami Beach are as follows:

• Royal Palm Ave. between 41 and 42 streets serving the 42 St. Garage (4049 Royal Palm Ave.)
• Convention Center Dr. between 17 and 18 streets serving the 17 St. Garage (640 17 St.), Pennsylvania Ave. Garage (1661 Pennsylvania Ave.) and Miami Beach City Hall Garage (1755 Meridian Ave.)
• Purdy Ave. and 18 St. serving the Sunset Harbour Garage (1900 Bay Rd.)

The designated shuttle pickup and drop-off location in Miami is as follows:

• NE 38 Street and NE 1 Ave. serving the City View Garage (25 NE 38 Street), Palm Court Garage (155 NE 38 St.) and Public Parking Lot (3630 NE 1 Ct.)

The designated water taxi pickup and drop-off locations in Miami Beach/Miami are as follows:

• Miami Beach - Maurice Gibb Memorial Park (1790 Purdy Ave.) serving the Sunset Harbour Garage (1900 Bay Rd.)
• Miami - Venetian Marina & Yacht Club (1635 North Bayshore Dr.) serving the Omni Garage (453 NE 15 St.)

Click here to view a detailed map of the various free shuttle and water taxi routes as well as Park and Ride locations 

Miami Beach Trolley & Bicycle Options

Residents and visitors can also take advantage of the year-round free Miami Beach Trolley, which connects various neighborhoods, as well as Freebee services. The Miami Beach Trolley service will operate at an enhanced frequency of service from 8 a.m. to midnight each day, to help reduce the anticipated traffic congestion. Download the Transit app to track specific trolleys in real-time.

Biking and micro-mobility enthusiasts will find miles of beachwalk, green bike lanes and convenient bicycle parking throughout Miami Beach. View the city’s bicycle parking maps for more information. Additionally, Citi Bike offers more than a thousand bicycles, including electric-assisted bikes, at conveniently located bike sharing stations throughout the city.

Miami-Dade Transit also offers Metrobus service to and from the mainland. The closest taxi, ride-share and valet locations to the Miami Beach Convention Center will be on the east side of Convention Center Drive north of 18 Street and on the west side of Washington Avenue between 20 and 21 streets and also south of 18 Street.

Peak Travel Times

The heaviest traffic during Art Week Miami Beach typically occurs on weekday afternoons with congestion increasing closer to the weekend. Traffic congestion leaving Miami Beach can be exacerbated by traffic or incidents on major thoroughfares outside of the city, including I-395, I-195 and I-95. The Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) ongoing road work and lane reductions near the Biscayne Boulevard off-ramp in downtown Miami is expected to impede westbound traffic leaving Miami Beach along the MacArthur Causeway. A citywide construction moratorium will suspend all non-city construction-related activities within the city’s right of way throughout the week — prohibiting road, sidewalk and lane closures.

To reduce congestion along the Venetian Causeway connecting downtown Miami and Miami Beach, the east Venetian Causeway drawbridge will be on lockdown and will not open to vessels from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4 through Saturday, Dec. 7, and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 8 and Monday, Dec. 9, except emergency vessels and vessels in distress.

The city plans to implement special event signal timing changes and other traffic management measures, as needed, along major thoroughfares with an enhanced level of traffic monitoring for Art Week Miami Beach. This will include 17 hours of traffic monitoring, from 7 a.m. to midnight on Wednesday, Dec. 4 through Saturday, Dec. 7. Beyond those dates, the traffic monitoring services will continue from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Traffic monitors will coordinate with the Miami Beach Police Department (MBPD) to enforce traffic regulations at intersections while keeping motorists informed of delays through digital message signs. The city will proactively communicate with Waze, Google and Inrix to accurately reflect all street closures on their respective mobile platforms in real-time.

In addition, the city will issue traffic text alerts as warranted to notify the public of major roadway incidents. Subscribe to receive traffic text message alerts by texting MBAlert to 888777. City staff will work closely with the FDOT SunGuide Traffic Management Center to program traffic messages on overhead digital message signs along I-95, SR 112/I-195 and SR 836/I-395 regarding any major incidents affecting traffic flow on Miami Beach causeways.